Compiled by Jason Jones and James Fabiano
Images by Eric S. and naxo-ole
Editions by Eric S., V of Doom, and Shadeed A. Kelly


Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales

Background: This predecessor company of Columbia Pictures was founded originally in 1919 by Harry Cohn, his brother Jack Cohn, and Joe Brandt. Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. Many of the studio's early productions were low-budget affairs; the start-up CBC leased space in a poverty row studio on Hollywood's Gower Street. Among Hollywood's elite, CBC's reputation led some to joke that "CBC" stood for "Corned Beef and Cabbage".
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Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

Background: Following a reorganization, the Cohn brothers renamed the predecessor company as Columbia Pictures Corp. in 1924. Columbia's product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and a short-subject program of comedies, serials, cartoons, and sports films. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, building a reputation as one of Hollywood's more important studios. In 1968, it was renamed to Columbia Pictures Industries. Afterwards, it was sold to Coca-Cola in 1982, became part of Columbia Pictures Entertainment in December 1987, and since 1989, it's owned by Sony Corporation of Japan. Since 1998, it is part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the mentioned multinational conglomerate.

1st Logo
(1924-1936)

Nicknames: "Early Torch Lady", "Sparkler Torch Lady", "'20s Torch Lady"

Logo: We see a medium shot of a lady (Columbia, a representation of the USA), holding a light torch in her right hand. The lady is featured with a dark bob and a kind of Cleopatra-like headdress across her forehead. She is draped in an American flag complete with the stars on her left shoulder and the stripes coming across her middle, supported by her left arm, and hanging down her right side. Her torch is displayed with a rather primitive, flickering style of animation emitting lines of light as rays. The torch lady's head is under an arch of chiseled-though square shaped letters reading the words "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" or "A COLUMBIA PICTURE". At the end of the movie, the words are... "THIS IS A COLUMBIA PICTURE" with "The End" below it in a script font.

Variants:

• Some movies would feature the name in another typeface, and will sometimes be ID'ed as "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION" at the start of the film, and "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" at the end of the film. Another variation consists in the words "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" and "The End" below. It was spotted on a Three Stooges short.
• In 2004, Columbia Pictures and Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released several Three Stooges shorts by having the Torch Lady in color.

FX/Cheesy Factor: The torch rays shining like fireworks and sparklers, which look silly, but the logo is from the '20s, so give them credit.

Music/Sounds: A majestic horn sounder, much like the Fox logo.

Availability: All can be seen on The Three Stooges releases on DVD. Can still be seen on reruns of early (w/o Shemp) Three Stooges shorts on Spike TV.

Scare Factor: Low to medium.



2nd Logo
(1936-1976)

Nickname: "Classic Torch Lady", "'30s Torch Lady"

Logo: We see the lady, this time standing on top of a pedestal with a backdrop of clouds over her, while she is holding her light torch. Much more refined, ethereal and goddess-like, her facial features became less pronounced and she looked away (up and to the right) instead of straight ahead. Her headdress was removed and her hair swept back instead of hanging by the sides of her face. The drape over her shoulder became less-obviously an American flag, the stars on the left shoulder having been toned down in a shadow, and the stripes visible only on the portion of the drape hanging down her right side. "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" was replaced with the tall chiseled letters of "COLUMBIA" (which fades in a second afterward) running straight across the top section of the screen, with the lady's torch glowing in front of the "U". A new form of animation was used on the logo as well, with a torch that radiates light instead of flickers. On several Three Stooges shorts, "PRESENTS" appears below.

History/Evolution:

• 1942: The lady looks much like she did in 1936, only the stripes were removed and the flag became simply a drape without markings, dark on the left shoulder but only the shadows of the folds differentiating the rest of it from the lady's white gown on her right side. The "COLUMBIA" lettering was also modified, still chiseled but less bold, and with darker shadowing.
• 1950's: The Columbia Lady's robe was redrawn with a plunging neckline.
• Late 1960's: She lost her slipper-clad foot peeking out from the bottom of her robe as it divided just above the pedestal. Also, the clouds behind the logo became concentrated in the center and more billowy in shape. The drapery was temporarily all white during this era.

Byline: Starting in 1973-74, the phrase "A Division of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc." appears at the bottom of the screen.

Variants:

• There is a black & white version of the 1973 logo on the 1953 Three Stooges short "Tricky Dicks".
• On The Three Stooges, the 1936 Torch Lady appears on the left side of The Three Stooges title card. On the steps are the words "COLUMBIA" on top, "SHORT SUBJECT" in the middle, and "PRESENTATION" on the bottom step.
• The logo was shown without the company name at the beginning of the 1958 film Cowboy.

FX: The torch rays shine more realistically in this version.

Music/Sounds: Usually, the beginning of a movie's opening score plays over the logo. On some films, the logo appears completely silent. However, on several mid to late '30s The Three Stooges shorts, it has a majestic logo theme before playing the Stooges' theme. On several other films, it would have a different theme.

Availability: Uncommon; can still be seen on various broadcasts of classic Columbia movies on TCM, AMC, Spike TV, among other networks, as Sony preserves their movie logos well. One of the last films to use this logo was Taxi Driver.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; the old B/W film and scary drawing might send some chills.



3rd Logo
(1975-1981)

Nicknames: "'70s Torch Lady", "The Abstract Torch", "The Sunburst"

Logo: It begins with the familiar Columbia Torch Lady, standing on the pedestal holding her light torch. Then, the picture moves upward and towards the torch, which shines even more as the picture blurs around it. It then emits a flash that fills the screen. When the flash dissolves, the light torch itself appears, as if in sunburst, against a black screen and as it shrinks, it changes into a more "abstract" torch: a blue half circle, or a semicircle, with thirteen white light rays in the center and the words "Columbia Pictures" (in Souvenir font) under it. The entire logo then slowly backs away as it fades out.

