United Artists

**Background**: United Artists was formed in 1919 by four of the leading figures in early Hollywood era: Mary Pickford, Sir Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith. It was sold to Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin in 1951; both Chaplin and Pickford sold the remaining shares to Krim and Benjamin in 1956. United Artists was sold to Transamerica Corporation on April 27, 1967, and later to Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda, Inc. (the then-current owner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.) on July 28, 1981. MGM would use both their brand and United Artists as labels during this time under the MGM/UA brand. In 1986, Turner Broadcasting System purchased MGM/UA Entertainment Co. and renamed it to MGM Entertainment Co. United Artists' assets were purchased back by Kirk Kerkorian who would use them to found a new company under the United Artists name. However, when Turner gained heavy debt over the MGM purchase, he sold the company back to Kirk Kerkorian, with the new United Artists being renamed as MGM/UA Communications Company, with MGM and United Artists being used as distribution labels. This still wasn't enough as the company gained a loss of $88 Million, leading to MGM and United Artists splitting into separate divisions. By 1990, after the purchase of MGM/UA by Giancarlo Parretti, United Artists became dormant in favour of the MGM label being used instead. In 1993, after Crédit Lyonnais' purchase of MGM, he convinced John Calley to run UA, allowing the *Pink Panther* and *James Bond* franchises alongside the release of the only NC-17-rated film released nationally: *Showgirls*. Kirk Kerkorian later repurchased MGM in 1996, with John Calley resigning. In 1999, MGM folded the existing United Artists company into their own operations (with copyrights for *The Pink Panther* and *Rocky* transitioning to MGM, although James Bond kept with a United Artists copyright for legacy purposes) and rebranded their G2 Films (A renamed portion of the former Samuel Goldwyn Company) division as United Artists International, with the United Artists brand now being used as an art-house theater label. On April 8, 2005, Sony Corporation, Comcast, and four of its private partners bought MGM and United Artists for $4.8 billion. In November 2006, Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner were made the new owners of this revamped United Artists. However on August 14, 2008, Wagner left the studio, but still remained a stockholder in United Artists. In 2011, it became completely owned by MGM again when the studio purchased the stock formerly owned by Cruise and Wagner. As a result, UA was absorbed, but still exists as a in-name-only unit of MGM. In September 2014, MGM acquired a stake in Mark Burnett's companies One Three Media and Lightworkers Media, merging them into United Artists Media Group; however, next year, after MGM purchased the stakes in these companies, UAMG was folded into MGM Television. In 2018, MGM revived the brand again as United Artists Digital Studio, and the United Artists name would finally return to the big screen in 2019 as United Artists Releasing, a re-branding of MGM and Annapurna Pictures' existing distribution joint-venture Mirror Releasing, and allowing movies from fellow (and reactivated after years in dormancy) MGM subsidiaries Orion Pictures, Orion Classics, and American International Pictures to be distributed.

## 1st Logo (1919?)

**Logo**: We see a rounded UA monogram with the company name in the middle on a rock wall.

**FX/SFX**: None.

**Music/Sounds**: Possibly silent.

**Availability**: Probably extinct. It may have appeared on earlier films like *Broken Blossoms*.

**Editor's Note**: A United Artists logo that connected the two initials side to side was an idea that wouldn’t be used again until the 1980s.

## 2nd Logo (November 13, 1930-October 23, 1967)

**Nicknames**: "The Hexagon", "The UA Hexagon"

**Logo**: Over a grainy-looking background, we see the words "UNITED ARTISTS" appearing inside a 3-layer gold/brown hexagon shape. "Presents", in gold script, is sometimes shown below.

**Variants**:

* On films produced by London Productions, this logo would appear an in-credit version of this logo, with the words "Distributed by" above it.
* There were several color variants, including a sepia-toned variant from the mid 1940s-1950, three different black and white variants from 1930-1967, and a color variant from 1950-1967.
* A 20th anniversary variant was seen on *Of Mice and Men*, as well as on Laurel & Hardy's *A Chump at Oxford* (filmed and completed in 1939, released in 1940). This is also nicknamed "The Hal Roach Studios Variant".
* There is also a variant that had the hexagon in white on a black background. This was seen on films such as *A Hard Day's Night* (though the regular black and white variant appears instead on some prints, including a 16mm print), *Help!*and *How I Won the War*. It is unknown whether this variant appeared on *The Mouse on the Moon* and *The Knack ...and How to Get It.*
* On *A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,* the logo is in grungy Roman letters, which makes the logo look to be spelled out as "VNITED ARTISTS".
* On an unknown modern film, in black and white, the hexagon zooms out in place on a granite background, and the word "PRESENTS" fades in underneath. The video description claims that it's from 1937, but the film looks a bit too new to be from 1937.
* On *A Bridge Too Far*, a special animated variant was created. The name zooms out on a black background, the three hexagon outlines fade in from the center outward, then the background fades in along with the byline "A Transamerica Company" and the Transamerica "T-Flower". Some prints do not contain the Transamerica references.
* This logo appears on *Heaven's Gate* (1980), with a small black and white Transamerica "T-Flower" and the words "A Transamerica Company" fading in underneath. Some prints (such as the MGM DVD releases) do not contain the Transamerica references. The Transamerica byline, however, has been restored on the Criterion Collection DVD & Blu-ray.

