United Film Company

Background

United Film Company was an Egyptian film production and distribution company. It was founded in 1945 in Cairo by Egyptian actor and screenwriter Anwar Hagdi and produced about 20 films.

Logo (May 11, 1945-March 28, 1954)

Visuals: On a sky background is the company's emblem: flags of various (and a few former) Arab countries standing on a filmstrip-like banner with the company name and a stylized sun over it. Superimposing the emblem, there are three texts in Arabic, handwritten in Ruq'ah script, meaning the company name, the name of its founder "Anwar Hagdi" between parentheses, and "presents".

Trivia:

The flags are from the 8 original member states of the Arab League, which were, respectively from top-to-bottom: the Kingdom of Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Yemen, the Kingdom of Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine (note the white flag was made up to represent Palestine, since Palestine at the time was a British mandate, thus its official flag was the Union Jack) and Jordan.
The design of the flags was taken directly from a 1945 Egyptian postcard stamp about the establishment of the Arab League.

Variants:

There is an early version where the emblem is set on a moving cloudy background, the text is written in a different script, and the company name on the banner is not seen.
- On its earliest appearance, ليلى بنت الفقراء, the emblem is first seen before the same text wipes in the middle via iris effect.
A textless variant exists where it only consists of the emblem.
- A variant with text exists on دهب where "presents" is in a normal typeface and the style of the flags and text are different.

Technique: A painting filmed by a cameraman.

Audio: A bombastic trumpet fanfare with a drumroll.

Audio Variants:

The opening theme of the film is heard on غزل البنات and ليلى بنت الفقراء.
In فيروز هانم, the fanfare is reorchestrated and the first part of the fanfare was ommitted.

Availability:

This was seen on غزل البنات (The Fliration of Girls), البطل (The Champion), المليونير (The Millionaire), ليلة الحنة (Henna-night), and فيروز هانم (Lady Fayrouz).
The early variant was seen in its first films, such as ليلى بنت الفقراء and ليلى بنت الأغنياء.
The textless variant was seen on حبيب الروح (A Drop of Dew), قطر الندى (Eternal Love), شباك حبيبي (My Beloved's Window), بنت الأكابر (Daughter of the Nobility), and أربع بنات وضابط
The alternate variant was seen on the aforementioned دهب (Dahab).