Harry Cohn

Harry Cohn was an American film executive who co-founded Columbia Pictures and led the studio as president from 1932 until his death in 1958.

Frank Capra: An Italian-American film director whose Columbia films helped establish the studio’s prestige in the 1930s. His Columbia partnership with Cohn produced the studio’s early prestige hits, including It Happened One Night.
Studio system: The Hollywood model in which major companies controlled film production, distribution, and often exhibition. Cohn’s presidency was exercised within this system of centralized studio control.
It Happened One Night: A 1934 romantic comedy directed by Frank Capra and released by Columbia Pictures. Its success helped establish Columbia as a maker of prestigious feature films under Cohn.
Mogul: A powerful business leader who exercises substantial control over an industry or company. Cohn exemplified the concentrated authority associated with Hollywood’s studio chiefs.
Rita Hayworth: An American actress and dancer who became one of Hollywood’s leading stars during the 1940s. Cohn shaped her Columbia career and promoted her as the studio’s major star.
Columbia Pictures: An American film studio founded in 1918 that became one of Hollywood’s major production companies. This was the company Cohn co-founded and controlled for decades.
The Awful Truth: A 1937 romantic comedy directed by Leo McCarey and starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. Columbia’s release demonstrated the studio’s ability to produce acclaimed screwball comedy.
Hollywood blacklist: The exclusion of entertainment workers accused of communist ties from employment in the United States film industry. Cohn’s Columbia leadership placed him within the studio executives’ response to blacklist pressures.
Jean Arthur: An American actress known for her distinctive voice and comic performances in Hollywood films. Her long Columbia career reflected both Cohn’s eye for talent and his difficult relations with performers.
Hollywood studio era: The period when a small group of major studios dominated American film production, roughly from the 1920s to the 1960s. Cohn’s career coincided with the peak and decline of this studio-dominated order.

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