Unlike his fellow studio moguls,

Adolf Zucor was more interested in the business Unlike his fellow studio moguls,

Adolf Zucor was more interested in the business side of Paramount pictures than in the creative side.

Under his leadership, Paramount released more films than any other studio, making it the Ford Motor Company of Hollywood.

And under his leadership, Paramount's business practices

attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music century. Episode 409,

Famous Players and Famous Plays

This episode is the fifth in our series on the major Hollywood film studios of the era,

and today we are going to take a look at the number two studio of the time, Paramount Pictures.

Paramount is the second oldest American film studio still in business in our time.

The oldest is universal. Paramount's origins trace back to Adolf Zucor, a Jewish-Hungarian

born in 1873. He lost both of his parents by the age of seven and emigrated to the United States, the land of opportunity, at the age of 18.

He secured an apprenticeship with a furrier.

By the age of 20, he owned his own business, designing, sewing, and selling furs.

His company quickly expanded, and Zucor became quite wealthy.

The land of opportunity indeed. In 1903, when Zucor was 30, he was approached by his cousin, Max

Goldstein. Max owned a chain of movie theaters in upstate New York, and was looking for money with which to expand his business.

Max got the loan,

and Zucor developed an interest in owning his own chain of Nickelodeons.

As was the case with many theater owners, as we've seen,

...