Twentieth (20th) Century Fox is shorthand for Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation which is an American movie studio located in the Century City area just west of Beverly Hills, California. The studio is a subsidiary of News Corporation, the Australian media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch.
On July 23, 1926, Fox Film bought the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound on to film.
Founder William Fox was forced out of Fox Film, and new leadership under president Sidney Kent in 1935 merged with Twentieth Century Pictures (formed 1933 when producer Darryl F. Zanuck left Warner Brothers to produce under Joseph Schenck, former head of United Artists and brother of Nicholas Schenck.)
The hyphen was dropped from the studio's name in 1985.
The studio's notable films include:
1930s
1940s
- The Mark of Zorro (1940)
- The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
- How Green Was My Valley (1941)
- The Black Swan (1942)
- The Song of Bernadette (1943)
- The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
- The Gang's All Here (1943)
- Heaven Can Wait (1943)
- My Friend Flicka (1943)
- Jane Eyre (1944)
- Laura (1944)
- State Fair (1945)
- Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
- Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
- The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
- Gentlemen's Agreement (1947)
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
- Sitting Pretty (1948, and sequels, plus a TV series in the 1980s)
- Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
1950s
The famous Fox Fanfare by Alfred Newman first accompanied the Fox logo in 1951. The longer version was originally used only on Cinemascope productions.
- All About Eve (1950)
- Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- Viva Zapata! (1952)
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
- The Robe (1953) (the first film in Cinemascope)
- How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
- Carmen Jones (1954)
- River of No Return (1954)
- The Seven Year Itch (1955)
- Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
- The King and I (1956)
- Anastasia (1956)
- Carousel (1956)
- Bus Stop (1956)
- The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
- Peyton Place (1957)
- Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
- The Fly (1958)
- The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
- The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
1960s
- The Hustler (1961)
- The Longest Day (1962)
- Cleopatra (1963)
- Zorba the Greek (1964)
- Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
- The Sound of Music (1965)
- The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
- Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965)
- The Sand Pebbles (1966)
- Batman: The Movie (1966)
- Our Man Flint (1966)
- Doctor Doolittle (1967)
- Valley of the Dolls (1967)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- Star! (1968)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- Hello, Dolly! (1969)
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
1970s
- Planet of The Apes sequels (1970-1973)
- M*A*S*H (1970)
- Patton (1970)
- Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
- Myra Breckinridge (1970)
- The French Connection (1971) and its numeraled sequel (1975)
- The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
- The Paper Chase (1973)
- Harry and Tonto (1974)
- The Towering Inferno (1974) (co-production with Warner Bros.)
- Young Frankenstein (1974)
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
- Silent Movie (1976)
- The Omen (1976)
- Star Wars (1977)
- Julia (1977)
- High Anxiety (1977)
- Breaking Away (1979)
- Norma Rae (1979)
- All That Jazz (1979)
- Alien (1979)
1980s
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Nine to Five (1980)
- History of the World, Part 1 (1981)
- Porky's (1981)
- Eating Raoul (1981)
- Return of the Jedi (1983)
- The King of Comedy (1983)
- Bachelor Party (1984)
- Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
- Romancing the Stone (1984)
- Cocoon (1985)
- Aliens (1986)
- Broadcast News (1987)
- Wall Street (1987)
- Die Hard (1988)
- Working Girl (1988)
- Big (1988)
1990s
- Home Alone (1990)
- Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
- Hot Shots! (1991)
- Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
- Speed (1994)
- Independence Day (1996)
- Titanic (1997) (co-production with Paramount Pictures)
- Bulworth (1998)
- There's Something About Mary (1998)
- How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Anna and the King (1999)
2000s
Despite suggestions that the studio should change its name to Twenty-first Century Fox it did not do so.
- Big Momma's House (2000)
- Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)
- X-Men (2000)
- Cast Away (2000)
- Freddie Got Fingered (2001)
- From Hell (2001)
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Just Married (2003)
Notable TV series
- The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-1963)
- Lost in Space (1965-1968)
- Room 222 (1969-1974)
- Nanny and the Professor (1970-1971)
- M*A*S*H (1972-1983) (from the film of the same name)
- Trapper John, M.D. (1979-1986)
- Mr. Belvedere (1985-1990) (based on the film Sitting Pretty and its 2 sequels)
- L.A. Law (1986-1994)
- The Tracey Ullman Show (1987-1990)
- The Simpsons (1989-present)
- Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993)
- In Living Color (1990-1994)
- NYPD Blue (1993-present)
- King of the Hill (1997-present)
- Family Guy (1999-2002)
- Futurama (1999-2003)
- Malcolm in the Middle (2000-present)
- The Bernie Mac Show (2001-present)
- 24 (2001-present)
Related articles
Twentieth Century Fox is also the punning title of a song by The Doors on their self-titled debut album (1967), referring to a foxy lady.