What is your favorite movie studio?

Let's hear it for MGM-1939. "Gone with the Wind". "Wizard of Oz" and in 1952 for "Singin' in the Rain". and let's not forget the great epic made in 1925 and 1959, "Ben Hur". I voted for MGM, look at the rooster of stars that they had in the 30's and 40's.

I agree, for the classic period, Metro is the hands down winner for me too. This is no slight to other studios that made great films too, but for a great 'studio' film , M-G-M had the knack, the stars, the track record... and let's not forget all those great Loew's movie palaces that were a part of M-G-M too.

Metro-Goldywn-Mayer was Hollywood's top film studio during Hollywood's Golden and Silver Era which ended in 1959.I hope Sony does a better job with MGM than Kirk Kerkorian. MGM was owned by Loew's Incorporated from 1924 thru 1959. MGM was divorced from Loew's and was an independent major film studio from 1960-1969 and was run into the ground by Kirk Kirkorian from 1969 thru 2005 in which he bought and sold the studio a few times. Sony and financial partners purchased MGM in 2005. Metro-Goldywn-Mayer movies produced between 1924-1986 are owned by Time Warner and movies produced between 1986-2005 are owned by Sony along with the entire United Artists film library. The real MGM is owned by Time Warner and the MGM name along with about 200 films and the United Artists library,Orion,Polygram,Samuel Goldwyn and American International libraries are owned by Sony.brucec

20th (as Fox used to be referred to in pre-Murdoch days) is my favorite because the Zanuck era is so interesting. From the mid 30s through the CinemaScope years to 'Cleopatra' and even into the 70s, 20th really made grand gestures, yet directors like John Ford and Elia Kazan were allowed to do their own thing, at least as far as it would fit into the studio system. Metro may have been the splashiest, and the epitomy of a great Hollywood studio, but to me 20th was a lot more varied and multi-dimentional in what they accomplished. Warners is my runner-up, as it was a tremendously exciting place. I think Jack L. Warner never forgave Zanuck for leaving WB to found 20th Century, so he was always trying to outdo his old employee. But Jack was pretty cheap in the way he ran the studio while Zanuck spent lavishly and flourished.
Honorable mention should be made to the Selznick and Goldwyn studios, who achieved such amazing things.
I think 20th has the best logo, followed by Metro's Leo, the Selznick front office, and the Warner Bros. shield, in its many forms.

Ealing Studios (UK) deserves to be an option here

Let's face it, they were all great. As was United Artists. I voted for Fox because the opening with that great drum roll and fanfare still gives me chills.

I, personally, chose Disney because some of the songs of the Sherman Brothers (Walt's Song Writing Team) and I am a fan of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair.

For the classic days of movie studios, I'd go with MGM. Paramount, Fox, Sony - they're all virtually indistinguishable nowadays, but Ron Meyer and Stacey Snider at Universal routinely work with some of the best producers in town (i.e. - ones who produce smart films which appeal to a wide audience) and, I'd have to say, have a somewhat higher pedigree than their breathren as a result.

I'll take an old RKO movie every time. They didn't churn out the fluff like MGM did.

I'm surprised that Universal got so little, I thought they would fare better.

Warner Bros., especially in the 30's & 40's gets the prize. They cranked out a vast series of stand-outs including Maltese Falcon. Casablanca. Along with all the Bogart flicks, they also had Bette Davis in their line-up.

As for art house distribution houses, Rugoof's Cinema 5 & Reade's Continental presenting groundbreaking films.

I chose RKO as I still consider it my favorite logo--and knowing Morse Code helps!

Fox by far. The logo is the best as were the films, especially the films of the 40's-50's

The Warner Brothers story is pure Hollywood. Their rise to fame, fall from grace then creating some of the greatest films and stars ever is the stuff of legends. Fox has the best logo and "theme music." Disney has the best cartoons, MGM had the greatest musicals... Tough question.

True, I agree with Paul W. Every studio had it's BEST of something, but I still say Fox had the best overall movies and STARS...MM for example...

Thanks for the compliments you two.

MGM, Fox, Warners and Paramount all had awesome films.... but RKO had Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and many great serials came out of Republic. Both of those studios also were only a few blocks from my house on Gower Street in Hollywood growing up.

Christian remember that Fred Astaire was also under contract to MGM from 1948-1957 starting with "Easter Parade" and Ending with "Silk Stockings". Mr Astaire's personal favorite was MGM's 1953 "The Bandwagon". MGM wasn't just about the musicals they also had under contract Greta Garbo,Spencer Tacy and Katherine Hepburn,Clark Gable the King of Hollywood,the underated Joan Crawford,Marx Bros,James Stewart,Myrna Loy,Jean Harlow,Mickey Rooney,Lassie and many more.During the 1950's while Fox had Marilyn Monroe, MGM had Elizabeth Taylor,Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly.MGM not only produced the greatest musicals of all time it also had the three greatest muscial stars of all time under contract Fred Astaire,Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.Here are a few of the classic films produced by MGM, in the 1930's "Mutiny on the Bounty",Gone With The Wind","The Women","Captain Courageous","Camille","The Merry Widow","San Francisco","Test Pilot","Grand Hotel","Dinner at Eight","Queen Cristina","The Thin Man","The Barretts of Wimpole Street","David Copperfield","A Night at the Opera","Anna Karenina","Goodbye Mr Chips","The Wizard of Oz", in the 1940's "The Philidelphia Story","Waterloo Bridge","Woman of the Year","Gaslight","Mrs Miniver","For Me and My Gal","National Velvet","Meet Me in St Louis","Battleground","The Yearling","The Harvey Girls","Easter Parade","Adams Rib","On The Town", in the 1950's "Father of the Bride", "Annie Get Your Gun","King Solomons Mines","The Asphalt Jungle","Quo Vadis","An American In Paris","Singing in the Rain", "The Bandwagon","Mogambo","Seven Brides For Seven Bros","Kiss Me Kate","Bad Day At Black Rock","The Blackboard Jungle","Forbidden Planet","Somebody Up There Likes Me","The Teahouse of the August Moon","Cat On A Hot Tin Roof","Gigi","North By Northwest","Ben Hur", in the 1960's "The Time Machine","How The West Was Won","Lolita","Ride The High Country","The Americanization of Emily","Doctor Zhivago","Blow Up","The Dirty Dozen", "A Patch of Blue" and "2001:A Space Odyssey".These are just a few of the classic films produced by MGM from the 1930's thru the 1960's before Kirk Kirkorian nearly destroyed the studio during the next 35 years.brucec

Warners had the best cartoons, with MGM a fairly close second.

My "other" was Chesterfield Motion Picture Corporation, the finest "B"-studio of all time!

I liked the old RKO flying plane logo. OK: Nealry all of the Hollywood studios had some great pictures whether they were A, B or C pictures! It is a totally subjective question. Even the use of Academy Awards or box office yardsticks do not explain why some people love Citizen Kane, Wizard of Oz or Lawrence of Arabia. Still it is fun to discuss them on this great website.

...- / ...- / ...- / ...- / .- -. / .-. -.- --- / .-. .- -.. .. --- / .--. .. -.-. - ..- .-. . / ...- / ...- / ...- / ...-
V V V V An RKO Radio Picture V V V V

Can you believe?
Without RKO there would be no KING KONG, no Citizen Kane, no Orson Welles, no Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, no Robert Mitchum, no Cat People, no the best noir movies, no the best horror movies produced by Val Lewton.......... I can continue but it' a very long list.
RKO was the most innovative studio.