Monogram Pictures — BrandWiki

Monogram Pictures

Overview

Monogram Pictures

foundation	1931 (original) 1946 (as a predecessor-in-interest to Allied Artists Pictures Corporation)
defunct	1953 (original) 1979 (as Allied Artists Pictures Corporation)
successors	Library: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (through United Artists) (pre-August 1946) Warner Bros. (through Lorimar Motion Pictures) (post-August 1946) Paramount Pictures (through Melange Pictures) (select post-1938 films)
founders	W. Ray Johnston Trem Carr
location city	Los Angeles, California New York City, New York
fate	Film and music rights vested in Allied Artists International
key people	Kim Richards (chairman and CEO) Robert Fitzpatrick (president)
industry	Entertainment
products	Motion pictures
homepage	monogrampictures.com

Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the minor studios in the golden age of Hollywood, generally referred to collectively as Poverty Row. Of the 11 permanent studios in Hollywood at the time, ranked in order of size, MGM was #1—and Monogram was #10 (the only one smaller was PRC).[1]

The Monogram trademark is now owned by Allied Artists International.[2] The original sprawling brick complex which functioned as home to both Monogram and Allied Artists remains at 4376 W Sunset Blvd, as part of the Church of Scientology Media Center (formerly KCET's television facilities).[3]

Film series

In 1938, Monogram began a long and profitable policy of making series and hiring familiar players to star in them. Frankie Darro, Hollywood's foremost tough-kid actor of the 1930s, joined Monogram and stayed with the company until 1950. Comedian Mantan Moreland co-starred in many of the Darro films and continued to be a valuable asset to Monogram through 1949. Juvenile actors Marcia Mae Jones and Jackie Moran co-starred in series of homespun romances, and then joined the Frankie Darro series.

Boris Karloff contributed to the Monogram release schedule with his Mr. Wong mysteries. This prompted producer Sam Katzman to engage Bela Lugosi for a follow-up series of Monogram thrillers.

Katzman's street-gang series The East Side Kids was an imitation of the then-popular Dead End Kids features. The first film cast six juveniles who had no connection with the Dead End series, but Katzman signed Dead End Kids Bobby Jordan and Leo Gorcey, and soon added Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell from the original gang. The East Side Kids series ran from 1940 to 1945. East Side star Gorcey then took the reins himself and transformed the series into The Bowery Boys, which became the longest-running feature-film comedy series in movie history (48 titles over 12 years).

Monogram continued to experiment with film series with mixed results. Definite box-office hits were Charlie Chan, The Cisco Kid, and Joe Palooka, all proven movie properties abandoned by other studios and revived by Monogram. Less successful were the comic-strip exploits of Snuffy Smith and Sam Katzman's comedy series teaming Billy Gilbert, Shemp Howard, and Maxie Rosenbloom.

Many of Monogram's series were westerns. The backbone of the studio's early days was a father-son partnership: writer/director Robert N. Bradbury and cowboy actor Bob Steele (born Robert A. Bradbury). Bradbury wrote almost all of the early Monogram and Lone Star westerns and directed many of them himself. Independent producer Paul Malvern produced 16 Lone Star western productions starring John Wayne, releasing through Monogram.[8] The studio also released sagebrush sagas with Bill Cody, Tom Keene, Tim McCoy, Tex Ritter, and Jack Randall before hitting on the "trio" format teaming veteran saddle pals. Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, and Raymond Hatton became The Rough Riders; Ray (Crash) Corrigan, John "Dusty" King, and Max Terhune were The Range Busters, and Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, and Bob Steele teamed as The Trail Blazers. When Universal Pictures allowed Johnny Mack Brown's contract to lapse, Monogram grabbed him and kept him busy through 1952.

