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Jack and Harry Cohn -

Columbia Pictures was founded on January 10, 1924, by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner, Joe Brandt. 

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CBC Films -

Columbia had previously been known as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales. An early cinema release was the 1922 silent film, 'More to Be Pitied Than Scorned.' 

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'More to Be Pitied Than Scorned' (1922) -

While a success, 'More to Be Pitied Than Scorned' was an exception to the rule. CBC was soon losing money. Among Hollywood's elite, the studio's small-time reputation led some to joke that "CBC" stood for "Corned Beef and Cabbage." 

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Creation of the Columbia Pictures logo -

The Cohn brothers decided to rebrand CBC as Columbia Pictures. Soon afterward, the famous Columbia Pictures logo was created. It depicts the image of Columbia, the female personification of the United States. 

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Frank Capra and Columbia Pictures -

Success initially eluded Columbia. It was only after Harry Cohn hired Frank Capra in the late 1920s that the studio began making a name for itself in Hollywood. 

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A productive association -

Capra, an Italian-born American film director, producer, and screenwriter, enjoyed a productive association with Columbia, and provided the studio with a string of hit movies. 

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'It Happened One Night' (1934) -

In 1934 Capra made 'It Happened One Night.' A screwball comedy starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, the film was a huge hit, winning five Academy Awards. 

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'Mr. Deeds Goes to Town' (1936) -

Capra's 1936 movie, 'Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,' was another high-profile success. It won him his second Best Director award, with leading man Gary Cooper nominated for Best Actor. The film solidified Columbia's status as a major Hollywood studio. 

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Financial crisis and a damaged relationship -

Capra's next film for Columbia, 1937's 'Lost Horizon,' went way over budget and created a serious financial crisis for Columbia Pictures. It also damaged the relationship between the director and Harry Cohn.  

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'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' (1939) -

Capra's final film for Columbia was 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,' starring James Stewart. Another significant success for the studio, the film also garnered Capra an Oscar nomination. 

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Howard Hawks and Columbia Pictures -

Another director associated with Columbia's early successes was Howard Hawks. Hawks made some of the finest screwball comedies of the 1930s for the studio, including 'The Awful Truth' (1937), 'Holiday' (1938), and 'His Girl Friday' (1940), all starring Cary Grant.

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Star quality -

Columbia's biggest star throughout the 1940s was Rita Hayworth. A glamorous screen idol, the actress had appeared in several Columbia B movies before being cast opposite Fred Astaire in 'You'll Never Get Rich.'  

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'You'll Never Get Rich' (1941) -

'You'll Never Get Rich' was one of the highest-budgeted films Columbia had ever made. Its success prompted a follow-up Hayworth-Astaire feature; 1942's 'You Were Never Lovelier.' 

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First Technicolor feature -

Up until this point, Harry Cohn had resisted the temptation to produce films in color. In fact, Columbia was the last major studio to employ the expensive color process. But in 1943 'The Desperadoes,' a Western starring Randolph Scott and Glen Ford, became the studio's first Technicolor feature. 

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Harry Cohn, the man -

As president of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn, a notorious taskmaster and ruthlessly driven, wielded enormous power in Hollywood. Known for his autocratic and intimidating management style, Cohen was nevertheless a savvy businessman. He steered the studio through the first half of the 1950s by backing dozens of topical and lucrative feature films produced by Sam Katzman. 

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Breaking new ground -

Meanwhile, Columbia kept the box office busy by offering Oscar-winning productions that often broke new ground, features such as 'From Here to Eternity' (1953), 'On the Waterfront' (1954), and 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' (1957). 

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Death of a movie mogul -

In 1956, Jack Cohn died. Two years later, on February 27, 1958, Harry Cohen passed away. His funeral took place on stage 12 at the Columbia studios, attended by a roll call of Hollywood royalty that included James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Danny Kaye.

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Columbia in the 1960s -

In a decade of counterculture and social revolution, Columbia started the 1960s cautiously by offering old-fashioned fare, movies like the sweeping epic 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962). 

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'Dr. Strangelove' (1964) -

As the 1960s progressed, however, Columbia embraced the zeitgeist with movies that better reflected the signs of times, notably Stanley Kubrick's anti-war comedy 'Dr. Strangelove' (1964). 

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'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' (1967) -

Columbia's 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' (1967), directed by Stanley Kramer, was one of the few films of the time to depict an interracial marriage in a positive light. 

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'Easy Rider' (1969) -

Columbia closed out the '60s with the counterculture classic, 'Easy Rider.' But for all its successes, the studio was by now suffering from too many box-office failures. A radical operational overhaul was required.

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New decade, new challenges -

Mergers, acquisitions, and new partnerships characterized Columbia Picture's business model in the early 1970s. The studio also established sheet music publisher Columbia Pictures Publications, and renamed its small screen division Columbia Pictures Television.  

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Big screen hits -

Columbia financed some of the most memorable and culturally significant movies of the 1970s, celluloid classics that include 1976's 'Taxi Driver,' Stephen Spielberg's 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977), and the legal drama 'Kramer vs. Kramer' (1979)—all commercial and critical successes.  

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Acquisition by Coca-Cola -

In 1982, Columbia was purchased by the Coca-Cola Company. Five years later, TriStar Pictures merged with the studio to form Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. 

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Puttnam's one-year tenure -

In a move that raised the eyebrows of many a Hollywood pundit, British film producer David Puttnam was recruited by Columbia in 1986 to head the studio. Puttnam's credits included 'Midnight Express' (1978), 'Chariots of Fire' (1981), 'The Killing Fields' (1984), and 'The Mission' (1986). However, Puttnam's tenure was short, his criticism of American film production, in addition to the fact that the films he greenlit were mostly flops, contributed to his exit the following year. 

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Sony Pictures Entertainment -

In 1989 Columbia was acquired by the Sony Corporation of Japan. At the time it was the largest US acquisition by a Japanese firm, with Sony Corp. parting with a cool US$3.4 billion in cash for a presence in Hollywood. 

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New look, new direction -

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., as the company is known today, is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. 

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Blockbuster years -

The 2000s set Columbia and Sony on the major trajectory we know up to today. In 2002 alone, blockbusters such as 'Spider-Man,' 'Men in Black II,' and 'XXX' provided a combined box office return of US$1.575 billion. 

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100 years and counting -

In December 2021, Columbia released 'Spider-Man: No Way Home.' The movie would gross over US$1 billion at the box office to become Sony Pictures' highest-grossing release to date.  

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Centennial anniversary year -

In 2024—Columbia Pictures' centennial anniversary year—cinemagoers have already been treated to a batch of new film releases, movies that include 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,' and 'The Garfield Movie.' 

Sources: (Britannica Money) (Rotten Tomatoes) (Hatchwise) (Fandom) (Los Angeles Times) (Sony Pictures) 

See also: 30 movies that turn 40 in 2024.

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