United Artists - picture of the day

Actors Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin (in costume as The Tramp) and film director D.W. Griffith announce the formation of the United Artists corporation. The celebrated stars of early Hollywood founded the studio in an attempt to wrest control of all aspects of the production of their films from the big studios of the time. The company, which struggled financially from the very beginning, is currently owned by MGM - one of America's biggest media organisations
Illustration: Photograph: Corbis