**FX/SFX**: None.

**Music/Sounds**: Most of the time it is silent, though some films have their intro music playing.

**Availability**: Extremely rare.

* Despite being around for a good 37 years, this logo was extremely difficult to find due to scarce use on certain films as well as rampant plastering by the means of MGM and later UA variants. Now with MGM sub-licensing its films to video labels who are doing new scans and remasters, they usually leave the original studio card indents intact on their film scans unlike MGM themselves, so therefore this logo has started to become far more common than it was over the last few decades.
* It is believed to be first seen on *The Bat Whispers*.
* As most releases only used a text notice, a few films have originally used this logo but were removed or updated with newer ones (or a MGM logo), thus making it an extremely hard find. However, it does appear on the Hopalong Cassidy film *False Colors*, whenever CoziTV decides to rerun it.
* It's unknown if this logo appeared on *Mclintock!* as most VHS copies have no logo while DVD copies of the non-restored version also have no logo and the restored version's DVD uses the 2002 Paramount Pictures logo.
* Noticeably, out of all the pre-1967 James Bond films, the only one where this appeared was *Goldfinger* (not fully confirmed).
* Among the other films that originally featured this logo were *The Magnificent Seven*, *West Side Story* (at least on general release prints), *Tom Jones*, *The Pink Panther* (rumored to have been seen on the original Magnetic Video Corporation VHS release for a few seconds), the Golden Age 3D film *The Diamond Wizard*, *One, Two, Three*, and The Beatles' films *A Hard Day's Night* and *Help!*.
* This logo was also seen on international prints of some pre-1948 *Looney Tunes*and *Merrie Melodies* shorts that they owned, while plastering the Warner Bros. opening of the era. It has been preserved on *Call Me Bwana*, *Stranger on Horseback*, *A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum*, *Thunderbirds Are Go!*, *Tomorrow, the World!*, *Three Sundays to Live*, *The Hound of the Baskervilles*, *The Happy Thieves*, *The Fabulous Dorseys*, *The Horse's Mouth*, and *How I Won the War* (an early Transamerica-era film that was intended to be released six months earlier than it actually was; possibly the last film to feature the hexagon, before Transamerica took over).
* It also appears on the Scream Factory Blu-ray of *Doctor Blood's Coffin*, the Kino Lorber DVD and Blu-ray of *10 Seconds to Hell*, and the Twilight Time Blu-ray and Vudu's print of *Inserts* (made in 1975, but it was rated X, so Transamerica didn't want its name nor insignia on the film, and since it was a period piece set in the 1930s, UA simply decided to use this logo as a stylistic choice in lieu of an in-credit notice), TCM airings of *Tomorrow, the World!* and *Return from the Ashes*, and ThisTV airings of *Gentlemen Marry Brunettes*.
* This was also seen on international prints of *The Man with the Golden Arm*, including an Australian TV airing and on the German Blu-ray from Concorde Video. The MGM/UA VHS of *Marty* also preserves this, and it's been suggested that this even appeared on its original VHS and Betamax release, from CBS/Fox Video.
* On *Topkapi*, the logo was small and in-credit at the bottom-right corner of the end credits, with the words "Released by" above it.
* The in-credit variant can also be seen on all the British-made films from London Productions that were distributed by UA, though it does not appear on the 1942 *Jungle Book* film.
* Also seen on *Heaven's Gate* (sometimes with or without the Transamerica byline), released in 1980.
* The *A Bridge Too Far* variant is seen on the 1998 MGM DVD release of the film, but is plastered with a newer MGM/United Artists logo combo on most current releases.
* This was also seen on foreign prints of *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World*. (Note: This logo, during the pre-Transamerica days, was allegedly seen only on British United Artists films and export prints of U.S United Artists films. However, this theory has yet to be proven.)

