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MOVIE & TV FEATURE

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Columbia Pictures logo of the HISTORY

The

Words Bob J

I n 1920, New York brothers Harry and Jack Cohn and their lawyer friend Joe Brandt started a small silent film business, which they named C.B.C. Film Sales Corporation (after the initial letters of their surnames). While Jack Cohn and Joe Brandt ran the business from

Row independent.” The film was It Happened One Night , directed by Capra and completed in just four weeks. When released, it struck the film market with astonishing impact and continued showing for months in cinemas across the States. Furthermore, it became the first film to sweep the five major Oscars: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. The industry’s

1919-1924

1924

New York, Harry Cohn, as head of production, moved to Hollywood and bought a small plot on Gower Street. Setting up the business on a shoestring with very little capital, Harry began producing one-reel shorts and low-budget comedies, which nevertheless proved popular with audiences over time. This early success allowed Harry to slowly expand by gradually acquiring the majority of Hollywood’s Poverty Row studios. However, their company soon became universally recognised in the trade by its sobriquet, Corned Beef & Cabbage Pictures. A movie company could scarcely prosper under such a handicap, and Harry decided they needed a more dignified name. Subsequently, on January 10, 1924, C.B.C. was transformed into Columbia Pictures Corporation.

accolades and awards erased the Poverty Row stigma from Harry Cohn and Columbia forever. During his 38-year movie production career, Harry

1925-1926 1926-1932

1932-1933 1933-1936

The Bridge on the River Kwai

1936-1938 1938-1945

Cohn was responsible for an abundance of classic award-winning movies such as The Awful Truth, Born Yesterday, All the King’s Men, From Here to Eternity, On the Waterfront, and The Bridge on the River Kwai , as well as the creation of two of America’s most significant sex symbols: Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. Columbia’s famous trademark - the mysterious lady with the flaming torch - came to represent quality, sophistication, and craftsmanship. But Cohn also gained a reputation in the movie community that aroused extreme hatred and loyalty. Columnist Hedda Hopper called him ”a sadistic S-O-B.” Actor Glenn Ford described him as ”cruel, despicable, benevolent, compassionate and malevolent, all at the same time.” Yet director John Ford stated that ”Harry Cohn was the kind of man whose nod and handshake were worth more than a contract drawn up by a score of lawyers.” One thing was certain: those who met and knew Harry Cohn never forgot him. When Cohn suddenly died in 1958, the whole movie industry attended his funeral, where actor Red Skelton famously stated, ”It proves what Harry always said: ’Give the public what they want, and they’ll come out for it.’” In September 1989, Columbia Pictures Corporation

1945-1964 1964-1975

On the Waterfront

1975-1981

1981-1989

In 1927, Harry employed Frank Capra, a former Mack Sennett affiliated comedy gag man and director, who was soon to make the name of Columbia famous throughout Hollywood. Practically every Columbia film directed by Capra over the next decade made a profit at the box office. Cohn realised

he could not afford the large star lists of MGM and Paramount, and instead borrowed stars from these well-established studios. Such was the case in 1934, when he hired Clark Gable from MGM and Claudette Colbert from Paramount, who were both extremely angry at being loaned out to ”a poor, Poverty

1989-1992 1992-1993

was sold to the electronic giant Sony for $3.4 billion. Sony retains the Columbia name and its famous logo to this very day.

1993-Present

28 JANUARY 2023

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