derek-thomas/squad-v1.1-t5-question-generation huggingface dataset:
When Pasternak stopped producing Durbin's pictures, and she outgrew her screen persona and pursued more dramatic roles, the studio signed 13-year-old Gloria Jean for her own series of Pasternak musicals from 1939; she went on to star with Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, and Donald O'Connor. A popular Universal film of the late 1930s was Destry Rides Again (1939), starring James Stewart as Destry and Marlene Dietrich in her comeback role after leaving Paramount Studios.

Question: How old was Gloria Jean in 1939? Question: In what year was Destry Rides again produced? Question: Along with Donald O'Connor and Bing Crosby, with whom did Gloria Jean star? Question: Who played Destry in Destry Rides Again? Question: Prior to working at Universal, what studio employed Marlene Dietrich?
By the early 1940s, the company was concentrating on lower-budget productions that were the company's main staple: westerns, melodramas, serials and sequels to the studio's horror pictures, the latter now solely B pictures. The studio fostered many series: The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys action features and serials (1938–43); the comic adventures of infant Baby Sandy (1938–41); comedies with Hugh Herbert (1938–42) and The Ritz Brothers (1940–43); musicals with Robert Paige, Jane Frazee, The Andrews Sisters, and The Merry Macs (1938–45); and westerns with Tom Mix (1932–33), Buck Jones (1933–36), Bob Baker (1938–39), Johnny Mack Brown (1938–43); Rod Cameron (1944–45), and Kirby Grant (1946–47).

Question: During what period were the Little Tough Guys films produced? Question: Over what span were the Baby Sandy films made? Question: In what period did Universal produce Hugh Herbert comedies? Question: When did Universal make Tom Mix westerns? Question: In what span did Universal produce westerns with Kirby Grant?
Universal could seldom afford its own stable of stars, and often borrowed talent from other studios, or hired freelance actors. In addition to Stewart and Dietrich, Margaret Sullavan, and Bing Crosby were two of the major names that made a couple of pictures for Universal during this period. Some stars came from radio, including Edgar Bergen, W. C. Fields, and the comedy team of Abbott and Costello (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello). Abbott and Costello's military comedy Buck Privates (1941) gave the former burlesque comedians a national and international profile.

Question: Along with Abbott and Costello and Edgar Bergen, what radio star appeared in Universal films? Question: What two performers were known as the team Abbott and Costello? Question: What military comedy did Bud Abbott and Lou Costello star in?
During the war years Universal did have a co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang, lending the studio some amount of prestige productions. Universal's core audience base was still found in the neighborhood movie theaters, and the studio continued to please the public with low- to medium-budget films. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in new Sherlock Holmes mysteries (1942–46), teenage musicals with Gloria Jean, Donald O'Connor, and Peggy Ryan (1942–43), and screen adaptations of radio's Inner Sanctum Mysteries with Lon Chaney, Jr. (1943–45). Alfred Hitchcock was also borrowed for two films from Selznick International Pictures: Saboteur (1942) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943).

Question: Who was the directorial partner of Walter Wanger? Question: In what period did Basil Rathbone star in a series of Sherlock Holmes films? Question: In what period did film versions of Inner Sanctum Mysteries appear? Question: In what year was Shadow of a Doubt produced? Question: What was the studio that Alfred Hitchcock normally worked for?
As Universal's main product had always been low-budget film, it was one of the last major studios to have a contract with Technicolor. The studio did not make use of the three-strip Technicolor process until Arabian Nights (1942), starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez. The following year, Technicolor was also used in Universal's remake of their 1925 horror melodrama, Phantom of the Opera with Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. With the success of their first two pictures, a regular schedule of high-budget, Technicolor films followed.

Question: What was the first Universal film to use the three-strip Technicolor process? Question: In what year was Arabian Nights produced? Question: What actress starred in Arabian Nights? Question: When was Universal's first version of the Phantom of the Opera made? Question: Along with Nelson Eddy, who starred in the Phantom of the Opera?
In 1945, the British entrepreneur J. Arthur Rank, hoping to expand his American presence, bought into a four-way merger with Universal, the independent company International Pictures, and producer Kenneth Young. The new combine, United World Pictures, was a failure and was dissolved within one year. Rank and International remained interested in Universal, however, culminating in the studio's reorganization as Universal-International. William Goetz, a founder of International, was made head of production at the renamed Universal-International Pictures Inc., which also served as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm's films. Goetz, a son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer decided to bring "prestige" to the new company. He stopped the studio's low-budget production of B movies, serials and curtailed Universal's horror and "Arabian Nights" cycles. Distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc.