Editor’s Note: A semi-iconic logo representing the early days of UA.

## 3rd Logo (October 30, 1942, July 17, 1943)

**Nickname**: "The United Artists Eagle"

**Logo**: We see the words "**UNITED ARTISTS**" appearing in front of a design of a bald eagle. Above this "***A***" is seen, and below it "***Release***" is seen. The latter two phrases are in cursive.

**Variants**:

* On some films, the text reads as "Released through" and lacks the eagle. Instead a single spotlight is seen, emerging from the bottom right corner.
* There's a colour version.

**FX/SFX**: None.

**Music/Sounds**: The opening theme to the film.

**Availability**: Extremely rare. Only two films are known to contain this logo, which are *I Married a Witch* and *The Crystal Ball*. This logo is preserved on the 2013 Criterion Collection Blu-ray release of the former. It should be noted that both films were produced by Paramount Pictures and were sold to United Artists for distribution. The logo may appear on other films that Paramount produced and sold to United Artists.

**Editor’s Note**: One of UA's first attempts to use a consistent logo in the United States.

## 4th Logo (June 13, 1967-August 3, 1968)

**Nicknames**: "The UA-Transamerica Circle", "The UA Ovoid"

**Logo**: We see the words "**UNITED ARTISTS**" appearing inside a circular field. The words "A Transamerica CORPORATION" (or "A Transamerica COMPANY") is seen in small letters underneath. The "**U**" and the "**A**" are somewhat taller than the rest of the company name, and they overlap each other. The word "FROM" appears above the UA circle, in teeny, tiny letters. The logo is contained inside a yellow circle, focused off-center from the screen, but centered around the logo, which is inside a blue rectangle with rounded corners, encased inside an off-center purple box, surrounded by offset dark red bars.

**Variants**: There were a few color scheme variations used for this logo besides the normal version:

* A variant of the standard version with the blue rectangle resembling a TV tube, an uneven alignment of the (larger) yellow and black circles, and a smaller purple section with rounded corners.
* BG/white circle/black lettering/Transamerica logo byline.
* Print UA-Transamerica Circle (seen on most trailers and B&W films)
* Black circle on a red background, "UNITED ARTISTS" in white.
* Black UA-Transamerica circle and the text inside it is yellow. The logo is inside a larger yellow circle with a blue TV tube shape, placed against a purple square. All of these shapes are situated against a red background.
* Depending on the film, the placement of the logo would vary ever so slightly.

**FX/SFX**: None.

**Music/Sounds**: Usually is silent, or has the opening theme or audio to the film playing over it.

**Music/Sounds Variants**: On the American prints of the Italian James Bond spoof *Operation Kid Brother* (Original Italian title: *O.K. Connery*), this logo plastered the original Titanus logo that started the picture, but maintained Titanus' fanfare: A ten-note fanfare with the first seven notes sounding like a solo cornet, and the final three played by a brass trio. UA likely extended the animation of their logo at the time to match the length of the Titanus fanfare.

**Availability**: Extremely rare.

* Until recently, this was bordering on near extinction due to chronic plastering and its short life span. It was allegedly first seen on *You Only Live Twice* (which used the blue TV tube variant on both sides of the pond) and last seen on *Attack on the Iron Coast*. Was also said to be seen on a Retroplex airing of the former, and it might possibly be retained on the 2021 Kino Lorber Blu-ray of *Fitzwilly*.
* Among the other films that originally featured this logo were *Billion Dollar Brain*, *Operation Kid Brother* (American prints), *Death Rides a Horse* (American prints), *The Party*, *Yours, Mine and Ours*, *Kill a Dragon*, *Danger Route*, *Live for Life*, and *Hang 'Em High*.
* The trailer variant is seen on the *Clambake!* trailer, but on the main feature (Region 2 and 4 DVDs only), it has an odd United Artists/Ledy-Gardner-Laven productions in-credit logo.
* The original U.S. theatrical run of *The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly* did not originally have this logo, as confirmed by the original 1967 continuity script which described the first reel as going straight to the title sequence from the leader (the absence thereof is preserved on the 1990 MGM/UA VHS and laser videodisc release). It does appear on the 2017 Kino Blu-ray release of *The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly* (after the 2012 MGM logo) as well as on the 2021 4K Blu-ray. It can also be seen on Kino's Blu-ray releases of *A Fistful of Dollars* and *For a Few Dollars More*.
* The continuity script for *In the Heat of the Night* also confirms that the logo didn't originally appear on that film or its camera negative. However, it was attached to most 35mm US prints.
* The blue rectangle variant is only known to have appeared on the aforementioned Kino Lorber Blu-ray releases of the Dollars Trilogy.
* The black background variant can be seen on some trailers of films, notably the trailer of *The Party* (1968).

