Gangster film producers

BY LAUREN

The Fantastic Five• A film distributor is a company or individual who is

responsible for the marketing of a film.• In the 1930’s, the American film industry was

dominated by five film companies. • These included: 20th Century Fox (founded by Joseph

Schenk, 1933), MGM (founded by Louis B. Mayer, Sam Goldwyn and Marcus Loew, 1924) RKO Radio (formed after the KAO) theatre chains in 1928)

• But the two who produced the most on gangster films are:

• Paramount • Warner Bros.

Warner Bros: A brief history• Warner Bros. studios began when brothers (Albert, Sam, Jack and Harry Warner)

came together to form a movie company in 1923.• In 1927, Warner Bros. brought along the release of the world’s first talkie “The

Jazz Singer”. This brought innovation to the movie market, and that word now became a synonym with the name Warner Bros.

• Out of all the movie companies, Warner Bros. seemed to be the ones who showed reality through film. People who lived in the city, out on the streets, struggling, who are criminals. It brought a sense of real-ness to the public.

• They shaped and defined many actor’s careers such as Bette Davis, James Cagney, Paul Muni and Humphrey Bogart. They became some of the greatest actors of all time.

• It is one of the most respected, adored and successful motion picture and television studios in the world.

The Warners and the Gangsters..• After Paramount pictures released some gangster films

such as “Underworld” (1927) and “The Racket” (1928), Warner Bros. decided to try out the genre.

• Among the mob films produced during the 30’s such as “Little Caesar” and “The Public Enemy”, they began to portray a “neo-realistic” approach to film plots and the began to produce more “tough-guy” movies.

• There was something different about Warners’ pictures compared to other companies such as Paramount.

• They created, shaped and defined the gangster movie era, and produced a number of films that were historically and socially significant and raised awareness of the growing problems in America to the public.

• Warner Bros were the company that touched up more on “real life” issues of America at the time.

• They produced numerous noir/gangster/crime classics such as “Goodfellas”, “Public Enemy”, “white heat”, “The Departed” and “The petrified forest”.

• Warner Bros distributed a number of deep and meaningful films.

• Director Mervyn LeRoy made “I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,” a film that led to prison reform.

• “Black Legion” (dealing with the Ku Klux Klan)• “Black Fury” (about the mistreatment of coal

miners) • “They Won't Forget” (about prejudice and

lynching in the Deep South) • They were all fact-based, hard-hitting and

exposed and reflected America’s problems. • In contrast of their films aiming at real problems

of America, the ‘30s also marked the beginning of the now classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons

• The modern-day gangster film The departed ranked in #3 highest grossing gangster movies of all time. The 2006 film generated $142.97 million

More on Warner Brothers

Paramount – The history • Paramount was originally founded in 1912 by a guy called Adolph Zukor and is the

fifth oldest film studio in the world and the longest operating studio remaining in Hollywood.

• Paramount films were very successful and popular, they even won the very first Academy Award for best picture in 1927.

• They “nurtured and aided” the industry’s most legendary movie talent and directors such as the Marx Brothers and D.W Griffith.

• In more recent years, work with stars such as Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise has been produced.

• They focused on less on political and cultural plots than Warner Bros. however still producing iconic films including the highest grossing film of all time, “Titanic”.

Paramount gangster films..• Paramount released the first ever official Gangster movie – “The

Musketeers of Pig Alley”. • The very first of it’s kind, this would only be a taster of what’s to

come. It was about a couple who lived in poverty in New York, and gets robbed of money. This was the first the American public ever saw of shoot-outs and robberies.

• Paramount produced and distributed Griffith’s work, he was popular to the public as he introduced editing, moving cameras, close-ups, and naturalistic acting to create more suspenseful dramas.

• Paramount were responsible for many older gangster movies produced in the silent era because soon enough, Warner Bros. took dominance of that genre.

• However, The Godfather trilogy is deemed the highest grossing gangster film of all time, the 1972 trilogy raked in a whopping $355.44 million.

• Following behind at number two is another Paramount Production, “The Untouchables” 1987 which grossed $144.47 million in revenue.

• Paramount have released some iconic 1940’s Film Noir’s such as the “Unknown Indemnity”, “Out of the Past” and “The Big Sleep”.

Distributors and my film opening..

• Overall, in my opinion whilst Warner Bros continue to create ambiguous and detailed storylines, in recent years, Paramount is more focused on big stars and generating big profits.

• Nevertheless, back in the 1940’s, it is argued Paramount is responsible for some of the best Film Noir’s of history.

• Since my opening will be Film Noir, and about tradition, I would choose Paramount pictures to release my film.