Question: In what year was United World Pictures founded? Question: What producer was involved in the founding of United World Pictures? Question: How long did United World Pictures last? Question: Who was the head of production at Universal-International Pictures? Question: Who was William Goetz's father-in-law?
Goetz set out an ambitious schedule. Universal-International became responsible for the American distribution of Rank's British productions, including such classics as David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) and Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948). Broadening its scope further, Universal-International branched out into the lucrative non-theatrical field, buying a majority stake in home-movie dealer Castle Films in 1947, and taking the company over entirely in 1951. For three decades, Castle would offer "highlights" reels from the Universal film library to home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. Goetz licensed Universal's pre–Universal-International film library to Jack Broeder's Realart Pictures for cinema re-release but Realart was not allowed to show the films on television.

Question: Who directed 1946's Great Expectations? Question: In what year was the Olivier version of Hamlet made? Question: In 1947, what company did Universal buy a stake in? Question: In what year did Universal-International take over Castle Films? Question: Who ran Realart Pictures?
The production arm of the studio still struggled. While there were to be a few hits like The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1948), Universal-International's new theatrical films often met with disappointing response at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out, and the studio returned to low-budget films. The inexpensive Francis (1950), the first film of a series about a talking mule and Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), part of a series, became mainstays of the company. Once again, the films of Abbott and Costello, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), were among the studio's top-grossing productions. But at this point Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. Besides Abbott and Costello, the studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, whose product was released with Universal-International's films.

Question: In what year was The Killers produced? Question: What Universal-International film was about a talking mule? Question: In what year was Ma and Pa Kettle made? Question: What Abbott and Costello film was released in 1948? Question: Who bought Rank's share of Universal-International?
In the 1950s, Universal-International resumed their series of Arabian Nights films, many starring Tony Curtis. The studio also had a success with monster and science fiction films produced by William Alland, with many directed by Jack Arnold. Other successes were the melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter, although for film critics they were not so well thought of on first release as they have since become. Among Universal-International's stable of stars were Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Audie Murphy, and John Gavin.

Question: Who did many of Universal-International's Arabian Nights films feature? Question: Who notably produced monster and science fiction films for Universal? Question: Who directed monster movies for Universal? Question: What Universal director was known for his melodramas? Question: Who produced melodramas for Universal?
Though Decca would continue to keep picture budgets lean, it was favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract actors go in the wake of the 1948 U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. decision. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Wasserman's deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. When one of those films, Winchester '73, proved to be a hit, the arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal, and eventually at other studios as well.

Question: What legal decision resulted in movie studios letting their contract actors go? Question: Who was a notable talent agent circa 1950? Question: What star did Lew Wasserman represent? Question: What actor featured in Winchester '73?
By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was again changing. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the reduced audience size for cinema productions. The Music Corporation of America (MCA), then predominately a talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA in 1958, for $11 million, renamed Revue Studios. MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, yet was increasingly influential on Universal's product. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal Pictures contracts.

Question: What acronym was the Music Corporation of America known by? Question: Where did MCA's Revue Productions subsidiary rent space? Question: In square kilometers, how large was the lot Universal sold to MCA? Question: In what year did Universal sell its 360-acre lot to MCA? Question: How much did MCA pay for Universal's 360-acre lot?
The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. happened in mid-1962 as part of the MCA-Decca Records merger. The company reverted in name to Universal Pictures. As a final gesture before leaving the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1964 MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc., merging the motion pictures and television arms of Universal Pictures Company and Revue Productions (officially renamed as Universal Television in 1966). And so, with MCA in charge, Universal became a full-blown, A-film movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary launched in 1964. Television production made up much of the studio's output, with Universal heavily committed, in particular, to deals with NBC (which later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below) providing up to half of all prime time shows for several seasons. An innovation during this period championed by Universal was the made-for-television movie.

Question: In what year did MCA take over Universal? Question: When did Universal inaugurate its studio tour subsidiary? Question: What company did MCA create in 1964? Question: What new name was given to Revue Productions in 1966? Question: What was the company formed by the merger of Universal and NBC?
At this time, Hal B. Wallis, who had latterly worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson's Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). Though neither could claim to be a big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle). Wallis retired from Universal after making the film Rooster Cogburn (1975), a sequel to True Grit (1969), which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn co-starred John Wayne, reprising his Oscar-winning role from the earlier film, and Katharine Hepburn, their only film together. The film was only a moderate success.

