U.S. film company. It was founded in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith so that they could produce and distribute their own movies and distribute other independently produced movies.
The first major production company controlled by its artists, it prospered with the films of its founders, including The Gold Rush (1925), and those of producers such as Samuel Goldwyn, Howard R. Hughes, and Alexander Korda. After 1951 it became mainly a distributor, releasing successful movies such as High Noon (1952), Some Like It Hot (1959), and West Side Story (1961). It was sold to TransAmerica Corp. in 1967 and resold to MGM in 1981. By the late 20th century United Artists was a specialty films division of MGM, producing movies such as Leaving Las Vegas (1995), The Birdcage (1996), and Tea with Mussolini (1999).
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