The United Artists Story (1930-1939)

After a mostly successful first decade and a relatively simple time transitioning into the "talkie" era, UA confidently entered the 1930's. Since UA was not a traditional studio (and that was their intention), they had no stable of contract actors/actresses. The contracts were with the producers. Due to the abrupt screen retirements of three of its founders (D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks) and the sporadic output of its fourth (Charlie Chaplin), UA had to rely more than ever on setting up successful distribution deals with various independent producers in order to supply themselves with a steady stream of annual product. Legendary producer Samuel Goldwyn continued his association with the company throughout the decade and among the new deals that were set up to have their movies distributed by UA were Howard Hughes' The Caddo Company, Alexander Korda's London Films Productions, Darryl F. Zanuck's 20th Century Pictures, Hal Roach Studios and numerous others including producers Edward Small and Walter Wanger. One of the biggest partnerships was with Selznick International Pictures but disagreements between UA and producer David O. Selznick prevented UA from distributing Selznick's most iconic film: "Gone With The Wind" (1939, an honor that went to MGM). Another loss was that of the animator Walt Disney whose very popular cartoon shorts were distributed by UA during most of the 30's. UA's unwillingness to fully support Walt's dream project, a feature length animated version of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" cost them a major financial windfall once Walt and his animation staff moved over to RKO, their distributor for nearly the next two decades.

Despite these little "hiccups" however, it was a pretty successful and certainly very versatile ten years for UA. They were definitely being counted among the ranks of the major Hollywood production studios at this point despite being much more of a distribution outlet. Their complete slate of January 1930 through December 1939 releases are all collected here.

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