Series Site
In celebration of Columbia Pictures’ centennial, MoMA and the Locarno Film Festival present a series tracing the evolution of Hollywood’s scrappiest major studio. From the Oscar-winning breakthrough of Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934) to the digital-age ambiguities of David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010), the 30 newly restored films in this program illuminate Columbia’s transformation from a “Poverty Row” outfit to a major industry force, highlighting how the studio balanced commercial imperatives with artistic ambition. Under Harry Cohn’s decisive leadership, Columbia came to prominence by fostering distinctive voices like Capra, Howard Hawks, and Budd Boetticher, while nurturing stars from Jean Arthur to Judy Holliday.