Universal Studios - History - MCA Takes Over

MCA Takes Over

By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was in trouble. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the mass audience drift away, probably forever. The Music Corporation of America (better known as MCA), mainly a talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA in 1958, for $11 million, renamed Revue Studios. Although MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, MCA was increasingly influential on Universal's product. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal Pictures contracts.

The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. finally took place in mid-1962 as part of MCA -Decca Records merger. The company reverted in name back to Universal Pictures. As a last gesture before getting out of the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1964 MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc., merging the motion pictures and television arms of Universal Pictures Company and Revue Productions (officially renamed as Universal Television in 1966). And so, with MCA in charge, for a few years in the 1960s Universal became what it had never been: a full-blown, first-class movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary (launched in 1964). But it was too late, since the audience was no longer there, and by 1968, the film-production unit began to downsize. Television carried the load, as Universal dominated the American networks, particularly NBC (which later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below), where for several seasons it provided up to half of all prime time shows. An innovation of which Universal was especially proud was the creation in this period of the made-for-television movie.

At this time, Hal Wallis, who had formerly worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson's Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), an original screenplay. Though neither could claim to be a big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle). Wallis retired after making the film Rooster Cogburn at Universal in 1975. This was a sequel to the original True Grit, which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn starred John Wayne reprising his Oscar-winning role from True Grit, and co-starring for the first and only time with Katharine Hepburn. The film was only a moderate success.

Though Universal's film unit did produce occasional hits, among them Airport, The Sting, American Graffiti, Earthquake, and a blockbuster that restored the company's fortunes, Jaws, Universal in the 1970s was primarily a television studio. Weekly series production was the workhorse of the company. There would be other film hits like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, *batteries not included, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and The Blues Brothers, but the film business was still hit-and-miss.