United Artists, Volume 2, 1951–1978: The Company That Changed the Film Industry

United Artists, Volume 2, 1951–1978: The Company That Changed the Film Industry

In this second volume of Tino Balio’s history of United Artists, he examines the turnaround of the company in the hands of Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin in the 1950s, when United Artists devised a successful strategy based on the financing and distribution of independent production that transformed the company into an industry leader. Drawing on corporate records and interviews, Balio follows United Artists through its merger with Transamerica in the 1960s and its sale to MGM after the financial debacle of the film Heaven’s Gate . With its attention to the role of film as both an art form and an economic institution, United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry is an indispensable study of one company’s fortunes from the 1950s to the 1980s and a clear-eyed analysis of the film industry as a whole.     This edition includes an expanded introduction that examines the history of United Artists from 1978 to 2008, as well as an account of Arthur Krim’s attempt to mirror UA’s success at Orion Pictures from 1978 to 1991. “Balio’s [two] volumes are the finest economic and production history of an American studio yet written.”—Scott Simmon, Film Quarterly “Tino Balio’s superb narration of events and personalities is must reading for anyone fascinated by the motion picture industry and behind the scenes stories of one of the true corporate giants in the heyday of the movies!”— Bookwatch: The Midwest Book Review   Previous edition 1987, United Artists: The Company that Changed the Film Industry , University of Wisconsin Press Also available United Artists, Volume 1, 1919–1950: The Company Built by the Stars Tino Balio is professor emeritus of film in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and former director of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. He is author of  United Artists, Volume 1, 1919–1950  and  Volume 2, 1951–1978  as well as  Grand Design: Hollywood as Modern Business Enterprise, 1930–1939 . He is editor of  The American Film Industry  and  Hollywood in the Age of Television .