The Universal Story (1996)

Richard Dreyfuss hosts a celebration of the 80 year history of Universal Studios. Founded as IMP by Carl Leammle to oppose Edison's Motion Picture Tust, it soon grew under the leadership of 21 year old production head Irving Thalberg with classic silents from artists like John Ford, Erich Von Stroheim, and Lon Chaney and prospered further in the Sound Era under the leadership of Carl Leammle Jr. with such classics as "All Quiet on The Western Front," "Showboat," and the studio's signature monster franchises, "Frankenstein" and "Dracula." The Leammle's loss of the studio is covered up through it's merger with International pictures in the 40s The 1950s ushered in the studio's star development program with Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis and its star/studio profit-sharing policy that began with James Stewart. The evolution into the modern Universal of today began in the early 60s with its takeover by MCA and the creative leadership of Lew Wasserman and its partnerships with creative filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen Spielberg, Spike Lee, Ron Howard, Clint Eastwood, and Bob Zemeckis.