by Vince Keenan

The 1919 founding of United Artists was greeted with disdain. “So the lunatics have taken charge of the asylum,” Metro Pictures president Richard Rowland remarked when a quartet of Hollywood luminaries went into business for themselves. But UA’s long, storied run—“from Way Down East to Raging Bull ,” in the words of critic David Thomson—taught the valuable lesson that “the most creative people in the picture business should do all they can to look after each other. No one else is going to do it.” Almost as impressive as UA’s artistic legacy, three of the company’s four principals have cocktails named after them. Nobody ever ordered a Thalberg. Or a Selznick Fizz.  Continue reading →