Goldwyn Pictures

Background

Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was founded in 1916 by Samuel Goldfish (born Schmuel Gelbfisz) in partnership with Broadway producers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn using an amalgamation of both surnames to create the name ("Selfish" was another option). Intrigued with the company's name, Goldfish had his name legally changed to "Samuel Goldwyn". In 1919, the company was purchased by Marcus Loew as a supplier of product for his theater chain.

In 1924, Goldwyn Pictures was merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures, forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

1st Logo (September 16, 1917-1923)

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  Sepia Version
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  End Card Version

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  Chapter Card
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Nicknames: "The Silent/Quiet Lion", "The First Lion"

Logo: We see the original lion, name unknown, nicknamed "Leo" by Samuel Goldwyn, in the circle of a ribbon-like filmstrips which has two filmstrips flowing out the bottom side, which looks like it's in twos. Underneath the circle is a Greek drama mask. A wreath surrounds it. The circle has the phrase "ARS GRATIA ARTIS" [Latin for "Art for Art's Sake"] inscribed at the top, and at the bottom is a marquee that reads "A GOLDWYN PICTURE". On the left side is the word "TRADE", and the right "MARK". The lion moves his head left to right throughout and does not roar, due to movies being silent at the time of this logo's creation.

Trivia: The logo was designed by Howard Dietz, an advertising man and then-recent graduate of Columbia University, who would go on to hold many offices at MGM.

Variant: There was a sepia variant of the logo.

Closing Variant: Somewhere on the screen during the closing credits, we can see the small Goldwyn Pictures print logo, which consists of a lion statue resting on top of a pedestal reading "GOLDWYN PICTURES". We see a lion on a pedestal at the left-bottom of the screen, The film's chapter name is written at the center.

FX/SFX: The lion's head moving. Still in closing variants.

Music/Sounds: None. However, there was a fanfare that was used in one of the films.

Availability: Near extinction, as many films by this company, Metro Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures were destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire. Currently, the only known surviving movies containing this logo are The Ace of Hearts and The Penalty, the latter of which has the logo at the end and is plastered on some prints with the MGM “Lion Marquee” endcap.

2nd Logo (December 1920)

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Nickname: "The Still Lion", "The Painted/Strange Lion"

Logo: A still painting of a lion (name unknown) in a traditional looking MGM logo, but the film ribbon and drama mask can barely be seen. The words "TRADE" and "MARK" still appear on either side of the lion. Instead of the usual marquee, the words "A Goldwyn Picture" appear above the lion in Old English font.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The film's opening fanfare.

Availability: Ultra rare. Only known to appear on What Happened to Rosa. Also appears early on in the 1993 documentary Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic.

Editor's Note: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer logos will later adopt the similar design in 1953 (33 years later), placing the company's name above the circle.

3rd Logo (1923-1924)

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  Rare version of the logo, which appeared on 2011 CBS Sunday morning news broadcast.

Nicknames: "The Silent/Quiet Lion II", "The Slightly Roaring Lion"

Logo: The ribboning and the marquee look the same as the first one, but with a different lion. The logo begins with the lion (name unknown, possibly Slats?) staring to one side, then immediately skips after a second to the lion staring at the other side, then it skips to the lion looking down, turning his head, and looks at the camera. After that, he roars a bit. After a second, it skips to the lion looking directly at the camera.

Variants:

• There is also a sepia-toned version.
• An extremely rare version of this logo was spotted on an 2011 CBS Sunday morning news broadcast. Here, the image of this logo is brighter due to film deterioration, and the position of the lion is different, with him looking at the camera like in the standard version. Currently, this version of the logo is lost due to the vault fire.

FX/SFX: The lion moving with skips throughout the footage, most likely due to film deterioration.

Music/Sounds: None, or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Ultra rare. The only known surviving movies containing this logo are Wild Oranges and Souls for Sale.