**Editor’s Note**: Even though it was short-lived, this is a very interesting (and colorful) logo nonetheless.

## 5th Logo (June 19, 1968-June 26, 1981)

**Nickname**: "The Transamerica T"

**Logo**: It starts with two sets of blue lines going into place, one by one on a black background. One line turns to the left, another turns to the right, and so on. There are six lines altogether, revealing the logo of Transamerica Corporation, United Artists' former owner. The stylized blue "**T**" design zooms out to the right side to make room for the company name "United Artists", which appears in a Impact font. A small byline pops in afterward, inscribed "*Entertainment from Transamerica Corporation*", which appears under the UA name.

**Trivia**:

* This was the result of a branding strategy of the Transamerica Corporation, unifying all their owned companies under the main company's logo. This included, among others: Transamerica Distribution Services, Transamerica Airlines, Liberty Records, Blue Note Records, and of course, United Artists and its subsidiary United Artists Television.
* This logo was animated at DePatie-Freleng, known for producing *The Pink Panther*, *The Inspector*, *Roland and Rattfink*, *The Ant and The Aardvark* and many others.

**Variants**:

* There has been a version with the "**T**" zooming out to the bottom left corner. So far, this has been seen on *The Killer Elite*, *Bugs Bunny Superstar*, *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*, *Breakheart Pass*, *Brannigan*, *Rollerball*, and *Return of the Pink Panther*, among other films from between 1975-76.
* On some trailers, the "**T**" is white.
* On some films, such as most James Bond of this period (with the confirmed exceptions of the original theatrical prints of *On Her Majesty's Secret Service*and a 1971 reissue print of *Dr. No*), the logo would cut to black instead of fading out.
* There is also a B&W variant seen on late 1960's reissues of older black and white United Artists films. This was also seen on two Woody Allen films, *Sleeper* and *Interiors* (the latter a 1978 film, strangely).
* On a few films, such as *Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex\* (\*But Were Afraid to Ask)* and *Midnight Cowboy*, the logo faded into a white background to accompany the opening credits.
* There is a variant just like the 5th logo. It starts off with "United Artists" and the Transamerica "**T**". Then "*Entertainment from Transamerica Corporation*" fades in, possibly as a way of United Artists bidding "farewell" to Transamerica after 14 years. This was seen on original theatrical prints of *For Your Eyes Only*. Surprisingly, this variant currently appears in full on an American trailer for the 1980 release of *Arabian Nights* (a 1974 Italian film).
* On reissue trailers for some films a still version of this logo is used, only it says "*Re-released thru*" above the logo.
* On some Scope films, such as *The Secret of Santa Vittoria*, *The Organization*, *The World of Hans Christian Andersen*, *Fellini's Satyricon*, *Visit to a Chief's Son*, and *Thunderbolt and Lightfoot*, the logo is zoomed out further than usual. Other Scope films, including *The Bridge at Remagen*, *On Her Majesty's Secret Service*, and *Fiddler on the Roof*, simply used the standard variant cropped heavily, and on Scope films that use the 1975 variant, the logo zooms out similar to the Scope variant of the 1984 Tri-Star Pictures logo.
* On some full screen prints, including the RCA VideoDisc release of *Fiddler on the Roof*, the logo is squeezed to fit the 4:3 aspect ratio.
* On the 1981 Magnetic Video VHS print of *The Thomas Crown Affair*, the logo zooms out further back, but cuts back into its proper distance after a split-second.

**FX/SFX**: The stacking of the lines and the zooming out.

**Music/Sounds**: An ascending musical scale of 6 groovy bass guitar notes accompanying each of the 6 blue lines, followed by a sharp drum roll, and concluded by a fanfare of horns and drums composed by Doug Goodwin, who also composed "From Head to Toes", the theme used at the intro and closing of *The Pink Panther Show*.