Monogram's stars

The studio was a launching pad for new stars (Preston Foster in Sensation Hunters, Randolph Scott in Broken Dreams, Ginger Rogers in The Thirteenth Guest, Lionel Atwill in The Sphinx, Alan Ladd in Her First Romance, Robert Mitchum in When Strangers Marry. The studio was also a haven for established stars whose careers had stalled: Jackie Cooper in Boy of the Streets (Cooper would work for Monogram off and on through 1948), Edmund Lowe in Klondike Fury, John Boles in Road to Happiness, Ricardo Cortez in I Killed That Man, Simone Simon in Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Kay Francis and Bruce Cabot in Divorce, Robert Lowery and Marjorie Weaver in Fashion Model (1945), Jane Frazee in Incident (1948).

Monogram Pictures was regarded within the industry as a minor-league studio. Former character actor Bill Kennedy recalled, "If you were an actor on the way up, like Robert Mitchum or Alan Ladd, working at Monogram was okay—no stigma. But—if you were already a star at a big studio like Fox or Paramount and then went to Monogram, a la Edmund Lowe, it was the kiss of death."[9]

Monogram did create and nurture its own stars. Gale Storm began her career at RKO Radio Pictures in 1940 but found a home at Monogram. Storm had been promoted from Monogram's Frankie Darro series and was showcased in crime dramas (like The Crime Smasher (1943) opposite Richard Cromwell and radio's Frank Graham in the title role) and a string of musicals to capitalize on her singing talents (like Campus Rhythm and Nearly Eighteen (both 1943), as well as Swing Parade of 1946 featuring The Three Stooges). Another of Monogram's finds during this time was British skating star Belita, who conversely starred in musical revues first and then graduated to dramatic roles, including Suspense (1946), an A-budget King Brothers Productions picture released under the Monogram name. Monogram's final leading-lady discovery was Jane Nigh, who starred in several wholesome outdoor stories between 1950 and 1952; she returned to the studio in 1957 for a Bowery Boys comedy.

Improved productions

Steve Broidy, Monogram's vice president and general sales manager since 1940, had been taking on additional responsibility for the studio's production schedule, and he was named president of the company in 1945. Founder Ray Johnston became chairman of the board, a position he held until 1963.[15]

Under Broidy, Monogram very nearly hit the big time with Dillinger, a sensationalized crime drama that was a runaway success in 1945, making over $1 million at the box office. Filmed by King Brothers Productions, it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Monogram followed Dillinger with several "exploitation" melodramas cashing in on topical themes, like Black Market Babies (1946, about illegal traffic in adoptions) and Allotment Wives (1946, about women marrying servicemen for their federal allotment checks).[16]

In May 1945 Monogram announced it would make 28 features and 16 Westerns over 1945–1946;[17] the following year brought 32 features and 16 westerns. Some of these had higher budgets than usual: Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, High Conquest, Wife Wanted, and Ginger.[18] Monogram's fortunes continued to improve—the studio's slogan in 1946 was "Make Way for Monogram"[19]—but Monogram never became a respectable "major" studio like former poverty-row denizen Columbia Pictures.

With Hollywood's larger studios curtailing B-picture production in favor of more prestigious and more expensive pictures, there was now a greater need for low-priced pictures that theater owners could afford. Major first-run theater chains that had never played Monogram's budget movies—as well as small, independent theaters that depended on bargain-rate films to turn a profit—began using Monogram features on a regular basis. The Charlie Chan pictures were the first Monogram products to be programmed regularly by big-city chains, giving Monogram valuable exposure in the larger market. The casting in Monogram features improved tremendously after the war, because scores of actors found themselves unemployed or underemployed when their home studios now made fewer movies. Major-studio talent began accepting work at Monogram, which gave the studio's films more prestige and boxoffice value.

