City of dreams : the making and remaking of Universal Pictures / Bernard F. Dick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dick, Bernard F., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Universal Pictures (Firm)--History.

Universal Pictures (Firm).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (348 pages)

Edition:

Expanded paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky, [2021]

Summary:

Horror films. Deanna Durbin musicals. Francis, the talking mule. Ma and Pa Kettle. Ross Hunter weepies. Theme parks. E.T. (1982). Apollo 13 (1995). These are only a few of the many faces of Universal Pictures. In February 1906, Carl Laemmle, German immigrant and former clothing store manager, opened his first nickelodeon in Chicago, where he quickly moved from exhibition to distribution and then to film production. A master of publicity and promotions, within ten years "Uncle Carl" had moved his entire operation to Southern California, founded a city, and established Universal Pictures as one of the major Hollywood studios. In City of Dreams, Bernard F. Dick traces the history of Universal Pictures from its humble early origins to the modern day and analyzes the studio's films, from horror flicks featuring Karloff and Lugosi to comedies starring Abbott and Costello and W. C. Fields. Dick details how the Laemmle family was eventually forced out of the Universal empire, replaced by a string of studio heads who entered and exited one after another-the beginning of the age of corporate Hollywood, which transformed Universal Pictures into NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Dick explains how the Universal-International merger in 1946, Decca's stock takeover in the early 1950s, and MCA's buyout in 1962 all presaged today's Hollywood, where the art of the deal often eclipses the art of making movies. Ultimately, although stars and executives have come and gone, shaping and reshaping the studio's image, Universal's revolving globe logo has lit up screens around the world through it all.

Contents:

Cover

Halftitle page

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

CONTENTS

PREFACE

TIMELINE

1 THE REVOLVING DOOR

2 THE CREATION OF UNCLE CARL

3 THE CITY FOUNDER

4 PEARLS OF WISDOM, JEWELS OF FILMS

5 THE HOUSE OF LAEMMLE

6 THE LEGACY OF CARL JR.

7 THE LAEMMLES' LAST DECADE

8 NEW FACES FOR THE FORTIES

9 UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL AND A COAT OF SHELLAC

10 IN THE EMBRACE OF THE OCTOPUS

11 BEHIND THE RISING SUN

12 MCA ON THE ROCKS

EPILOGUE

The Impossible Dream

Media Mania

Future on Hold

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780813153650

0813153654

OCLC:

1281969897