Question: Who produced Anne of the Thousand Days? Question: Who wrote the original work that the film version of Anne of the Thousand Days was based on? Question: In what year was the film version of Mary, Queen of Scots made? Question: Whose performance in Anne of the Thousand Days garnered a Best Actor nod? Question: What was the name of the sequel to True Grit produced by Universal?
In the early 1970s, Universal teamed up with Paramount Pictures to form Cinema International Corporation, which distributed films by Paramount and Universal worldwide. Though Universal did produce occasional hits, among them Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (also 1973), Earthquake (1974), and a big box-office success which restored the company's fortunes: Jaws (1975), Universal during the decade was primarily a television studio. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased United Artists in 1981, MGM could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with United Artists overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge UA's international units with MGM and reformed as United International Pictures. There would be other film hits like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Back to the Future (1985), Field of Dreams (1989), and Jurassic Park (1993), but the film business was financially unpredictable. UIP began distributing films by start-up studio DreamWorks in 1997, due to connections the founders have with Paramount, Universal, and Amblin Entertainment. In 2001, MGM dropped out of the UIP venture, and went with 20th Century Fox's international arm to handle distribution of their titles to this day.

Question: In what year was the film Airport made? Question: Who partnered with Universal in the creation of Cinema International Corporation? Question: What Universal hit film was produced in 1974? Question: What company was purchased by MGM in 1981? Question: When did United International Pictures start distributing films for DreamWorks?
Anxious to expand the company's broadcast and cable presence, longtime MCA head Lew Wasserman sought a rich partner. He located Japanese electronics manufacturer Matsushita Electric (now known as Panasonic), which agreed to acquire MCA for $6.6 billion in 1990. Meanwhile, around this time, the production subsidiary was renamed Universal Studios Inc., and (in 1990) MCA created MCA/Universal Home Video Inc. for the VHS video cassette (later DVD) sales industry.

Question: Who was the head of MCA in 1990? Question: What was the nationality of Matsushita Electric? Question: What is the current name of the company that was called Matsushita Electric in 1990? Question: How much did Matsushita Electric pay for MCA? Question: In what year was MCA/Universal Home Video Inc. created?
Matsushita provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and five years later Matsushita sold an 80% stake in MCA/Universal to Canadian drinks distributor Seagram for $5.7 billion. Seagram sold off its stake in DuPont to fund this expansion into the entertainment industry. Hoping to build an entertainment empire around Universal, Seagram bought PolyGram in 1999 and other entertainment properties, but the fluctuating profits characteristic of Hollywood were no substitute for the reliable income stream gained from the previously held shares in DuPont.

Question: What percentage of MCA/Universal did Matsushita Electric sell five years after acquiring the company? Question: To whom did Matsushita sell a large share of MCA/Universal? Question: How much did Seagram pay to buy a large share of MCA/Universal? Question: What did Seagram sell to finance their purchase of a share in MCA/Universal? Question: What company did Seagram buy in 1999?
To raise money, Seagram head Edgar Bronfman Jr. sold Universal's television holdings, including cable network USA, to Barry Diller (these same properties would be bought back later at greatly inflated prices). In June 2000, Seagram was sold to French water utility and media company Vivendi, which owned StudioCanal; the conglomerate then became known as Vivendi Universal. Afterward, Universal Pictures acquired the United States distribution rights of several of StudioCanal's films, such as Mulholland Drive (which received an Oscar nomination) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (which became the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980). Universal Pictures and StudioCanal also co-produced several films, such as Love Actually (an $40 million-budgeted film that eventually grossed $246 million worldwide). In late 2000, the New York Film Academy was permitted to use the Universal Studios backlot for student film projects in an unofficial partnership.

Question: Who was the head of Seagram? Question: Who bought the USA cable network from Seagram? Question: Who bought Seagram in June 2000? Question: What StudioCanal film received an Academy Award nomination? Question: What was the budget of the film Love Actually?
Burdened with debt, in 2004 Vivendi Universal sold 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (including the studio and theme parks) to General Electric, parent of NBC. The resulting media super-conglomerate was renamed NBCUniversal, while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary. After that deal, GE owned 80% of NBC Universal; Vivendi held the remaining 20%, with an option to sell its share in 2006. GE purchased Vivendi's share in NBCU in 2011 and in turn sold 51% of the company to cable provider Comcast. Comcast merged the former GE subsidiary with its own cable-television programming assets, creating the current NBCUniversal. Following Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, the Comcast-GE deal was closed on Jan 29, 2011. In March 2013, Comcast bought the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion.

