The company originally distributed and acquired art-house films from around the world to U.S. audiences; they soon added original productions to their roster as well, starting with
The Golden Seal in 1983. In succeeding years, the Goldwyn company was able to obtain (from Samuel Sr.'s estate) the rights to all films produced under the elder Goldwyn's supervision, including the original
Bulldog Drummond (1929),
Arrowsmith (1931), and
Guys and Dolls (1955). The company also acquired some distribution rights to several films and television programs that were independently produced but released by other companies, including
Sayonara, the
Hal Roach–produced
Laurel & Hardy–starring vehicle
Babes in Toyland (1934), the
Flipper television series produced by
MGM Television, the
Academy Award–winning
Tom Jones (1963), and the
Rodgers and Hammerstein film productions of
South Pacific (1958) and
Oklahoma! (1955), as well as the
CBS Television adaptation of
Cinderella (1965). Animated films include
Swan Lake,
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp,
The Care Bears Movie,
The Chipmunk Adventure and
Rock-a-Doodle. Among the television programs in the Goldwyn company's library are the television series
American Gladiators,
Gladiators (UK),
Gladiators (Australia),
Gladiators: Train 2 Win, and
Steve Krantz's miniseries
Dadah Is Death. In 1991, after a merger with Heritage Entertainment, Inc., the company went public as
Samuel Goldwyn Entertainment. Heritage and Goldwyn attempted to merge during late 1990, but the plans fell apart while Heritage went through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The merger also allowed Goldwyn to inherit the
Landmark Theatres chain, which was a unit of Heritage. That company and its library were acquired by
Metromedia on July 2, 1996, for US$125 million. To coincide with the purchase, the Samuel Goldwyn Company was renamed
Goldwyn Entertainment Company, and was reconstituted as a subsidiary of Metromedia's
Orion Pictures unit. That year, Orion and Goldwyn became part of the Metromedia Entertainment Group (MEG). Goldwyn became the specialty films unit of MEG, though they would seek out films with crossover appeal. While Orion and Goldwyn would share the overhead costs, the production/acquisition operations would operate independently from each other. In 1997, Metromedia sold its entertainment group to
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for $573 million, making that company's film library the largest at the time. The Landmark Theatres group, which Metromedia did not sell to MGM, was taken over by Silver Cinemas, Inc. on April 27, 1998. In September 1997, Goldwyn Entertainment Company was renamed to
Goldwyn Films and separated from Orion. The company remained a specialty films unit and an international sales holder. A month later, Samuel Goldwyn Jr. sued MGM and Metromedia, claiming that he was abruptly let go of the company despite promises that he would continue to run it under different ownership. Another concern in the lawsuit was the use of the Goldwyn name, with the defendants being accused of "palming off specialized films produced or acquired by" the unit as though the plaintiff was still involved in its management. As part of the settlement, MGM agreed to change the name of the company to
G2 Films in January 1999. In June 1999, MGM announced that it would restructure
United Artists as an arthouse film producer/distributor to solely focus on competing with
Disney's
Miramax Films. They also announced that G2 Films would be folded under UA and would be renamed as
United Artists International, with the same management and staff. UAI's new role would be handling the international sales for UA films overseas. In July 2000, MGM announced that it would close down United Artists International, with the possibility of forming a UK-based production operation in its place. MGM stated that the closure had been planned as early as December 1999, stating that lucrative international TV output deals had affected the box office results for UA's recent films internationally, and that it was easier to handle the distribution of the films under their new overseas distribution agreement with
20th Century Fox that was due to begin in November of that year. After the agreement started, UAI was folded into MGM's own operations. The younger Goldwyn has since gone on to found
Samuel Goldwyn Films. This successor company has continued to release independent films such as
What the Bleep Do We Know!? and the Academy Award–nominated
The Squid and the Whale. Since the new Goldwyn company was formed, MGM currently holds much of the original Goldwyn Company's holdings (including, with few exceptions, the non-Goldwyn-produced properties) that would end up with the library of
Orion Pictures, now an MGM division. However, the Goldwyn Productions library is controlled by the Goldwyn family & licensed to
Warner Bros. Pictures, except for
The Hurricane, whose ownership returned to its original distributor,
United Artists (also an MGM division). == Filmography ==