MUMBAI: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) is joining together with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to preserve archives from the United Artists/MGM library. A special signing ceremony was concluded recently by Academy president Sid Ganis and MGM chairman and CEO Harry E. Sloan.
MGM has agreed to present to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Margaret Herrick Library with the United Artists photo archives, including original still photography, publicity materials and paper documents relating to motion pictures released by MGM and United Artists, to be designated as the MGM/United Artists Collection. The Academy will review, restore, catalogue and exhibit the collection as part of its Margaret Herrick Library.
"As one of the world’s most extensive and comprehensive research collections on the subject of motion pictures, the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library has done a superb job of cataloging, restoring, protecting and exhibiting a number of valuable collections, preserving Hollywood’s history for future generations. By making available these photos and documents to the care of the Academy’s Library, we’re ensuring that the vital role of United Artists, its films and its filmmakers will be part of the remarkable and continuing Hollywood story," said Sloan.
"The MGM/United Artists collection of photos, documents and marketing and publicity materials covers an incredibly vibrant era of Hollywood filmmaking history. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with MGM on preserving these important archives and we look forward to sharing it with future generations of filmmakers and historians," said Ganis.
Celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2009, United Artists is responsible for creating some of the finest films of all time including iconic film franchises Rocky, Pink Panther and James Bond as well as critically-acclaimed dramas like Raging Bull and classic comedies such as Some Like It Hot.
The UA library contains nearly 1,000 feature films and boasts more than 80 Academy Award-winning classics including eight Academy Award-winning Best Pictures – Marty, The Apartment, In The Heat of the Night, Annie Hall, Rocky, Rain Man, West Side Story and Midnight Cowboy.
The Margaret Herrick Library, one of the world’s most extensive and comprehensive research collections on motion pictures, was founded in 1928 and was later named for its first librarian. It maintains a world-renowned, non-circulating reference and research collection devoted to the history and development of motion pictures as an art form and as an industry. The library is supported through the Academy Foundation, the educational and cultural arm of the Academy.