Monogram continued to launch new series. In 1946 The East Side Kids became The Bowery Boys under a new producer, Jan Grippo. The former producer, Sam Katzman, began a new musical-comedy series called "The Teen Agers" (1946–1948) as a vehicle for singer Freddie Stewart. Other series included the Cisco Kid westerns (1945–1947); the exploits of masked crimefighter The Shadow with Kane Richmond (1946); the Bringing Up Father comedies (1946–1950) based on the George McManus comic strip, featuring Joe Yule and Renie Riano as "Jiggs and Maggie; the "Joe Palooka" prizefight comedies (1946–1951); the Roddy McDowall series (1948–1952), with the juvenile lead forsaking child roles for dramatic and action vehicles; the "Henry" series of small-town comedies (1949–1951) co-starring Raymond Walburn and Walter Catlett; and the "Bomba, the Jungle Boy" adventures (1949–1955) starring Johnny Sheffield (formerly "Boy" of the Tarzan films).

The studio's biggest drawing cards were the Bowery Boys, Charlie Chan, and the Monogram westerns (now featuring Johnny Mack Brown, Jimmy Wakely, and Whip Wilson). Monogram filmed some of its later features in Cinecolor, mostly outdoor subjects like County Fair, Blue Grass of Kentucky, and The Rose Bowl Story, as well as the science-fiction film, Flight to Mars (1952).

The only Monogram release to win an Academy Award was Climbing the Matterhorn, a two-reel adventure that won the "Best Short Subject" Oscar in 1947. Other Monogram films to receive Oscar nominations were King of the Zombies for Academy Award for Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic Picture) in 1941 and Flat Top for Best Film Editing in 1952.

Monogram enters the field of TV

Monogram was the first substantial theatrical distributor to offer its recent films to network television, in April 1948.[31] Steve Broidy's asking price was $1,000,000 for a package of 200 features, or $5,000 per title. The CBS network declined the offer. Three years later, in August 1951, Broidy turned away from expensive network television and looked toward the promising field of programming for local stations. Broidy offered 199 features to Eliot Hyman of Motion Pictures for Television, a pioneer TV syndicator recently established by film executive Matty Fox.[32] Hyman bought the package for the more attractive price of $1,250 per title.[33]

Monogram cautiously entered the field of syndicating its own product in November 1951. Major studios avoided putting their names on their television subsidiaries, fearing adverse reaction and charges of unfair competition from their movie-theater customers. Monogram followed suit, christening its TV arm as Interstate Television Corporation. Ralph Branton, a former exhibitor who became a Monogram executive, was named president.[34] Interstate's biggest success was The Little Rascals series (formerly Hal Roach's Our Gang theatrical comedy shorts, which had been reissued for theaters by Monogram). Interstate further pursued juvenile audiences by distributing Monogram's feature-length westerns with Wild Bill Elliott, and outdoor adventures with Kirby Grant and "Chinook, the Wonder Dog." Interstate used the stock title design it created for the Little Rascals shorts when it filmed new TV titles for the Elliott and Grant features.

In July 1961 Interstate TV became Allied Artists Television Corporation, under the leadership of Edward Morey, who had been a production manager for the studio.[35] Variety commented on the updated company's getting quick results: "Allied Artists Television Corp. took over a fading Interstate TV company and injected some new razzmatazz patterns into syndication, with a resultant setup that now gives AAT the status of a major distribery with techniques that are paying off in handsome dividends. Most of it was accomplished through the marketing of five going packages of feature films, with particular success in bundling the pix as a series"[36] [48 Bowery Boys, 22 science-fiction, 13 Bomba, and two packages comprising 72 miscellaneous features].

Allied Artists' television library was sold to Lorimar's TV production and distribution arms in 1979. Lorimar was acquired by Warner Bros. Television, which now controls the library.

