Hal Roach Studios was an American

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

and, through its TV production subsidiary, Hal Roach Television Corporation,

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer

Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...

and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on July 23, 1914. The studio lot, at 8822 Washington Boulevard in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 ...

, was built in 1920, at which time Rolin was renamed to ''Hal E. Roach Studios''. The first series in Hal Roach Studios were the ''Willie Work'' comedies, with first short being '' Willie Runs the Park''.

History

Roach saw significant success in the 1920s with series of short comedy films featuring stars such as

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

Snub Pollard Harold Fraser (9 November 1889 – 19 January 1962), known professionally as Snub Pollard, was an Australian-born vaudevillian who became a silent film comedian in Hollywood, popular in the 1920s. Career Born in Melbourne, Australia, on 9 No ...

, and the ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' kids. The studio produced both short films and features for distribution through

Pathé Exchange Pathé Exchange, commonly known as Pathé, was an American film production and distribution company, largely of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's silent film, silent era. Known for its trailblazing newsreel and wide array of short film, s ...

until 1927, when it signed a new distribution deal with

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. By the early 1930s, the studio had entered a golden age, with a line-up of many of film's most popular comedians, including

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

Charley Chase Charles Joseph Parrott (October 20, 1893 – June 20, 1940), known professionally as Charley Chase, was an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director. He worked for many pioneering comedy studios but is chiefly associated with pro ...

, ''Our Gang'', Thelma Todd, and

Zasu Pitts ZaSu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, starred in many silent film drama film, dramas, such as Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic ''Greed (1924 film), Greed'', along wi ...

. As movie theaters began to favor

double feature The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...

s over single-feature programs with added short films—Roach's specialty—the studio's focus shifted from shorts to features, such as '' Topper'' and Laurel and Hardy's '' Way Out West'' (both 1937). In 1938, the studios began distributing its titles through

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 ...

, selling the ''Our Gang'' short film unit to MGM. In the early 1940s, Roach began producing "

streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor " bullet trains". Less commonly, the term i ...

" features—shorter films running 40–50 minutes, intended for exhibition as

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

s. From 1942 to 1945, the studio was leased to the First Motion Picture Unit for the production of training and propaganda films, primarily for the Army Air Forces. The studio was nicknamed "Fort Hal Roach". From 1943, Roach licensed revivals of his sound-era productions for theatrical and home-movie distribution. Following the War, Roach became the first Hollywood producer to go to an all-color production schedule, making four streamliners in

Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel an ...

. With the television boom of the late 1940s, Roach shifted to TV production with Hal Roach Television Corporation and produced ''

Fireside Theatre ''Fireside Theatre'' (later known as ''Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Jane Wyman Theatre, The Jane Wyman Show'' and ''Jane Wyman Presents'') is an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the firs ...

'', ''

Amos 'n' Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' was an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago then later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio sho ...

'', '' The Public Defender'', ''

The Life of Riley ''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, as well as two different television series, and a comic book. Radio series The radio program initially aired on the B ...

'' and '' The Stu Erwin Show''. In April 1959, the studio was closed due to bankruptcy under the management of Roach's son Hal Roach Jr.Ward, pp. 153-156. Hal Sr. returned to try to resurrect it; but by December 1962, the lot was permanently closed. In August 1963, the lot was demolished after several auctions and sales of the company's assets. Hal Roach Jr. died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in 1972. Hal Sr. sold his interest in Hal Roach Studios to a Canadian investment group in 1971; he died in 1992. As a corporate entity, Hal Roach Studios survived into the 1980s, managing the rights to its catalog, primarily the Laurel and Hardy films, and sporadic new productions such as ''

Kids Incorporated ''Kids Incorporated'' (also known as ''Kids Inc.'') is an American children's television program that began production in the mid-1980s and continued airing into the mid-1990s. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performances as ...

''. It also became a pioneer in digital

film colorization Film colorization (American English; or colourisation/colorisation [both British English], or colourization [Canadian English and Oxford English]) is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia tone, sepia, or other mo ...

, purchasing a 50% interest in pioneering company Colorization, Inc. Through Colorization, Inc., Hal Roach Studios produced colorized versions of classic black-and-white Roach films, beginning with ''Topper'' and ''Way Out West'', and became the first studio to distribute colorized films in 1985. Roach's Colorization, Inc. colorized films from other studios as well. On July 17, 1986, Hal Roach Studios inked an agreement with film production company Otto Preminger Films to colorize four black-and-white Otto Preminger movies for television syndication. On August 8, 1986, Hal Roach Studios and Robert Halmi, Inc. partnered with book publisher Grolier to set up a home video arm, Grolier Home Video, to produce adaptations of Grolier's book properties. In 1986, the company made an offer to buy Rastar Productions, but it was turned down in 1987. The company was gradually acquired from 1985 to 1988 by RHI Entertainment (today Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment). The company had completed the merger by 1987. Australian financial company

Qintex Qintex Limited was an Australian financial services company founded on 1 April 1975, as Takeovers, Equities & Management Securities (TEAM). Its headquarters was in Brisbane, Australia. Its main shareholder and managing director was Christophe ...

joined the board, a prelude to their full takeover of the company by 1988.

References

{{Authority control Silent film studios Defunct American film studios Film distributors of the United States Film production companies of the United States Film studios in Southern California Culver City, California Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1914 Mass media companies established in 1914 Mass media companies disestablished in 1961 1914 establishments in California 1961 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles American companies established in 1914 American companies disestablished in 1961