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| Company type | Independent |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film |
| Founded | April 1945 |
| Founder | Frank Capra Samuel J. Briskin |
| Defunct | 1951 |
| Successors | Library: Paramount Pictures (It's a Wonderful Life) Universal Television (State of the Union) |
| Headquarters | California, United States |
Key people | Frank Capra Samuel J. Briskin William Wyler George Stevens |
| Products | Films |
| Owner | Independent (1945–1947) Paramount Pictures (1947–1951) |
Liberty Films was an independent motion picture production company founded inCalifornia byFrank Capra andSamuel J. Briskin in April 1945.[1] It produced only two films, the Christmas classicIt's a Wonderful Life (1946), originally released byRKO Radio Pictures, and the film version of the hit playState of the Union (1948), originally released byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[N 1] Liberty Films' logo was theLiberty Bell ringing loudly.
Capra had made two previous attempts at independent production. He formed Frank Capra Productions in 1939 and producedMeet John Doe, but dissolved it when he joined theU.S. Army Signal Corps in December 1941. Later duringWorld War II he unsuccessfully sought a production partnership with directorLeo McCarey.
All four eventual partners in Liberty Pictures had spent most ofWorld War II as officers making motion pictures for the Army Signal Corps, and were hesitant to return to working under the Hollywoodstudio system.[2] Capra explained his dissatisfaction in an article for theNew York Times:
Briskin had been production chief atColumbia Pictures, where Capra had worked since 1927. Within months of Liberty's incorporation, directorsWilliam Wyler andGeorge Stevens became partners.[4]
Liberty wascapitalized at $1,000,000, and it had a standing bank credit of $3,500,000, for which the four owners were individually and collectively responsible.[5] The ownership was divided unequally among the partners: 32 percent to Capra as president and organizer, 18 percent to Briskin, 25 percent each to Wyler and Stevens. But their voting rights were equal.[6] By dissolving Liberty a few years hence, as the partners planned, they would pay only a 25%capital gains tax on the profits instead of the 90%income tax they would pay on their high salaries at a studio.[7][8]
Liberty contracted in August 1945 to produce nine features for distribution by RKO,[9] three each from the three producer-directors, who were each expected to deliver one picture per year. The production offices of Liberty Films were housed at RKO Studios.
The company announced in November 1945 that its first production would beJames Stewart inIt's a Wonderful Life, produced and directed by Capra.[10] Capra's next pictures were to be adaptations ofJessamyn West's novelThe Friendly Persuasion andAlfred Noyes' novelNo Other Man.[11] William Wyler planned to direct an adaptation ofStendhal'sThe Red and the Black.[12]George Stevens was announced to produce and directOne Big Happy Family, written byJoseph Fields.[13]
The film rights to the playState of the Union were acquired in late 1946, with an intended release before the presidential election in 1948.[14] To obtainSpencer Tracy for the lead role, when he was under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Liberty Films agreed to pay for use of MGM's production facilities to make the picture, and to pay MGM's parent company a percentage distribution fee.[15]
Liberty's first release,It's a Wonderful Life, in December 1946, was a financial failure. Although it was in the top 7% of that year's films as ranked by box officegross, it was unable to recoup its high production cost of $2.3 million,[16] much less show a profit.
The partners sought a major studio to buy Liberty Films before bankforeclosure, although Wyler and Stevens were "violently opposed" to the idea at first;[17]Paramount Pictures bought the company in May 1947.[18] The four partners were given a total of $3,450,000 in Paramount stock, and Capra, Wyler, and Stevens were given five-picture contracts at Paramount.[19]
In the purchase, Paramount acquired Liberty's interest in three movies:It's a Wonderful Life,I Remember Mama (which George Stevens was filming at RKO),[N 2] andState of the Union (not yet filmed). The multi-picture deal at Paramount resulted in Capra directingRiding High andHere Comes the Groom; Stevens directingA Place in the Sun,Something to Live For, andShane; and Wyler directingThe Heiress,Detective Story,Carrie,Roman Holiday, andThe Desperate Hours.[20]
The company was finally dissolved in April 1951. Capra later wrote that the creation of Liberty Films was to "(1) influence the course of Hollywood films, (2) make four former Army officers independently rich, and (3) virtually prove fatal to my professional career."[21]
Incorporated into its pre-1950 catalog, Paramount sold the rights to the film toU.M. & M. TV Corporation in 1955, along with numerous of its short subjects. These were later sold toNational Telefilm Associates, and in turn becameRepublic Pictures, which was sold to Paramount's then-owner, Viacom, in 1999 - hence Paramount (via Melange Pictures) now once again ownsIt's a Wonderful Life.
While selling the 1946 film, Paramount continued to ownState of the Union for another three years, untilMCA acquired most of Paramount's pre-1950 theatrical sound features in 1958 and formedEMKA, Ltd. to hold the copyright. Since MCA bought the US branch ofDecca Records, which then ownedUniversal Studios, in 1962, this explains whyNBCUniversal (via EMKA) owns the rights toState... today.
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