Commonwealth_United_Entertainment

Commonwealth United Entertainment

Commonwealth United Entertainment

Defunct American film production and distribution company

Commonwealth United Entertainment (generally referred to as Commonwealth United; abbreviated as CUE), formerly known as Television Enterprises Corporation (abbreviated as TEC), was an American film & TV production and distribution company active to 1971. It was headed by Milton T. Raynor.[1]

Quick Facts Industry, Defunct ...

The company was sometimes considered one of the "instant majors" of the late 1960s.[li 1] It's parent company briefly operated a record label, Commonwealth United Records (abbreviated as CUR),[2] as well as a TV production & distribution company, Commonwealth United Television (abbreviated as CUT).[3] It produced films through its in-house film studio, Commonwealth United Productions (abbreviated as CUP),[4] which would eventually become Commonwealth United Pictures (abbreviated as CUP).[5]

History

Quick Facts Industry, Predecessor ...

Commonwealth United Corporation (abbreviated as CUC) was originally a real estate holding company formed in 1961 as the Real Properties Corporation. It changed its name to CUC in 1965.[6] In 1967, CUC acquired TEC.[li 1] Milton T. Raynor moved to California and became vice-president at TEC. Later, Raynor took over ownership.[1]

Commonwealth United Entertainment

In 1967, CUC acquired The Landau-Unger Company, with Ely Landau becoming president and CEO and Oliver A. Unger as executive vice-president.[7] It also acquired TEC[li 1] and was renamed Commonwealth United.[1] In 1967, Commonwealth United produced 17 theatrical films and purchased publishing and recording interests.[li 1] The Max Factor family financed That Cold Day in the Park, a movie directed by Robert Altman that Commonwealth United released in 1969.[li 2] By 1971, Commonwealth United was $80 million in debt. The company's film rights, foreign and domestic, were acquired by National Telefilm Associates and American International Pictures respectively.[li 1]

Select Credits

References

  1. [1]
    (24 April 2002). Milton Raynor obituary. Variety. accessed September 22, 2012.
  2. [2]
    "Commonwealth United Records USA". A division of Commonwealth United Corporation
  3. [3]
    International Television Almanac. Quigley Publishing Company. 1972. Commonwealth United Television , Inc. ( A division of Commonwealth United Corp- oration . )
  4. [4]
    Goudsouzian, Aram (2004). Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-2843-4. Producer: Ely Landau, Commonwealth United Productions
  5. [5]
    "Billboard" (PDF).
  6. [6]
    Slide, Anthony The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry Routledge, 25 Feb 2014
  7. [7]
    "Commonwealth Buy of Landau-Unger To Give Show Biz Accent to Holding Co". Variety. August 9, 1967. p. 7.
  1. [L 1]
    Page 10.
  2. [L 2]
    The Auteur Cinema. Page 89.
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