United Artists Corporation

On February 5, 1919 when Charlie Chaplin, Mary PIckford, Douglas Fairbacks, and D. W. Griffith created their own film studio, United Artists Corporation (UA). They were known through films such as Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925) and acts including Buster Keaton, Rudolph Valentino, and Gloria Swanson. UA struggled financially throughout the 1940s, and by 1951, they only operated as a financing and distribution facility. Beginning in the early 1950s, United Artists began releasing films again, including High Noon (1952), Some Like It Hot (1959), and West Side Story (1961). The corporation continued creating films until it merged with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1981 to become the MGM/UA Entertainment Company. As of 2020, UA underwent multiple corporate reorganizations and rebrandings, but has continued producing or distributing films.

Source:

History.com Editors. “This Day in History, February 05, 1919, United Artists created.” History. February 03, 2020. Accessed September 17, 2020. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-artists-created