20th Century Studios: Difference between revisions

Well known for its [[Fanfare]] composed by [[Alfred Newman]], which has essentially become the unofficial [[Theme Tune]] of the motion picture industry. And, of course, its [[Iconic Logo|logo]] - inherited from 20th Century Pictures - the studio's name as a giant structure surrounded by searchlights (most recently revised in 2009, as of ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]''; the one pictured is the 1994 version).

 

 

In the 1950s, alongside more standard dramatic fare, it produced a series of [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]] musicals and well-regarded biblical epics, hoping to stave off the threat of television by the sheer size of its productions. Though this seemed to work for a while — the marathon musical ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' was the studio's most profitable film until the advent of ''[[Star Wars]]'' — it backfired spectacularly when the studio attempted to duplicate its earlier success by producing three expensive, large-scale musicals over a period of three years: ''Doctor Dolittle'' (1967), ''Star!'' (1968) and ''[[Hello, Dolly!]]'' (1969). All were released amid massive pre-release publicity and all lost equally massive amounts of money for the studio. The result was that several top studio executives lost their jobs, and the studio itself went into such dire financial straits that it produced only one picture for the entire calendar year of 1970. Eventually by 1977, there was moves to have the studio sold off and perhaps dismantled, but that was the year a little, seemingly absurd, film called ''[[Star Wars]]'' exploded into popular culture.

* ''[[Demetrius and The Gladiators]]''

* ''[[Die Hard]]'' (note: the third film is a co-production with Cinergi, and is the only film not distributed internationally by Fox)

* ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]''

* The ''[[Fantastic Four (film)|Fantastic Four]]'' movies

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Producers]]