**Music/Sounds Variants**:

* On original prints of *Fiddler on the Roof*, it used a timpani drum piece.
* Most releases had it silent or with the opening theme/audio of the film.
* On the current print of *The Adventures of Gerard*, it uses the last half of the 1982 fanfare, due to a sloppy reverse plaster, but it actually fits this logo quite nicely.
* On the Region 2 DVDs of *The Taking of Pelham One Two Three* (1974), the standard 1968 version (in 2.35:1 scope) was seen with the fanfare from the 10th logo. This oddity was likely due to a sloppy reverse plaster job when the newer anamorphic D1 master was being made (being the older Region 1 DVD had the 1994 logo in its place).
* On the MGM MOD release of *Some Girls Do*, the 2001 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures lion roar is strangely heard over the standard 1968 version. This is, again, likely due to a sloppy reverse plaster (being that oddly, the 2012 MGM logo precedes this).
* On the full-screen side on the 2000 MGM DVD release of *Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex\* (\*But Were Afraid to Ask)*, the 1995 theme is heard.
* On the Arrow Video Blu-ray release of *Pulp* (1972), the standard 1968 version is accompanied with the fanfare from the 12th logo. This oddity was due to a sloppy reverse plaster job that likely resulted from Arrow reusing the audio source from MGM's previous SD master (being the MGM DVDs had the 1994 logo) with the new 2k scan featuring this logo intact (as well as the vintage BBFC card).
* On the 2021 Kino Lorber Blu-ray release of *Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia*(second pressing only, which uses Arrow's 2017 4K remaster), this logo uses the music from the 14th logo due to a sloppy reverse plaster (Arrow's 2017 UK Blu-Ray is silent as it should be). Oddly enough, the first pressing of Kino's release uses the older MGM HD master with the 2001 MGM URL variant and the 14th UA logo.
* On original prints of *Chitty Chitty Bang Bang*, this logo has the sound of race cars (leading into the opening scene of the film) playing over this logo.

**Availability**: Rare.

* First seen on *The Thomas Crown Affair*, this is generally replaced with later United Artists or MGM logos, because of the Transamerica logo and information on the logo (which is by this time outdated). This is presumably done because Transamerica Corporation still exists as a company (and was still using the "T-Flower" logo in the 1980s). However, this logo (mainly the first variation) can currently be seen on the DVDs and TCM's prints of *Cotton Comes to Harlem* (the 2001 MGM release only), *Alice's Restaurant*, *Cops and Robbers*, *Sam Whiskey*, *Jennifer on My Mind*, *The Taking of Pelham One Two Three* (Region 2 DVDs only), and *Jeremy*, all after either the 2001 version of the 1986 MGM logo or 1995 logos.
* The version that fades to white makes an appearance on the 2000 MGM DVD release of of the Woody Allen film *Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex\* (\*But Were Afraid to Ask)* (full screen side only; the widescreen side has a sped-up 1995 logo).
* It was also prolific on Magnetic Video Corporation releases of United Artists films from the early 1980's, such as the pre-Transamerica films *West Side Story* and *Tom Jones*, the American print of *Last Tango in Paris* (plastering the next logo), and the extremely rare release of *Let It Be*.
* The version with the fanfare mainly appears on original prints of *Pink Panther*shorts and various DePatie-Freleng Enterprises Friz Freleng cartoons of the time co-produced with Mirisch/UA, but it was also heard on a few feature films such as the original U.S print of *Yellow Submarine*, and makes a surprise appearance on the Magnetic Video Corporation Laserdisc release of *Carrie*(plastering the second 1975 logo). Also made appearances on the 1998 VHS release of *Mr. Majestyk* (after the 1994 logo), an Australian airing of *The Last Escape* (after the 1987 logo), and the Digiview DVD of *The World of Hans Christian Andersen*.
* The *Fiddler on the Roof* variant appeared on early television broadcasts, and on the 1981 RCA CED (Magnetic Video Corporation's version was released later that same year, and by that time, Transamerica no longer owned United Artists).
* The second version is much harder to find, but is kept intact on the 1993 Republic Pictures Home Video VHS of *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*, and on the American MGM DVD and ThisTV airings of *The Killer Elite*. However, the 2013 French Blu-ray from Wild Side Video and a TCM airing of the latter have the 2012 MGM logo and the 2001 United Artists logo plastering over this (with the film's opening audio playing over the latter).
* On James Bond films of this period, it originally appeared on *On Her Majesty's Secret Service* (appears on a 16mm print), *Diamonds Are Forever* (appears on the RCA CED version), *Live and Let Die*, and *The Man with the Golden Gun*.
* The black & white version has been spotted on the 2000 DVD of *Interiors* (fullscreen side only; the widescreen side has the 2001 version of the 1986 MGM logo and 1994 logo instead), along with the Blu-ray version and post-2007 broadcasts of *Sleeper*, and surprisingly, current releases of *Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia*. It is currently unknown if any other full screen versions of Woody Allen titles on DVD retain their original United Artists logos.
* This logo is also preserved on some trailers on DVDs, Blu-rays, and trailers on the iTunes store.
* The reissue variant can be seen on the 2000 MGM DVD release of *Thunderball*on a reissue trailer for a double feature of it and *You Only Live Twice*. It is unknown if this logo originally appeared on original American prints of 1973 to 1975 MGM films.
* This logo may have appeared on some United Artists films on VHS and Betamax releases from VidAmerica in the United States, or from Intervision Video in the United Kingdom (some notable releases from both companies include *Coming Home*, *Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex\* (\*But Were Afraid to Ask)*, *The Fountainhead*, *The Great Escape*, *Hair*, *Lenny*, *Some Like it Hot*and *White Heat*).
* On reissued UA trailers, the MGM/UA Distribution Co. print logo would often plaster the still UA logo.
* It also makes Blu-ray reappearances on the MGM release of *Sleeper*, the Kino Lorber releases of *Cops and Robbers* and *Busting*, the Arrow Video releases of *Pulp* and *Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia* (including the second pressing of the 2021 Kino Lorber Blu-ray of the latter), the Criterion Collection Blu-ray of *Midnight Cowboy*, the Scream Factory release of *What's the Matter With Helen?*, and the UK BFI Blu-ray of *Women in Love* (the Criterion Collection release of the latter, oddly enough, has the current UA logo in its place after the 2012 MGM logo).
* It may appear on Cartrivision tapes of UA and AAP features, including *The Jazz Singer*.
* This logo was also seen on the US theatrical version of *That's the Way of the World* (a Bryanston Pictures production they later got distribution rights back to). Some releases keep this logo, while others remove it or have the Bryanston Pictures logo in its place.