Allied Artists' major productions

The studio began to allocate more funds to $200,000–300,000 action films and increase its Cinecolor movies to 12 "special" films a year. The studio, always known for its attention to economies, often kept sets standing from major productions and reused them for minor productions. The Bowery Boys comedies in particular benefited from this recycling policy: backgrounds from Roar of the Crowd were seen again in Jalopy; sets commissioned for The Adventures of Hajji Baba were used in Bowery to Bagdad; the Riot in Cell Block 11 sets showed up in Jail Busters; and the Sabu and the Magic Ring sets were repurposed for Looking for Danger. Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) was Allied's biggest hit to date, surpassing The Babe Ruth Story of 1948. Also popular was Jack Slade (1953).[38]

For a time in the mid-1950s, the Mirisch family held great influence at Allied Artists, with Walter as executive producer, his brother Harold as head of sales, and brother Marvin as assistant treasurer.[39]

The studio continued to sign prominent producers and directors who had left long-term jobs at other studios. Roy Del Ruth had joined Allied Artists in 1947, followed by Walter Wanger[40] in 1951. In May 1954 Allied announced a three-picture deal with director John Huston, starting with The Man Who Would Be King.[41] The project was delayed and then abandoned, but the studio held on to the property, which was finally produced in 1975.

In 1953 Variety reported that Allied Artists would be making more movies on location, from England to Alaska.[42] In September 1954 Allied announced it would make one "A" picture a month, starting with The Human Jungle, Tonight's the Night, Danger Point, Target Earth, The Bob Mathias Story, The Big Combo, Shotgun, An Annapolis Story, and The Black Prince.[43] Other bigger-budgeted movies included The First Texan, The Phenix City Story, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.[44]

In March 1955 Allied Artists had a $25 million production plan over 18 months.[39] By July 1955 five of these films had been finished and AA had signed deals to make co-productions with Erna Films of Austria including Sissi as well as films in England.[45] In October 1955 Steve Broidy announced that Allied Artists would become more like United Artists and said deals had been made with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.[46]

The Mirisch brothers pushed the studio into big-budget filmmaking, having signed contracts with John Huston, William Wyler, Billy Wilder, and Gary Cooper. Their first big-name productions were Wyler's Friendly Persuasion (1956)—nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture—and Wilder's Love in the Afternoon (1957). Despite their prestige and popularity, Love in the Afternoon and Friendly Persuasion struggled to return their high costs. In August 1957 Walter Mirisch left Allied for United Artists.[47] Allied recorded a loss for the year ended June 1957, amounting to $2,458,910, and a loss of $1,189,688 the following year.[48][49]

Post-Mirisch

Steve Broidy was determined to return the company to profitability: "We are going to make potentially good-grossing pictures. Anyone who thinks blockbusters alone will carry the industry is crazy.”[50] Broidy was as good as his word, reverting to the topical "exploitation special" entertainments favored by Monogram in the mid-1940s. Roger Corman, who had sold his first script to Allied Artists (Highway Dragnet), made several films at Allied as a producer and director. The double bill of Not of This Earth (1957) and Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) made almost $1 million.[51] Corman went on to produce and direct Teenage Doll, War of the Satellites, and The Wasp Woman. He also had some money in films like Crime and Punishment U.S.A., The Cry Baby Killer, and Hot Car Girl.[52] The latter film was one of a series of teenage exploitation features like Crime in the Streets, Dino, Hot Rod Rumble, Joy Ride, Speed Crazy, and The Rebel Set. Allied also had a huge success with the science-fiction film Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.

Allied's films of 1958 included Oregon Passage, Never Love a Stranger, Bullwhip, Man from God's Country, Macabre, Queen of the Universe, War of the Satellites, Dateline Tokyo, The Pagans, Invasion of the Gorgons, The Bride and the Beast, Teenage Mother, Hong Kong Incident and the final Bowery Boys feature, In the Money (filmed in September 1957 and released in January 1958). The studio announced that the Bowery Boys series would continue for another year,[53] but decided to abandon new productions for theaters, and instead syndicated the entire series to television.

