Allied Artists International

Producer Walter Mirisch began at Monogram Pictures after World War II as assistant to studio head Samuel "Steve" Broidy. He convinced Broidy that the days of low-budget films were ending, and in 1946, Monogram created a new unit, Allied Artists Productions, to make costlier films.

At a time when the average Hollywood picture cost about $800,000 (and the average Monogram picture cost about $90,000), Allied Artists' first release, It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), cost more than $1,200,000.[4] Subsequent Allied Artists releases were more economical but did have enhanced production values; many of them were filmed in color.

In July 1948 Monogram reported a loss of $978,000. The following year the loss was $850,000 although Broidy thought the company would go into profit the following year.[5]

The studio's new policy permitted what Mirisch called "B-plus" pictures, which were released along with Monogram's established line of B fare. In September 1952, Monogram announced that henceforth it would only produce films bearing the Allied Artists name. The studio ceased making movies under the Monogram brand name in 1953 (but was later reactivated by Allied Artists International). The parent company became Allied Artists, with Monogram Pictures becoming an operating division.

Allied Artists did retain a few vestiges of its Monogram identity, continuing its popular Stanley Clements action series (through 1953), its B-Westerns (through 1954), its Bomba, the Jungle Boy adventures (through 1955), and especially its breadwinning comedy series with The Bowery Boys (through 1957 with Clements replacing Leo Gorcey). For the most part, however, Allied Artists was heading in new, ambitious directions under Mirisch.

In 1951–52 Broidy announced Walter Mirisch would be head of production and would make 45 films.[6]

For a time in the mid-1950s the Mirisch family had great influence at Allied Artists, with Walter as executive producer, his brother Marvin as head of sales, and brother Harold as corporate treasurer. They pushed the studio into big-budget filmmaking, signing contracts with William Wyler, John Huston, Billy Wilder and Gary Cooper.[7]

But when their first big-name productions, Wyler's Friendly Persuasion and Wilder's Love in the Afternoon were box-office flops in 1956–57, studio-head Broidy retreated into the kind of pictures Monogram had always favored: low-budget action and thrillers. Mirisch Productions then had success releasing their films through United Artists.

In March 1965 Allied reported a loss of $1,512,000. The previous year they recorded a loss of $161,000. A shareholder revolt saw Broidy replaced as chairman by Claude Giroux in February 1965. Broidy resigned form the company in August to become a producer.[8]

Allied Artists ceased production in 1966 and became a distributor of foreign films, but restarted production with the 1972 release of Cabaret and followed it the next year with Papillon. Both were critical and commercial successes, but high production and financing costs meant they were not big money makers for Allied. In 1975 Allied distributed the French import film version of Story of O but spent much of its earnings defending itself from obscenity charges.[9]

French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard dedicated his 1960 film Breathless to Monogram, citing the studio's films as a major influence.[10]

The company lasted until 1979, when runaway inflation and high production costs pushed it into bankruptcy. The post-August 17, 1946 Monogram/Allied Artists library was bought by television producer Lorimar Productions; today a majority of this library belongs to Warner Bros. Entertainment. The pre-1936 Monogram library became incorporated into that of Republic Pictures, today a part of ViacomCBS-owned Paramount Pictures.

In 1971, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation formed subsidiary Allied Artists Records.[11]

Following the 1979 bankruptcy of Allied Artists Pictures,[12] Allied Artists Records sought to expand its trademark and service mark rights to include all forms of entertainment, including those previously held by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. By 1988, Allied Artists Records claimed recording artists such as Lionel Richie, Lawrence Welk, Bob Seger, and Ted Nugent.[13] Allied Artists Records (now Allied Artists Music Group)'s roster includes Coolio, David Hasselhoff and Renegade.[14] In 2000, it was announced that Allied Artists Records would issue a Spanish-language recording by actor David Hasselhoff.[15]