**Editor’s Note**: This logo is a favorite among many due to its unique animation and funky fanfare. It's also one of the earliest examples of brand unification, as Transamerica used the same font and logo throughout all of its divisions.

## 6th Logo (June 25, 1975-December 17, 1976)

**Nicknames**: "Blue Light", "The Secret Transamerica T", "UA Glow"

**Logo**: The text "**UNITED ARTISTS**" starts appearing on a black screen in five segments, outlined by a blue light. After "**UNITED ARTISTS**" completely revealed, the Transamerica "**T**" and the byline "A Transamerica Company" (which is sometimes tinted gold) fade in below as "**UNITED ARTISTS**" turns orange. Then, little sparkles appear and disappear in various spots in the word "**UNITED ARTISTS**" for a few seconds before stopping.

**Variants**:

* There is a variant without the Transamerica byline.
* A short version seen on trailers starts with the logo already revealed and the sparkles on the "UNITED ARTISTS" text.

**FX/SFX**: The logo appearing in segments, the outline, the fade in of the "Transamerica T" and the byline (when it applies), and the sparkling on various on the "UNITED ARTISTS" text.

**Music/Sounds**: Silent or the film's opening theme. On the 2001 Special Edition DVD release of *Rocky*, However, it uses the 1995 music, due to a reverse plastering error (the previous 1998 DVD had the 1995 logo).

**Availability**: Very rare, due to this logo being short-lived. The bylineless version can be found on *Carrie* (which has no logical reason to be plastered). The rendition with the Transamerica byline is much harder to find due to plastering, and was seen on films such as *Rocky*, *The Return of a Man Called Horse*, *The Pink Panther Strikes Again*, and *Rollerball*. It is, however, preserved on the 2001 DVD and the Blu-ray releases of *Carrie* and *Rocky* (with the 1995 music tacked on, due to sloppy editing!), but then replaced with the current logo on the 2006 DVD release of the latter. However, the 1990 VHS of *Rocky* has this logo plastered with the 1987 logo and the MGM/UA Communications logo, while the 1996 VHS and 1998 DVDs of *Rocky* have it plastered with the 1994 logo, along with the 2014 Blu-ray. It is possible it may be on the 1981 USA RCA CED release, but this has yet to be seen. Also seen on current TV airings of *Champion of Death* (AKA *Karate Bullfighter*), after the 2008 MGM logo. This logo was last seen on *Bound for Glory*, in which the R2 DVDs and ThisTV airings (following the 10th logo) retain it, while the R1 DVD has it plastered with the 1987 logo. (It is unknown if the 2016-22 Blu-rays by Twilight Time and Sandpiper Pictures retain it.)

