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.

Contents

1st Logo (September 16, 1917-1923)	2nd Logo (December 1920)	3rd Logo (1923-1924)

1st Logo (September 16, 1917-1923)

Sepia Version
End Card Version
Chapter Card

Logo: On a black background, we see a 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". Inside the circle, we live footage of a lion, name unknown, nicknamed "Leo" by Samuel Goldwyn. 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.

Variant: At the end of The Ace of Hearts, we see a wood background, with the table, with the two masks above, we see the two lions at the center, with the text above are the words "A GOLDWYN PICTURE". We see the title of the movie below the two lions "THE ACE OF HEARTS.". There is also the small mask at the bottom of the table.

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.

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.

Technique: Live-action footage. Still in closing variants.

Music/Sounds: None, or a custom fanfare.

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.

Legacy: This marks the first appearance of the famed lion and filmstrip, which successor MGM would later use. This also marks the first appearance of the tagline "ARS GRATIA ARTIS (ART FOR ART'S SAKE)", which is commonly associated with MGM.

2nd Logo (December 1920)

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.

Variant: We see the words "A GOLDWYN PICTURE." inside the black table with the flowers in the background above.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: The film's opening fanfare.

Availability: Extremely 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.

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

3rd Logo (1923-1924)

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

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 with a slight snarl. 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 1965 MGM vault fire.

Technique: Live-action footage with skips throughout the footage, most likely due to film deterioration.

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

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