In 1917 he merged his production company with All-Star Feature Films
Corp., owned by brothers
Edgar Selwyn and
Archibald Selwyn, creating the Goldwyn Pictures Corp. The symbol
of the new company was a reclining lion, surrounded by a banner made
from a strip of celluloid film with the words "Ars Gratia Artis"
("Art for Art's Sake") at the top, which was designed by
Howard Dietz. The
trademark adorned the front gate of the studio's Culver City,
CA, production facilities, which ranked with the finest in
Hollywood (the inspiration for the original "Leo the Lion" likely were
the stone lions at the New York Public Library on 44th St., which was
across from the All-Star Feature Corp.'s offices). Goldfish liked the
name of the new studio so much that he renamed himself Samuel Goldwyn. He
was forced out of the company in 1922. It was merged with Loew's Inc.'s
Metro Pictures in 1924 through a stock swap, creating Metro-Goldwyn,
which subsequently merged with
Louis B. Mayer Productions, and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was born--even though Goldwyn himself had nothing to do with the company that bore his name (he tried legal action to prevent the new company from using it, but lost). Goldwyn, who had also been ousted from an
earlier company he had owned, did not get along well with partners and
remained an independent producer for the rest of his career.
