nc33/MultiSpan_SQUAD huggingface dataset:
Universal_Studios

Universal Studios Inc. (also known as Universal Pictures) is an American film studio, owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, and is one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City. Universal Studios is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Universal was founded in 1912 by the German Carl Laemmle (pronounced "LEM-lee"), Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour.

Question: Which company is directly above Universal Studios?
Answer: NBCUniversal

Question: Which company runs NBC Universal?
Answer: Comcast

Question: What is the nickname given to the large studios of which Universal is a part?
Answer: Big Six

Question: When was Universal Studios created?
Answer: 1912

Question: Where does Universal's filming take place?
Answer: Universal City, California

Question: What is another name for Universal Studios Inc.?
Answer: Universal Pictures

Question: Who is the ultimate owner of Universal Studios?
Answer: Comcast

Question: What is the street address of Universal Studios' production studios?
Answer: 100 Universal City Plaza Drive

Question: In what city and state are its production studios located?
Answer: Universal City, California

Question: In what city are Universal Studios' corporate offices located?
Answer: New York City
Universal_Studios

It is the world's fourth oldest major film studio, after the renowned French studios Gaumont Film Company and Pathé, and the Danish Nordisk Film company.

Question: What rank does Universal Studios have in terms of age?
Answer: fourth

Question: Which film studio from Denmark is older than Universal?
Answer: Nordisk

Question: Which French companies are older than Universal?
Answer: Gaumont Film Company and Pathé

Question: What is the nationality of Pathé?
Answer: French

Question: Along with Pathé and the Gaumont Film Company, what major film studio is older then Universal Studios?
Answer: Nordisk Film company

Question: Among major film studies, where does Universal Studios rank in terms of age?
Answer: fourth
Universal_Studios

Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane[a] and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons and calculating the day's takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition, and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.

Question: After a trip to what city did Carl Laemmle leave the dry goods business?
Answer: Chicago

Question: In what year was the Motion Picture Trust created?
Answer: 1908

Question: What notable historical figure was involved in the Motion Picture Trust?
Answer: Edison

Question: For what part of a motion picture projector did the Motion Picture Trust hold a patent?
Answer: the Latham Loop
Universal_Studios

Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures. In June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with partners Abe Stern and Julius Stern. That company quickly evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), with studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early films in America's first motion picture industry were produced in the early 20th century. Laemmle broke with Edison's custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers. By naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of the star system. In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence, formerly known as "The Biograph Girl", and actor King Baggot, in what may be the first instance of a studio using stars in its marketing.

Question: What company did Laemmle found in June 1909?
Answer: Yankee Film Company

Question: Who were Laemmle's business partners in the Yankee Film Company?
Answer: Abe Stern and Julius Stern

Question: In what city and state was the Independent Moving Pictures Company based?
Answer: Fort Lee, New Jersey

Question: What was a nickname of Florence Lawrence?
Answer: The Biograph Girl

Question: What actor did Laemmle promote?
Answer: King Baggot
Universal_Studios

The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York on April 30, 1912. Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company, with movie production, distribution and exhibition venues all linked in the same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era.

Question: On what date was the incorporation of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company?
Answer: April 30, 1912

Question: In what state was the Universal Film Manufacturing Company incorporated?
Answer: New York

Question: Who was the president of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company circa July 1912?
Answer: Laemmle

Question: What was the fate of the other partners of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company?
Answer: bought out by Laemmle

Question: Along with exhibition and distribution, what business did the Universal Film Manufacturing Company engage in?
Answer: movie production
Universal_Studios

In its early years Universal released three brands of feature films — Red Feather, low-budget programmers; Bluebird, more ambitious productions; and Jewel, their prestige motion pictures. Directors included Jack Conway, John Ford, Rex Ingram, Robert Z. Leonard, George Marshall and Lois Weber, one of the few women directing films in Hollywood.:13

Question: What sort of films were produced by Red Feather?
Answer: low-budget programmers

Question: What type of movies came out of Bluebird?
Answer: more ambitious productions

Question: What motion pictures were made by Jewel?
Answer: prestige motion pictures

Question: What was the profession of George Marshall?
Answer: Directors

Question: Who was one of the few female Hollywood directors in this era?
Answer: Lois Weber
Universal_Studios

Despite Laemmle's role as an innovator, he was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Marcus Loew, Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain. He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. This policy nearly bankrupted the studio when actor-director Erich von Stroheim insisted on excessively lavish production values for his films Blind Husbands (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), but Universal shrewdly gained a return on some of the expenditure by launching a sensational ad campaign that attracted moviegoers. Character actor Lon Chaney became a drawing card for Universal in the 1920s, appearing steadily in dramas. His two biggest hits for Universal were The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). During this period Laemmle entrusted most of the production policy decisions to Irving Thalberg. Thalberg had been Laemmle's personal secretary, and Laemmle was impressed by his cogent observations of how efficiently the studio could be operated. Promoted to studio chief, Thalberg was giving Universal's product a touch of class, but MGM's head of production Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal with a promise of better pay. Without his guidance Universal became a second-tier studio, and would remain so for several decades.

