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 most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

from 1918 to 1923 and Hollywood 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 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 stud ...

. 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 ''Cosmopolitan'' is an American monthly fashion and entertainment magazine for women, first published based in New York City in March 1886 as a family magazine; it was later transformed into a literary magazine and, since 1965, has become a wome ...

(from which Hearst took the film company's name), as well as '' Harpers Bazaar'', 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 Sidney Olcott (born John Sidney Allcott, September 20, 1872 – December 16, 1949) was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter. Biography Born John Sidney Allcott in Toronto, he became one of the first great direc ...

. The sets had been designed by

Joseph Urban Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872 – July 10, 1933) was an Austrian-American architect, illustrator, and scenic designer. Life and career Joseph Urban was born on May 26, 1872, in Vienna. He received his first architectural commission at age 19 wh ...

. 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 Block booking is a system of selling multiple films to a theater as a unit. Block booking was the prevailing practice among Hollywood's major studios from the turn of the 1930s until it was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in '' Un ...

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 through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

until 1934 when a disagreement with

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...

over the film '' Marie Antoinette'' led Cosmopolitan to go to

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

p.189 Procter, Ben H. ''William Randolph Hearst: Final Edition, 1911-1951'' 2007 Oxford University Press

Legacy

Robert G. Vignola 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 ''Show People'' is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by King Vidor. The film was a starring vehicle for actress Marion Davies and actor William Haines and included notable cameo appearances by many of the film personalities of the d ...

'' (1928), '' The Patsy'' (1928) and ''

Not So Dumb ''Not So Dumb'' is a 1930 pre-Code comedy motion picture starring Marion Davies, directed by King Vidor, and produced for Cosmopolitan Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the stage play ''Dulcy'' by George S. Kaufman and Ma ...

'' (1930), each starring Davies. One film without Davies was ''

The Mask of Fu Manchu ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932) is an American pre-Code adventure film directed by Charles Brabin. Written by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allan Woolf and John Willard, it was based on the 1932 novel of the same name by Sax Rohmer (the sixth in the serie ...

'' (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 ''Young Mr. Lincoln'' is a 1939 American biographical drama western film about the early life of President Abraham Lincoln, directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought for control of the film, to ...

'' (released 1939), Michael Curtiz with '' Captain Blood'' (released 1936), and Howard Hawks with ''

Ceiling Zero ''Ceiling Zero'' is a 1936 American adventure drama film directed by Howard Hawks and starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. The picture stars Cagney as daredevil womanizing pilot "Dizzy" Davis and O'Brien as Jake Lee, his war veteran buddy a ...

'' (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