The
United Artists Corporation was formed on
February 5,
1919 by four
Hollywood greats:
Charles Chaplin,
Douglas Fairbanks,
Mary Pickford and
D. W. Griffith. Their motive was to challenge the power of the major studios which, some felt, were making a fortune out of the talent of individuals. The four friends, taking advice from businessman
Gibbs McAdoo[?] (son-in-law of
Woodrow Wilson), formed their own distribution company, with
Hiram Abrams[?] as its first managing director.
United Artists productions/releases included The Mark of Zorro[?] (1920), Stagecoach (1939) and most of the James Bond and [all of the "Rocky" films, as well as One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest[?] After heavy losses incurred as a result of investing in the flop, Heaven's Gate, United Artists was acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1981 and ceased to exist as a separate company.