Question: Who directed Blind Husbands?
Answer: Erich von Stroheim

Question: In what year was Foolish Wives produced?
Answer: 1922

Question: Who starred in The Phantom of the Opera?
Answer: Lon Chaney

Question: What year saw a film version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?
Answer: 1923

Question: Who was at one time Laemmle's personal secretary?
Answer: Irving Thalberg
Universal_Studios

In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler's increasing domination of central Europe. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S., Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary's films, but at least some of them were exhibited through other, independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York, without benefit of English subtitles. Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary.

Question: What was the name of Universal's German production unit?
Answer: Deutsche Universal-Film AG

Question: Who ran Universal's German production unit?
Answer: Joe Pasternak

Question: In what year did Deutsche Universal-Film AG open?
Answer: 1926

Question: How many films did Universal's German subsidiary make yearly?
Answer: three to four

Question: Along with Germany and Austria, where was Deutsche Universal-Film AG at one time based?
Answer: Hungary
Universal_Studios

Universal owned the rights to the "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" character, although Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks had created Oswald, and their films had enjoyed a successful theatrical run. After Charles Mintz had unsuccessfully demanded that Disney accept a lower fee for producing the property, Mintz produced the films with his own group of animators. Instead, Disney and Iwerks created Mickey Mouse who in 1928 stared in the first "sync" sound animated short, Steamboat Willie. This moment effectively launched Walt Disney Studios' foothold, while Universal became a minor player in film animation. Universal subsequently severed its link to Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio to produce Oswald cartoons headed by Walter Lantz.

Question: Along with Walt Disney, who created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit?
Answer: Ub Iwerks

Question: Who owned the rights to Oswald?
Answer: Universal

Question: Who produced an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit motion picture?
Answer: Charles Mintz

Question: What character did Walt Disney create in 1928?
Answer: Mickey Mouse

Question: What was the first animated short with synchronized sound?
Answer: Steamboat Willie
Universal_Studios

In 2006, after almost 80 years, NBC Universal sold all Walt Disney-produced Oswald cartoons, along with the rights to the character himself, back to Disney. In return, Disney released ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from his contract so he could work on NBC's Sunday night NFL football package. However, Universal retained ownership of Oswald cartoons produced for them by Walter Lantz from 1929 to 1943.

Question: Who bought the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons in 2006?
Answer: Disney

Question: Who was 2006 seller of the Oswald cartoons?
Answer: NBC Universal

Question: What notable figure worked as a sportscaster for ABC?
Answer: Al Michaels

Question: Who began producing Oswald cartoons for Universal in 1929?
Answer: Walter Lantz

Question: In what year did Walter Lantz cease producing Oswald cartoons for Universal?
Answer: 1943
Universal_Studios

In 1928, Laemmle, Sr. made his son, Carl, Jr. head of Universal Pictures as a 21st birthday present. Universal already had a reputation for nepotism—at one time, 70 of Carl, Sr.'s relatives were supposedly on the payroll. Many of them were nephews, resulting in Carl, Sr. being known around the studios as "Uncle Carl." Ogden Nash famously quipped in rhyme, "Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a very large faemmle." Among these relatives was future Academy Award winning director/producer William Wyler.

Question: How many of Carl Laemmle, Sr.'s relatives were working for Universal as of 1928?
Answer: 70

Question: What was Carl Laemmle, Sr.'s nickname at Universal?
Answer: Uncle Carl

Question: What poet wrote a notable rhyme about Laemmle?
Answer: Ogden Nash

Question: At what age did Carl Laemmle, Jr. become president of Universal?
Answer: 21

Question: What Academy Award-winning director was a relative of Carl Laemmle's?
Answer: William Wyler
Universal_Studios

"Junior" Laemmle persuaded his father to bring Universal up to date. He bought and built theaters, converted the studio to sound production, and made several forays into high-quality production. His early efforts included the critically mauled part-talkie version of Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat (1929), the lavish musical Broadway (1929) which included Technicolor sequences; and the first all-color musical feature (for Universal), King of Jazz (1930). The more serious All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), won its year's Best Picture Oscar.

Question: What was Carl Laemmle Jr.'s nickname?
Answer: Junior

Question: What movie was based on an Edna Ferber novel?
Answer: Show Boat

Question: In what year was the musical Broadway produced?
Answer: 1929

Question: What movie won the 1930 Academy Award for Best Picture?
Answer: All Quiet on the Western Front

Question: What all-color musical did Universal make in 1930?
Answer: King of Jazz
Universal_Studios

Laemmle, Jr. created a niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which extended into the 1940s, affectionately dubbed Universal Horror. Among them are Frankenstein (1931), Dracula ( also in 1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Other Laemmle productions of this period include Imitation of Life (1934) and My Man Godfrey (1936).

