Cosmopolitan Productions, also often referred to as Cosmopolitan Pictures, was an American film company based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from 1918 to 1923 and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

until 1938.

History

Newspaper tycoon

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

formed Cosmopolitan in conjunction with

Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; hu, Zukor Adolf; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary '' Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of America' ...

of Paramount after Hearst's bid for entry into the motion picture business was rebuffed by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

. The advantage of Paramount having a production deal with Cosmopolitan was that they had the film rights to stories that had appeared in the wide variety of Hearst's magazines. These included Cosmopolitan magazine (from which Hearst took the film company's name), as well as ''

Harpers Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the s ...

'', and ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...

''. Thus the stories arrived pre-sold to the public, who were familiar with them through reading them in Hearst's magazines. Hearst's magazines would also advertise and promote his films. Cosmopolitan's first successful film was '' Humoresque'' (1920), which also was the first film to receive the ''Photoplay'' Medal of Honor. For its studio complex, Hearst acquired Sulzer's Harlem River Park and Casino at 126th Street and Second Avenue but a fire on February 18, 1923, destroyed the complex while shooting '' Little Old New York'' with

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

, directed by Sidney Olcott. The sets had been designed by Joseph Urban. Cosmopolitan heavily promoted the career of Hearst's lover, actress

. She appeared in 29 silent and 17 talking films with the company. Due to disagreements with Paramount in the distribution of the Cosmopolitan Pictures in block booking venues, Hearst left Paramount to have his films released by other studios. Starting in 1923, they were distributed or co-produced by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

until 1934 when a disagreement with Louis B. Mayer over the film ''

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

'' led Cosmopolitan to go to Warner Bros.p.189 Procter, Ben H. ''William Randolph Hearst: Final Edition, 1911-1951'' 2007 Oxford University Press

Legacy

Robert G. Vignola Robert G. Vignola (born Rocco Giuseppe Vignola, August 7, 1882 – October 25, 1953) was an Italian- American actor, screenwriter, and film director. A former stage actor, he appeared in many motion pictures produced by Kalem Company and later mo ...

was a director strongly associated with Cosmopolitan Productions. He directed several films there, including the extravagant '' When Knighthood Was in Flower'' (1922), which at a cost of $1.8 million, was then the most expensive picture ever made. Director

King Vidor King Wallis Vidor (; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...

made three comedies with Cosmopolitan: '' Show People'' (1928), '' The Patsy'' (1928) and '' Not So Dumb'' (1930), each starring Davies. One film without Davies was '' The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932, MGM). Other important directors worked briefly with Cosmopolitan, such as

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

with '' Young Mr. Lincoln'' (released 1939), Michael Curtiz with '' Captain Blood'' (released 1936), and

Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." A ...

with '' Ceiling Zero'' (also in 1936).

Notes

{{Authority control Mass media companies established in 1918 Film production companies of the United States Companies based in New York City Mass media companies disestablished in 1938 1918 establishments in New York (state) 1938 disestablishments in California William Randolph Hearst