The Samuel Goldwyn Company

The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an American independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1978.

See also: Samuel Goldwyn (disambiguation)
The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Inc.
TypeCorporation
FateMerged with United Artists
SuccessorSamuel Goldwyn Films
United Artists
FoundedJune 16, 1978
FounderSamuel Goldwyn Jr.
Defunct1999
OwnerIndependent (1978–1996)
Metromedia (1996–1997)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1997–present)
DivisionsSamuel Goldwyn Television
Samuel Goldwyn Home Entertainment
Heritage Entertainment, Inc.

Background

The company originally distributed and acquired art-house films from around the world to U.S. audiences; they soon added original productions to their roster as well, starting with The Golden Seal in 1983.[1]

In succeeding years, the Goldwyn company was able to obtain (from Samuel Sr.'s estate) the rights to all films produced under the elder Goldwyn's supervision, including the original Bulldog Drummond (1929), Arrowsmith (1931), and Guys and Dolls (1955). The company also acquired some distribution rights to several films and television programs that were independently produced but released by other companies, including Sayonara, the Hal Roach–produced Laurel & Hardy–starring vehicle Babes in Toyland (1934), the Flipper TV series produced by MGM Television, the Academy Award–winning Tom Jones (1963), and the Rodgers and Hammerstein film productions of South Pacific (1958) and Oklahoma! (1955), as well as the CBS Television adaptation of Cinderella (1965).

Animated films include Swan Lake, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, The Care Bears Movie, The Chipmunk Adventure and Rock-a-Doodle. Among the television programs in the Goldwyn company's library are the television series American Gladiators and Steve Krantz's miniseries Dadah Is Death.

In 1991, after a merger with Heritage Entertainment, Inc., the company went public as Samuel Goldwyn Entertainment. Heritage and Goldwyn attempted to merge during late 1990, but the plans fell apart while Heritage went through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[2] The merger also allowed Goldwyn to inherit the Landmark Theatres chain, which was a unit of Heritage.

That company and its library were acquired by Metromedia on July 2, 1996 for US$125 million.[3][4] To coincide with the purchase, the Samuel Goldwyn Company was renamed Goldwyn Entertainment Company, and was reconstituted as a subsidiary of Metromedia's Orion Pictures unit. That year, Orion and Goldwyn became part of the Metromedia Entertainment Group (MEG). Goldwyn became the specialty films unit of MEG, though they would seek out films with crossover appeal. While Orion and Goldwyn would share the overhead costs, the production/acquisition operations would operate independently from each other.[5]

In 1997, Metromedia sold its entertainment group to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[6] The Landmark Theatres group, which Metromedia did not sell to MGM, was taken over by Silver Cinemas, Inc. on April 27, 1998.[7]

In September 1997, the company was renamed Goldwyn Films and operated as MGM's specialty films unit. A month later, Samuel Goldwyn Jr. sued MGM and Metromedia, claiming that he was abruptly let go of the company despite promises that he would continue to run it under different ownership. Another concern in the lawsuit was the use of the Goldwyn name, with the defendants being accused of “palming off specialized films produced or acquired by” the unit as though the plaintiff was still involved in its management.[8] Goldwyn Films changed its name to G2 Films in January 1999 as part of the settlement.[9]

In July 1999, G2 Films was renamed United Artists International.[10] As well as all that, UA became an arthouse film producer/distributor. The younger Goldwyn has since gone on to found Samuel Goldwyn Films. This successor company has continued to release independent films such as What the Bleep Do We Know!? and the Academy Award–nominated The Squid and the Whale.

Since the new Goldwyn company has formed, MGM currently holds much of the original Goldwyn Company's holdings (including, with few exceptions, the non-Goldwyn-produced properties) that would end up with the library of Orion Pictures, now an MGM division. One Goldwyn-produced film, The Hurricane, which was a part of the original Goldwyn Company library, has had its ownership returned to its original distributor, United Artists (also an MGM division).

Filmography

1970s
Release Date Title
June 1978Zero to Sixty
June 15, 1979The Water Babies
October 1979The Last Word

1980s
Release Date Title Notes
February 8, 1981Spetters
June 19, 1981Stevie
July 23, 1981Swan LakeNorth American distribution only, produced by Toei Company, Ltd. and Toei Animation Company, Ltd.
March 21, 1982Forbidden Zone
May 26, 1982Gregory's Girl
August 17, 1982Aladdin and the Magic LampNorth American distribution only; produced by Toei Company, Ltd. and Toei Animation Company, Ltd.
November 1982Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder
November 1982Time Walker
February 27, 1983Bankers Also Have Souls
August 12, 1983The Golden Seal
September 4, 1983Lonely Hearts
November 4, 1983Experience Preferred... But Not Essential
January 1984Goodbye Pork Pie
February 15, 1984That Sinking Feeling
May 1984Another Time, Another Place
August 17, 1984Secrets
September 12, 1984A Joke of Destiny
October 1, 1984Stranger Than Paradise
October 19, 1984The Ploughman's Lunch
November 1, 1984Not for Publication
January 25, 1985The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak
March 29, 1985The Care Bears Movieproduced by Nelvana
April 19, 1985Petit Con
May 17, 1985Silver City
June 2, 1985The Holy Innocents
August 9, 1985Dance with a StrangerNorth American distribution only
October 4, 1985Always
November 8, 1985Bring on the Night
November 18, 1985Once Bitten
February 14, 1986Turtle Diary
February 21, 1986Getting Even
March 7, 1986Desert Hearts
April 25, 1986Three Men and a Cradle
July 7, 1986The Girl in the Picture
November 7, 1986Sid and Nancy
January 30, 1987Malandro
March 13, 1987Witchboard
March 20, 1987Hollywood Shuffle
May 8, 1987Prick Up Your Ears
May 22, 1987The Chipmunk Adventureproduced by Bagdasarian Productions
July 17, 1987Ping Pong
August 27, 1987Backlash
August 28, 1987The Rosary Murders
September 11, 1987A Prayer for the Dying
November 13, 1987Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
April 13, 1988Beatrice
July 22, 1988Mr. North
October 9, 1988Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie
October 21, 1988Mystic Pizza
March 3, 1989Heart of Midnight
October 13, 1989Breaking In
November 8, 1989Henry V
December 8, 1989Fear, Anxiety & Depression