Question: Who bought 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2004? Question: What percentage of NBC Universal was owned by Vivendi until 2011? Question: Who bought 51% of NBC Universal in 2011? Question: In what month and year did Comcast buy 49% of NBCUniversal? Question: How much did Comcast pay for 49% of NBCUniversal in 2013?
In late 2005, Viacom's Paramount Pictures acquired DreamWorks SKG after acquisition talks between GE and DreamWorks stalled. Universal's long time chairperson, Stacey Snider, left the company in early 2006 to head up DreamWorks. Snider was replaced by then-Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger and Focus Features head David Linde. On October 5, 2009, Marc Shmuger and David Linde were ousted and their co-chairperson jobs consolidated under former president of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson becoming the single chairperson. Donna Langley was also upped to co-chairperson. In 2009, Stephanie Sperber founded Universal Partnerships & Licensing within Universal to license consumer products for Universal. In September 2013, Adam Fogelson was ousted as co-chairman of Universal Pictures, promoting Donna Langley to sole-chairman. In addition, NBCUniversal International Chairman, Jeff Shell, would be appointed as Chairman of the newly created Filmed Entertainment Group. Longtime studio head Ron Meyer would give up oversight of the film studio and appointed Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal, providing consultation to CEO Steve Burke on all of the company's operations. Meyers still retains oversight of Universal Parks and Resorts.

Question: In what year did Paramount Pictures purchase DreamWorks? Question: What Universal chairperson headed DreamWorks as of 2006? Question: Who became the chairperson in late 2009? Question: Who became chairperson of Universal Pictures in September 2013? Question: Who was the founder of Universal Partnerships & Licensing?
Universal's multi-year film financing deal with Elliott Management expired in 2013. In July 2013, Universal made an agreement with Legendary Pictures to market, co-finance, and distribute Legendary's films for five years starting in 2014, the year that Legendary's similar agreement with Warner Bros. expires.

Question: Universal's deal with what company ended in 2013? Question: With whom did Universal sign a marketing and distribution deal in July 2013? Question: How many years is the deal with Legendary Pictures intended to run? Question: In what year did Universal's deal with Legendary Pictures begin?
In June 2014, Universal Partnerships took over licensing consumer products for NBC and Sprout with expectation that all licensing would eventually be centralized within NBCUniversal. In May 2015, Gramercy Pictures was revived by Focus Features as a genre label, that concentrated on action, sci-fi, and horror films.

Question: What film studio was brought back in May 2015? Question: What division of NBCUniversal revived Gramercy Pictures? Question: What genre of films will Gramercy be responsible for creating?
As of 2015, Universal is the only studio to have released three billion-dollar films in one year; this distinction was achieved in 2015 with Furious 7, Jurassic World and Minions.

Question: In what year did Universal release three billion-dollar films? Question: How many studios have released three billion-dollar films in one year? Question: Along with Jurassic World and Furious 7, what billion-dollar film was released by Universal in 2015?
In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company in France, and in the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris, Universal Productions France S.A., although sometimes credited by the name of the distribution company, Universal Pictures France. Except for the two first films it produced, Claude Chabrol's Le scandale (English title The Champagne Murders) and Romain Gary's Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (English title Birds in Peru), it was only involved in French or other European co-productions, the most noticeable ones being Louis Malle's Lacombe, Lucien, Bertrand Blier's Les Valseuses (English title Going Places), and Fred Zinnemann's The Day of the Jackal. It was only involved in approximately 20 French film productions. In the early 1970s, the unit was incorporated into the French Cinema International Corporation arm.

Question: What was the name of the Universal production company based in Paris? Question: What was the name of Universal's French distribution company? Question: What was the English title of Le scandale? Question: What film was known in English as Going Places? Question: Who directed The Day of the Jackal?
Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born[N 3] scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone.

Question: What is Bell's full name? Question: What year did Bell die? Question: What was special about his telephone? Question: What is Bell most famous for inventing? Question: What is Bell famous for inventing?