In January 1959 Allied announced it would make 36 films, six of which would cost $1 million or more, starting with The Big Circus. [54]

Allied made its studio space and facilities available to independent producers. Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot, handled by United Artists and produced by Walter Mirisch, was filmed using many of Allied Artists' resident technicians. The studio had renewed success with the release of Al Capone (filmed on the still-standing Some Like It Hot sets) in 1959.[55] This led to Allied making more crime-related subjects like Pay or Die (1960), dramatizing policeman Joseph Petrosino's pioneering crusade against organized crime; The Purple Gang (1960); The George Raft Story (1961); and Convicts 4 (1962). There were also war-related biopics such as Operation Eichmann (1961), capitalizing on the recent capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann; and Hell to Eternity.

There were cutbacks in overall production – the studio had released 35 films in 1958, but this dropped to 12 in 1960, mainly because the studio stopped making westerns.[56][57]

The success of Al Capone helped turn the company around and it made a profit of $1,240,000 for the year ended July 1960 and $530,000 for the following year.[58] Other hits included Hell to Eternity and I Passed for White.[59]

In the early 1960s Allied invested in a series of bigger-budgeted films once more, including El Cid (1961), and Billy Budd (1962). Releases in 1963 included Soldier in the Rain, Shock Corridor, Cry of Battle, The Gun Hawk, Horrors of the Black Zoo, Gunfight at Comanche Creek and War is Hell, plus the studio's big epic, 55 Days at Peking.[60] Chairman of the board Ray Johnston, who had established the company in 1931, sold virtually all of his stock in Allied Artists, retaining only a single share.[61] Allied recorded a loss of $1.5 million for the 1962 financial year, losing $2.7 million the following year.[62]

In January 1964 Allied announced it had 11 films awaiting release including The Thin Red Line, Never Put It in Writing, The Naked Kiss, The Strangler and A Yank in Vietnam.[63] Toward the end of the year the company was filming Young Dillinger, Taffy and the Jungle Hunter, White Savage, and Mara of the Wilderness.[64] The studio's most successful film from this period was Tickle Me (1965),[65] Elvis Presley's only picture for an independent studio.

That year the company recorded a loss of $1,490,116.[66] Studio chief Steve Broidy left Allied Artists in 1965 to form his own company, Motion Pictures International.[67]

Post-Broidy

Broidy was succeeded by Emanuel L. Wolf, but Wolf's tenure was short: Allied Artists ceased production in 1966.

Allied Artists became a distributor of international films such as A Man and a Woman and Belle de Jour. It did have some funds in Doomsday Machine but the film was never released.[68] The studio also had money in Last Summer, Paddy, and Marry Me, Marry Me.

The studio enjoyed the biggest successes in its history with the release of Cabaret in 1972 and Papillon in 1973. Both were critical and commercial successes, but high production and financing costs meant they were not big moneymakers for the company. Allied Artists raised financing for its adaptation of The Man Who Would Be King (1975) by selling the European distribution rights to Columbia Pictures, and the rest of the backing came from Canadian tax shelters. King was released in 1975, to disappointing returns. That same year, the company distributed the French import Story of O, but spent much of its earnings defending itself from obscenity charges.[69]

In 1976, Allied Artists attempted to diversify when it merged with consumer producers Kalvex and PSP, Inc. The new Allied Artists Industries, Inc. manufactured pharmaceuticals, mobile homes, and activewear in addition to films.[69]

Demise

Allied Artists stayed afloat, mostly as a television syndicator, until 1979 when runaway inflation and high production costs pushed it into bankruptcy.

Fate of the film library

The post-August 1946 Monogram/Allied Artists library was bought by television production company Lorimar in 1980 for $4.75 million;[70] today a majority of this library belongs to Warner Bros. Pictures (via their acquisition of Lorimar in 1989). The pre-August 1946 Monogram library was sold in 1954 to Associated Artists Productions, which itself was sold to United Artists in 1958 (it merged with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1981). The pre-1946 Monogram library was not part of the deal with Ted Turner. (The rights to many of the later films are now owned by MGM via United Artists; others, such as The Big Combo, lapsed into the public domain.) A selection of post-1938 Monogram films acquired by M&A Alexander Productions and Astor Pictures were later incorporated into Melange Pictures' library, today a part of