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HISTORY After Thomas Ince 's alliance with D. W. Griffith and Mack Sennett went sour, he entered into a five-year lease agreement with Harry Culver for a new 14 acre studio fronting on Washington Blvd. It took two years to build the ''Thomas H. Ince Studio'', and on December 1 1918 a Los Angeles newspaper called it a ''motion picture plant that looks like a beautiful Southern estate.'' The studio was planned by ''Meyer and Holler'' of the ''Milwaukee Building Company''. Ince, a visionary in the industry, promoted the glamour of moviemaking with a reverence. He entertained the King and Queen of Belgium, and President Woodrow Wilson . The administration building became a well-known landmark, and Ince was rapidly expanding his successful facility. In the early days, the studio fire chief also acted as the city fire chief. But in November 1924, amidst clouded circumstances, Thomas Harper Ince fell ill on William Randolph Hearst 's yacht, and reportedly died of a heart attack. His wife Elinor K. Ince , once a talent agent, took the reins until the next year, when it became ''De Mille Studios''. Harry Culver spoke at the rededication, and Cecil B. De Mille became famous for his big budget movies, like ''King of Kings''. De Mille worked out a deal with ''Producers Distributing Corp''. and ''Cinema Corp. of America'' was formed as a holding company for ''PDC'' and ''De Mille Pictures Corp''. Keith-Albee-Orpheum purchased half interest in ''PDC'' and ''Radio Corp. of America'' bought in. ''Pathe Exchange Inc''. merged with ''PDC/K-A-O/DeMille'' to become ''RKO'' in 1928, ''RKO-Pathe'' in 1930. Backlot area was added just south of the studio in 1931. Joseph Kennedy , who attempted to raise movies to an art form, had a financial interest in the studio during the Pathe years. Some of the stars working in those early years were Bette Davis , Robert Mitchum , Cary Grant , Carole Lombard , Katharine Hepburn , Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers . ''King Kong'' was released in 1933, and those sets were later torched to make movie magic as ''the burning of Atlanta'' for '' Gone With The Wind ''. By 1935, the studio was known as ''Selznick International''. David O. Selznick was the son-in-law of MGM studio chief, Louis B. Mayer , which explains ''GWTH's MGM's'' release. ''A Star is Born'', ''Intermezzo'', ''Rebecca'' and ''Citizen Kane'' also contributed to the studio's fame. Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock enjoyed great success on the lot. In the early 1950s, even with Howard Hughes ' backing, ''RKO'' went downhill. The Desilu name appeared on the lawn about 1956, and for the next 15 years, television was most important. The back lot provided locals with peeks at series like ''The Untouchables'', ''Hogan's Heroes'', the ''Real Mc Coys,'' and ''Lassie.'' The studio was sold in 1968 to ''Perfect Film and Chemical'', which unloaded the back lot, then to ''OSF Industries'' in 1969, and become ''Culver City Studios'' in 1970. In 1977, the studio became ''Laird International Studios'', a rental facility. When Laird filed Chapter 11 in 1986, ''Grant Tinker'' and ''Gannett'' (USA Today), paired to purchase the lot as ''GTG Entertainment''. Land in the next block was acquired, but construction was held in abeyance as the partnership was dissolved to leave Gannett a long distance owner. The famed lot where Steven Spielberg filmed '' E.T. '' was up for sale, and in 1991 it became a part of the ''Sony Pictures Entertainment'' family. During that decade, ''SPE'' also completed their plans for a new structure in the block east of the studio. ''SPE'' sold the studio to ''Pacific Coast Capital Partners'', ''Studio City Los Angeles'' in 2004. Culver Studios has also been home to well-known TV shows over the years, including ''Lassie'', ''Batman'' and '' The Andy Griffith Show '' along with such recent hits as '' The Nanny '', '' Deal Or No Deal? '' and '' Mad About You ''. SOURCES |
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