**Editor’s Note**: An interesting concept, though it's not as fun as the 5th logo.

## 7th Logo (April 23, 1976-August 14, 1981)

**Nicknames**: "Transamerica T '76", "The Transamerica T II"

**Logo**: We see the text "United Artists" in the same Impact font on a black background. A few seconds later, the blue "T" design fades in on the left side of the company name. Like the previous logo variant, the "T" is made up of 6 blue lines, with three stacked on top of each other on both sides. At the same time, a blue text that says "A Transamerica Company" appears underneath the United Artists name.

**Variants**:

* On trailers for some films (mostly when distributing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures films), the "T" and Transamerica Corporation byline are in white and the words "Released thru" are seen above the logo.
* A similar variant appears on black-and-white films, including *Manhattan*, *Stardust Memories* (both Woody Allen films) and *Raging Bull*, only the full animation is used, and "Released thru" doesn't appear at all.
* On some films such as *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*, *Being There* and a full screen print of *Moonraker*, the "T" and the text are bigger and the Transamerica byline is smaller. It was known as a print logo, and was seen on movie posters.
* On trailers, the logo is still and the Transamerica byline is in white. However, the original theatrical trailer for *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest* has the still version of the regular version, though the film itself has the variant from a full screen version print of *Moonraker*.
* On *Moonraker*, the logo was in freeze-frame.
* Depending on the film, the placement and colors of the logo would vary ever so slightly.
* On European releases, such as the Italian release of *Cannibal Holocaust*, it would say "United Artists Europa Inc." This can be seen on the Arrow UK DVD & Blu-ray release, as well as the Shameless releases. This logo is not on American releases, as early VHS copies edited it out, while on the Grindhouse DVD it is replaced with the Grindhouse Releasing logo. This logo was seen on *Primo Amore*.

**FX/SFX**: The "United Artists" text appearing, the blue stacked "T" and Transamerica byline fading into view.

**Music/Sounds**: Silent, or the film's opening cue/theme.

**Music/Sounds Variants**:

* On a TCM airing of *Return of the Pink Panther*, it uses the 1995 music due to sloppy reverse plastering.
* On the 1980 MGM/CBS Home Video VHS release of *Cruising*, the opening theme is heard.
* On late 1970s reissue prints of *Chitty Chitty Bang Bang* (plastering over the previous logo), this logo has the sound of race cars (leading into the opening scene of the film) playing over this logo.

