United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars

by Tino Balio

United Artists was a unique motion picture company in the history of Hollywood. Founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and director D.W. Griffith—four of the greatest names of the silent era—United Artists functioned as a distribution company for independent producers. In this lively and detailed history of United Artists from 1919 through 1951, film scholar Tino Balio chronicles the company’s struggle for survival, its rise to prominence as the Tiffany of the industry, and its near extinction in the 1940s.
This edition is updated with a new introduction by Balio that places in relief UA’s operations for those readers who may be unfamiliar with film industry practices and adds new perspective to the company’s place within Hollywood.

Genres: Film

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1976

Reviews

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind-numbing financial detail that tells a fascinating story of how United Artists was founded and basically limped along for its first 30 years. This must have been incredibly stressful for Pickford and Fairbanks (especially since Griffith and Chaplin were uncooperative partners and contending with the productive but irascible Goldwyn and Selznick were always problems). Joe Schenck was obviously a master wheeler and dealer, and the corporate shell games are amazing to me. It's wildly improbable that the company held together all that time

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting if you’re into film history and specifically the financial aspect. Cool tidbits about Hollywood history along the way. Hard to imagine how independent artists today would be able to achieve the same success as the original founders did here with United Artists.

[Frank Palardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met him. Kind of an asshole, but his book is ok.