1990s
Release Date Title Notes
February 2, 1990Stellaco-production with Touchstone Pictures
May 11, 1990Longtime Companion
June 12, 1990The Misadventures of Mr. Wilt
August 17, 1990Wild at Heart
October 12, 1990To Sleep with Anger
November 2, 1990C'est la vie
March 1, 1991My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
March 8, 1991La Femme Nikita
May 22, 1991Straight Out of Brooklyn
May 24, 1991Truly, Madly, Deeply
September 20, 1991Livin' Large
October 4, 1991Black Robe
October 11, 1991City of Hope
December 25, 1991Madame Bovary
February 5, 1992Mississippi Masala
April 3, 1992Rock-a-DoodleNorth American distribution only; produced by Goldcrest and Sullivan Bluth Studios
April 22, 1992The Playboys
May 13, 1992The Waterdance
July 10, 1992The Best Intentions
November 11, 1992Traces of Red
November 14, 1992Flirting
December 25, 1992Peter's Friends
February 19, 1993Mac
March 3, 1993The Stolen Children
May 7, 1993Much Ado About Nothing
July 16, 1993Road Scholar
August 7, 1993The Wedding Banquet
September 24, 1993Baraka
The Programco-production with Touchstone Pictures
October 15, 1993Mr. Wonderfuloverseas distribution; Warner Bros. distributed the film in the U.S.
November 5, 1993Wild West
November 26, 1993Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
December 21, 1993The Summer House
January 28, 1994Golden Gate
March 18, 1994Suture
April 27, 1994You So Crazy
May 15, 1994A Million to Juan
June 3, 1994Fear of a Black Hat
June 10, 1994Go Fish
July 22, 1994Just Like a Woman
August 3, 1994Eat Drink Man Woman
September 9, 1994What Happened Was
October 6, 1994Ladybird, Ladybird
November 4, 1994Oleanna
November 18, 1994To Live
December 28, 1994The Madness of King George
February 3, 1995The Secret of Roan Inish
March 8, 1995The Sum of Us
April 14, 1995The Last Good Time
May 12, 1995The Perez Family
May 19, 1995Rampo
June 9, 1995Wigstock: The Movie
November 17, 1995Reckless
January 26, 1996Angels & Insects
April 19, 1996August
May 1, 1996I Shot Andy Warholco-production with BBC Arena
May 10, 1996Love Is All There Is
August 23, 1996Foxfireproduced by Rysher Entertainment
September 13, 1996American Buffalo
September 20, 1996Big Nightproduced by Rysher Entertainment
October 25, 1996Palookaville
December 16, 1996The Preacher's Wifeco-production with Touchstone Pictures
February 28, 1997Hard Eightco-production with Rysher Entertainment
April 11, 1997Kissedas Goldwyn Films
October 10, 1997Napoleonas Goldwyn Films
January 16, 1998Live Fleshas Goldwyn Films
February 20, 1998I Love You, Don't Touch Me!as Goldwyn Films
September 25, 1998Lolita
November 13, 1998Welcome to Woop Woopas Goldwyn Entertainment Company
January 25, 1999Tinseltown
May 14, 1999Tea with Mussolinias G2 Films
June 18, 1999Desert Blue
September 17, 1999Splendor

Other names
  • Samuel Goldwyn Entertainment
  • Goldwyn Entertainment Company
  • G2 Films

Successor

See also

Notes and references
  1. "The Golden Seal (1983)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  2. Glover, Karen (September 23, 1991). "Goldwyn, Heritage Entertainment merging (Samuel Goldwyn Co.)". Los Angeles Business Journal. 13 (38): 50.
  3. Landler, Mark (January 5, 1997). "Rich, 82, and Starting Over". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2016-05-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Andrew Hindes (1997-12-10). "Hegeman hops to Live". Variety. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  6. "Metromedia to Sell Film Units to MGM for $573 Million". The New York Times. April 29, 1997. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  7. "Metromedia International Group Completes the Sale of Landmark Theatre to Silver Cinemas". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  8. Bates, James (30 October 1997). "Goldwyn Suing Metromedia, MGM Over Firing, Contract". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  9. Higgins, Bill (January 10, 1999). "G2 Films emerges as Goldwyn, MGM settle". Variety.
  10. "United Artists restructuring by MGM - Jun. 7, 1999". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-02-05.
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