Enterprise Productions, Inc. (otherwise known as The Enterprise Studios) was an independent production company co-founded by actor

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle; March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

alongside producers David L. Loew and Charles Einfeld in 1946, right after Garfield's contract with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

had expired. Having recently turned

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

, the idea was Garfield's outlet in obtaining creative control over his own projects, as well as encouraging fellow filmmakers to pursue their own

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

advocacies through their work. Garfield made two films with Enterprise: '' Body and Soul'' (1947) and ''

Force of Evil ''Force of Evil'' is a 1948 American film noir starring John Garfield and Beatrice Pearson and directed by Abraham Polonsky. It was adapted by Polonsky and Ira Wolfert from Wolfert's novel ''Tucker's People''. Polonsky had been a screenwrit ...

'' (1948). Other productions include '' Arch of Triumph'' (1948), starring

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...

and

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

; and ''

Caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the catch ...

'' (1949), directed by

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...

and starring

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

and

Barbara Bel Geddes Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen Actor, actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost 5 decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in th ...

. During its existence, Enterprise had its films distributed in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

from 1947 to mid-1948; with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) distributing the films in select countries overseas. After the box office disappointment from ''Arch of Triumph'', UA severed ties with Enterprise and the last four films were outright distributed by MGM. Eventually, after the box-office failure that ''Force of Evil'' brought (as well as Garfield's trouble with the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

), Enterprise folded in 1949. The film ''Caught'' was its last production. The careers of

Robert Rossen Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades. His 1949 film '' All the King's Men'' won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and B ...

, the director of ''Body and Soul'', and

Abraham Polonsky Abraham Lincoln Polonsky (December 5, 1910 – October 26, 1999) was an American film director, screenwriter, essayist and novelist. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Body and Soul'' (1947). The following ...

, director of ''Force of Evil'', were seriously affected by HUAC. Following the bankruptcy of Enterprise, the ownership of all of its films were acquired by

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

for non-payment of loans, and subsequently sold to Mundus Television in 1954 for television broadcast at a reported total of $45 million. Eventually the rights have been transferred to National Telefilm Associates (NTA), which re-branded itself as

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

. Currently, the entire Enterprise catalog is owned by

Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

, whose Melange Pictures holding unit owns the former library of predecessor-in-interest Republic Pictures, while

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

distributes.

Select films

*''

Ramrod A ramrod (or scouring stick) is a metal or wooden device used with muzzleloader, muzzleloading firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant (mainly blackpowder). The ramrod was used with weapons such as muskets and cannons and was u ...

'' (1947) *''

The Other Love ''The Other Love'' is a 1947 American film noir drama romance film directed by Andre DeToth and starring Barbara Stanwyck, David Niven, and Richard Conte. Written by Ladislas Fodor and Harry Brown based on the story "Beyond" by Erich Maria ...

'' (1947) *'' Body and Soul'' (1947) *'' Four Faces West'' (1948) *'' Arch of Triumph'' (1948) *''

So This Is New York ''So This Is New York'' is a 1948 satirical movie comedy starring acerbic radio and television comedian Henry Morgan and directed by Richard Fleischer. The cynically sophisticated screenplay was written by Carl Foreman and Herbert Baker from the ...

'' (1948) *''

No Minor Vices ''No Minor Vices'' is a 1948 American black-and-white comedy film written by Arnold Manoff and directed by Lewis Milestone with Robert Aldrich as 1st assistant director. Created for David Loew's Enterprise Productions, it was the first of thre ...

'' (1948) *''

'' (1949)

References

Film production companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1946 {{US-film-company-stub