Question: In what year did Universal make a film version of Dracula?
Answer: 1931

Question: In what year was The Invisible Man made?
Answer: 1933

Question: What film was produced by Laemmle in 1934?
Answer: Imitation of Life

Question: In what year did My Man Godfrey premiere?
Answer: 1936

Question: When was Universal's version of Frankenstein made?
Answer: 1931
Universal_Studios

The end for the Laemmles came with a lavish version of Show Boat (1936), a remake of its earlier 1929 part-talkie production, and produced as a high-quality, big-budget film rather than as a B-picture. The new film featured several stars from the Broadway stage version, which began production in late 1935, and unlike the 1929 film was based on the Broadway musical rather than the novel. Carl, Jr.'s spending habits alarmed company stockholders. They would not allow production to start on Show Boat unless the Laemmles obtained a loan. Universal was forced to seek a $750,000 production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation, pledging the Laemmle family's controlling interest in Universal as collateral. It was the first time Universal had borrowed money for a production in its 26-year history. The production went $300,000 over budget; Standard called in the loan, cash-strapped Universal could not pay, Standard foreclosed and seized control of the studio on April 2, 1936.

Question: In what year was Universal's ill-fated film version of Show Boat released?
Answer: 1936

Question: In what year had Universal previously made a version of Show Boat?
Answer: 1929

Question: What was the amount of the production loan Universal sought to complete Show Boat?
Answer: $750,000

Question: Who granted Universal the production loan?
Answer: the Standard Capital Corporation

Question: When did the Standard Capital Corporation take control of Universal?
Answer: April 2, 1936
Universal_Studios

Universal's 1936 Show Boat (released a little over a month later) became a critical and financial success, it was not enough to save the Laemmles' involvement with the studio. They were unceremoniously removed from the company they had founded. Because the Laemmles personally oversaw production, Show Boat was released (despite the takeover) with Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.'s names on the credits and in the advertising campaign of the film. Standard Capital's J. Cheever Cowdin had taken over as president and chairman of the board of directors, and instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had a few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan, left.

Question: Who became president of Universal after the Standard Capital takeover?
Answer: J. Cheever Cowdin

Question: What notable female star left Universal after the Standard Capital takeover?
Answer: Margaret Sullavan

Question: Who was Universal's chairman of the board of directors after the Standard Captial takeover?
Answer: J. Cheever Cowdin

Question: Along with Margaret Sullavan, what notable film talent left Universal after the Standard Capital takeover?
Answer: William Wyler

Question: In what year was Show Boat released?
Answer: 1936
Universal_Studios

Meanwhile, producer Joe Pasternak, who had been successfully producing light musicals with young sopranos for Universal's German subsidiary, repeated his formula in America. Teenage singer Deanna Durbin starred in Pasternak's first American film, Three Smart Girls (1936). The film was a box-office hit and reputedly restored the studio's solvency. The success of the film led Universal to offer her a contract, which for the first five years of her career produced her most successful pictures.

Question: Who produced the film Three Smart Girls?
Answer: Joe Pasternak

Question: Who starred in the film Three Smart Girls?
Answer: Deanna Durbin

Question: In what year was Three Smart Girls made?
Answer: 1936

Question: Prior to his work in America, where was Joe Pasternak employed?
Answer: Universal's German subsidiary

Question: What type of films did Joe Pasternak produce in Germany?
Answer: light musicals
Universal_Studios

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?
Answer: 13

Question: Along with Donald O'Connor and Bing Crosby, with whom did Gloria Jean star?
Answer: Bing Crosby

Question: Who played Destry in Destry Rides Again?
Answer: James Stewart

Question: Prior to working at Universal, what studio employed Marlene Dietrich?
Answer: Paramount Studios

Question: In what year was Destry Rides again produced?
Answer: 1939
Universal_Studios

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?
Answer: 1938–43

Question: Over what span were the Baby Sandy films made?
Answer: 1938–41

Question: In what period did Universal produce Hugh Herbert comedies?
Answer: 1938–42

Question: When did Universal make Tom Mix westerns?
Answer: 1932–33

Question: In what span did Universal produce westerns with Kirby Grant?
Answer: 1946–47
Universal_Studios

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: What two performers were known as the team Abbott and Costello?
Answer: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello

Question: What military comedy did Bud Abbott and Lou Costello star in?
Answer: Buck Privates

Question: Along with Abbott and Costello and Edgar Bergen, what radio star appeared in Universal films?
Answer: W. C. Fields
Universal_Studios

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?
Answer: Fritz Lang

Question: In what period did Basil Rathbone star in a series of Sherlock Holmes films?
Answer: 1942–46

Question: In what period did film versions of Inner Sanctum Mysteries appear?
Answer: 1943–45

Question: What was the studio that Alfred Hitchcock normally worked for?
Answer: Selznick International Pictures

Question: In what year was Shadow of a Doubt produced?
Answer: 1943
Universal_Studios

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?
Answer: Arabian Nights

Question: What actress starred in Arabian Nights?
Answer: Maria Montez

Question: Along with Nelson Eddy, who starred in the Phantom of the Opera?
Answer: Claude Rains

Question: When was Universal's first version of the Phantom of the Opera made?
Answer: 1925

Question: In what year was Arabian Nights produced?
Answer: 1942