**Availability**: Rare.

* Until recently, this logo was very hard to find due outside of old TV airings and select prints, due to rampant plastering by the means of MGM and later UA variants. Nowadays, MGM sub-licenses its films to video labels that perform new scans and remasters and leave studio logos intact on the film unlike MGM themselves. Therefore, this logo and its later variant have been making more reappearances than in the past few years. Most United Artists films of the time have had this logo edited over with newer logos or recent MGM logos, but it occasionally appears on older prints.
* The original version is believed to have first appeared on *Stay Hungry*, becoming UA's regular logo beginning with *The Missouri Breaks*, and last appeared on *Head Over Heels* (the original version of *Chilly Scenes of Winter*, which would be reissued in 1982 under the United Artists Classics banner), while the variant with the smaller byline first appeared on the 1978 re-release of *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*, taking over as the regular logo beginning with *The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh*, and last appeared on *Deadly Blessing*.
* It has been preserved on the 1990 MGM/UA Home Video VHS releases of *The Black Stallion* and *Thunderbird 6*, the 1983 Vestron Video VHS of *The Final Countdown*, the 1980 MGM/CBS Home Video releases of the United Artists-distributed Lorimar Motion Pictures films *Being There* and *Cruising* (same for the CBS/Fox Video and Warner Home Video re-releases of the latter).
* It was also seen on the 1997 Warner Home Video VHS and DVD releases of *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest* (this is not on the Thorn-EMI Video and Republic Pictures Home Video VHS releases and later Warner issues).
* It makes an appearance on the trailer for *The Last Wave* on The Criterion Collection DVD release. This also makes a surprise reappearance on the 2010 Warner Home Video DVD and Blu-ray releases of Ralph Bakshi's *The Lord of the Rings* (1978), though it is absent on all older releases. It is also intact on the MGM MOD DVD-R and Kino Lorber Blu-rays of *Valentino (1977)*, *Burnt Offerings*, and the 2016 Scream Factory Blu-ray of *Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)*, which uses a new 2K transfer (the 2007 MGM DVD & Blu-ray and Arrow Video UK Blu-ray have the 2001 MGM lion and UA logos in its place; it is unknown which logo appears on the 2021 Kino Lorber 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray releases).
* The U.S print of the ITC Entertainment Group-produced *The Big Sleep* also had this logo. The original home video release and early television airings of *Apocalypse Now* should preserve this logo, although the 1990s Paramount Home Video Laserdisc uses the 1990 version of the 1986 Paramount Pictures logo, and none of the DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K Ultra HD releases contain a logo at all. It is preserved on trailers on the iTunes movie store.
* It also appears on the original Magnetic Video Corporation release of *The Jazz Singer*, followed by the 1923 Warner Bros. logo. The black and white variant is preserved on the RCA CED and Magnetic Video Corporation VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc releases of *Raging Bull*, as well as more recent prints of *Stardust Memories* (oddly after the 2001 MGM Lion and 2001 UA Swoosh). Also seen on the Magnetic releases of *The Black Stallion*, *Annie Hall*, and *La Cage Aux Folles*.
* Also seen on the international prints of *Piranha*, which is preserved on the Region 2 DVD after the 1995 logo. It also appeared on pre-1981 prints of *Rocky II*, including HBO broadcasts (the best place to look for that, and previous versions of the Transamerica logos in general, would be through commercial-free cable TV broadcasts, and old network TV broadcasts from before 1981).
* It is also seen intact on the Region 2 and Region 4 DVDs of *Rocky II*, the Warner Archive Instant print of *Americathon*, and the Shout! Factory DVD and Blu-ray of *Deadly Blessing* (a film Universal Studios owns because they control some of the pre-1996 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment library, in addition to being the very last film released in the Transamerica era).
* On James Bond films of this period, it originally appeared on *The Spy Who Loved Me*, *Moonraker*, and *For Your Eyes Only*.
* This logo was on the trailers for the 1975-81 MGM films *That's Entertainment Part II*, *Logan's Run*, *Fame*, and *He Knows You're Alone* (on the latter two films this logo appears under the 1966 MGM logo). It is unknown if this logo appeared on the actual release prints of MGM films from this era. This logo may have been seen on US VidAmerica and UK Intervision Video VHS and Betamax releases of United Artists films.
* It appeared on a late '80s Cinemax airing of *The End* and an Italian Sky Cinema broadcast of *The Missouri Breaks*.
* It also appeared on reissue prints of *Return of the Pink Panther* (reissued alongside *The Pink Panther Strikes Again* and then *Revenge of the Pink Panther*), *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest* (reissued in the late summer of 1978), and *Some Like It Hot* (reissued in the spring of 1980). This logo was also recently seen on Grit network's airings of *The Big Red One*, though it is absent on all other releases.
* International prints of *Buffalo Bill and the Indians (or, Sitting Bull's History Lesson)*, owned by StudioCanal as part of the Carolco Pictures library courtesy of producer Dino de Laurentiis, also retain this.

**Editor’s Note**: While not as memorable as the previous logo, it still has its fans.

## 8th Logo (September 18, 1981-December 1982)

**Nicknames**: "Blank United Artists", "T-less United Artists"

**Logo**: It's just the on-screen text of the 7th logo without the Transamerica "T" logo and byline.

**Trivia**: This was later used during the time of MGM/UA Entertainment Co.'s formation after MGM merged with United Artists.

**Variants**:

* The logo appears in a videotaped version when plastering older logos.
* A variant has the font the same as in the 5th logo.
* On European releases, it would say "United Artists Europa Inc."

**FX/SFX**: None.

**Music/Sounds**: Usually silent.

**Availability**: Very rare.

* Was seen on the original American prints of *Last Tango in Paris* (although the original Magnetic Video Corporation VHS and Betamax uses the previous logo).
* It also appears on later Magnetic Video Corporation and most 20th Century-Fox Video VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc prints of *Rocky*, *Dr. No*, *Goldfinger*, *A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum*, *For Your Eyes Only*, *White Lightning*, *The Return of a Man Called Horse*, *Rollerball*, and *Love and Death*.
* It is retained on the 2002 MGM DVD and the Criterion DVD & Blu-ray releases of *The French Lieutenant's Woman*, though streaming prints and overseas Blu-rays have the 2001 logo in its place.
* Can also be currently found on *Vigilante Force*, *Safari 3000*, *Born to Win*, *Rancho Deluxe*, *Drum*, and *The House Where Evil Dwells*.
* Appears on some public domain DVDs of *The Magic Sword*.
* It first appeared on *True Confessions* and made its last appearance on *The House Where Evil Dwells*.

**Editor’s Note**: A boring variant of the previous logo.