FX: The Torch Lady's torch being zoomed in on, then turning into the Sunburst.

Music/Sounds: It begins with a dramatic theme that builds up as the camera zooms in on the torch composed by Suzanne Cnani. With the flash/sunburst, it takes an inspirational, majestic tone. Of course, like many other movie logos, this could also be silent or have the opening theme play over it, but usually not.

Availability: Actually more common than the TV version, as Sony is much better at keeping old logos on video releases of their movies, though in their home video division's early days this logo would be plastered by their home video logo. So you can usually still see the Torch Lady/Sunburst combination on movies from the time period. You can usually see it on cable movie channels like Turner Classic Movies, Showtime, and American Movie Classics as well. If you can't find it anywhere, the movie Superbad (2007) has a modified variant.

Scare Factor: Minimal; this was/is a favorite of many.



4th Logo
(1981-1993)

Nickname: "'80s Torch Lady"

Logo: We see the standard Columbia torch lady (a somewhat less detailed version of the '70s Torch Lady; she also appears to be resembling Da Vinci's Mona Lisa) standing on a pedestal with her torch. The torch then shines into a bright abstract shape, as if in sunburst, then dims back in place. The words "Columbia Pictures" (appearing in the same font from the last logo) fade to the left and right of the Torch Lady. Her torch "shines".

Variants:

• After 1988, the logo fades in and then the company name fades in about a second afterward. There was no big bright light in this variation.
• Also around this late period, Columbia's print logo was featured scrolling at the end of the movies' closing credits. This features the Torch Lady with the "sunburst" from the 1981-1988 variation of the opening logo. The phrase, appearing in the same font as the opening logo, reads "A Columbia Pictures Release" underneath.
• Another one would feature the same closing logo, but would use "COLUMBIA PICTURES" in Bank Gothic font with the SPE byline below. Used from 1991-1993.

FX/Cheesy Factor: The torch lady "shining".

Music/Sounds: None, but on one occasion, had used the sunburst music, which was probably a goof-up. Too bad; it kinda went well with this logo.

Availability: Usually saved on all movies when reran on cable or syndication, but the earlier variation is easier to come by, due to being used a longer time period and being on more popular movies; two notable movies to have the short version are Ghostbusters II and The Adventures of Milo and Otis. The last movie to use this logo was Lost in Yonkers.

Scare Factor: Minimal.



5th Logo
(1993- )
Nickname: "'90s Torch Lady"

Logo: This logo has a face lifted Torch Lady from 1936-1976 on her pedestal, giving more detail to the drawing. First, we see a bright light, as if in sunburst. The light is coming from a torch, which zooms out to reveal the lady who's holding it. On the top "COLUMBIA", seen in a bold, silver chiseled font, fades in afterward as a ring of light shimmers around the lady.

Byline: Starting in late 1995, "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" appears on the bottom. It is slightly off center.

Variants:

• In 1999, the company celebrated its 75th anniversary. The beginning of the logo started off with the 1936 logo of Columbia Pictures in black and white, leaving the 1992 cloud background intact. The Torch Lady then slowly morphs into the current Torch Lady as the effects from black & white later turns to color. As the camera zooms back, we see a red arched banner dropping from above saying "SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY LIGHTING UP SCREENS AROUND THE WORLD" and the Torch Lady standing on the pedestal, where we see a red box with the gold, giant chiseled name "COLUMBIA" inside on top, and the small word "PICTURES" below. We also see the gold giant number "75" unfolding in between the Torch Lady.
• In late 2006, the logo was given a more "enhanced" look, similar to the 2001 Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment logo, as well as Michael J. Deas' original artwork of the logo. It can be seen here. The hand is in a different pose in which the finger is at the tip of the torch. The sky is also darker and the company's name looks more silverish.
• At the end of the 2001 film Black Hawk Down, the logo zooms out to a much more farther distance than usual, revealing more of the cloud background below the pedestal; this variant is available on the VHS of the film. A similar variant can also be found on the Open Season short film Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run.
• The superimposed closing variant features the Torch Lady (and the cloud background) placed inside a rectangular box. The torch, and the cloud BG, overlap the top of the box. Next to the logo are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES", with "COLUMBIA" over "PICTURES". The phrase below the logo reads "A COLUMBIA PICTURES RELEASE" or "RELEASED BY" above the logo with the SPE byline underneath.underneath.This became Columbia's Current Print Logo

The "Making Of" the '90s Torch Lady: The logo's most recent overhaul was undertaken during this era when Sony Corporation of Japan (which bought Columbia in 1989) commissioned illustrator Michael J. Deas to redesign the lady and return her to her "classic" look. The result, based on Deas' sessions with Mandeville, Louisiana homemaker Jenny Joseph who posed for him with a makeshift robe and torch, was a taller, slimmer Columbia Torch Lady with lighter, curlier hair and a dimmer torch. Rather than use Joseph's face however, Deas constructed a composite face made up of several computer-generated features.

FX: The zoom-out.

Music/Sounds: A majestic tune is heard, which ends with a brass sounder. There are three versons of the fanfare: one that sounds orchestrated, one that sounds more synthesized, and the final having both themes mixed in together. All three have the same ending. Sometimes any movie's theme plays over it, or it may be silent.

Availability: Currently in use, but thankfully, not plastering anything from other eras.

Scare Factor: None; this logo has a beautiful fanfare and a soothing backdrop.