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The only major motion picture studio that’s actually based in Hollywood, Paramount is an expansive 64-acre state-of-the-art production and business center.
During its nearly 100-year history, the studio’s backlot has served as the production site for thousands of notable feature films, television shows and commercials. Paramount’s facilities include thirty sound stages, a newly constructed “Chicago Street,” as well as the historic and popular “New York Street,” which features ten distinct city neighborhood backdrops. Browse around the map and see if you can find familiar spots, like the iconic Paramount Water Tower or the cleverly designed parking lot that turns into a pool for movie scenes on the water.
Paramount’s lineage dates back to 1912, when Adolph Zukor, the owner of a New York nickelodeon, secured American distribution rights to Sarah Bernhardt’s four-reel film, QUEEN ELIZABETH. The film’s triumphant opening on July 12, 1912, as the first full-length drama shown in the United States prompted Zukor to found the Famous Players Film Company. Famous Players began to produce movies in New York, beginning with THE PRISONER OF ZENDA and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. A year later, Zukor invested in a film distribution company named Paramount Pictures.
On June 28, 1916, Paramount’s history was changed forever. The Jesse L. Lasky Company, which was producing films in Hollywood, merged with Famous Players to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. The corporation consolidated its production and distribution divisions, and audiences began seeing the iconic “Paramount Pictures” label.
In 1926, with the merger of the Jesse L. Lasky Company and Famous Players, Lasky supervised the construction of a new Hollywood studio on a 26-acre lot. Located on Marathon Street, the original buildings contained four large sound stages and cost $1 million.
WINGS, the Studio’s 1927 release, received the very first Academy Award® for Best Picture from the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
A silent movie about World War I fighter pilots, WINGS was directed by William A. Wellman. The film starred Clara Bow, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers and Richard Arlen, with Gary Cooper in a scene which helped launch his star in Hollywood, and also marked the beginning of his affair with Clara Bow. WINGS was an immediate success, premiering on August 12, 1927 at the Critereo Theatre in New York and playing 63 weeks before being moved to second-run theaters.
In addition to it receiving the first Best Picture Oscar, WINGS has the distinction of being only silent film in movie history to win in the Best Picture category.
In the mid-thirties as the American economy was coming out of the Great Depression, Paramount sustained its business with memorable Bing Crosby musicals, Cecil DeMille spectacles and the outrageous comedies of Mae West.
Despite the conflicts of World War II, the forties brought Hollywood unprecedented prosperity. Paramount concentrated on films of the escapist variety, and prospered to the tune of over $13 million in profit – and in 1946, crested to a stratospheric $39 million, easily the biggest profit ever registered by any film company.
In addition to its commercial success, the forties proved to be a time of critical acclaim for Paramount films. In 1944, Paramount won its second Best Picture Academy Award® for Leo McCarey’s GOING MY WAY. The very next year, Billy Wilder’s THE LOST WEEKEND took the top prize.
From 1949 to 1956, Paramount Pictures crowded the Academy Award® nominee lists with enduring classics including, THE HEIRESS, SUNSET BOULEVARD, A PLACE IN THE SUN, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952 Academy Winner), ROMAN HOLIDAY, SHANE, THE COUNTRY GIRL, THE ROSE TATTOO and DeMille’s remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
Gulf+Western Industries, Inc. acquired control of Paramount on March 24, 1966. The corporation turned its interest toward the new entertainment division, and on June 5, 1989, G+W was renamed Paramount Communications, Inc.
During those years, Paramount created some of the most iconic movies in American cinematic history including ROMEO AND JULIET (1968), which won two Academy Awards®; TRUE GRIT (1969), which starred the legendary John Wayne; THE GODFATHER(1972), which won three Academy Awards and is considered the film that elevated the gangster drama genre; and CHINATOWN(1974), which was directed by Roman Polanski and starred some of Hollywood’s most celebrated talents, Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston.
In 1986, Paramount captured a 22% share of the domestic box-office revenue, twice that of its closest competitor. In addition, the studio had five of the year’s ten top-grossing films: TOP GUN, CROCODILE DUNDEE, STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME, THE GOLDEN CHILD and FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF.
In 1994, Paramount merged with Viacom Inc. under the leadership of Sumner Redstone, Executive Chairman of the Board and Founder. In January 2006, Viacom split into two separate publicly-traded companies: CBS Corporation and Viacom. The Paramount Motion Picture Group is part of Viacom which also includes MTV Networks, BET Networks, and Famous Music.
