Naming a building after legendary director Frank Capra was an obvious choice given the remarkable success of the films he made for studio chief Harry Cohn and Columbia Pictures.  During his heyday, Capra’s films touched a chord with the audience like never before, bringing accolades, Oscars® and box-office dollars to the studio and Capra himself. Capra’s “It Happened One Night” in 1934 was the first film ever to sweep the “Top 5” Oscars® for Picture, Actor (Clark Gable), Actress (Claudette Colbert), Screenplay and Directing. The film catapulted Columbia Pictures into a true competitive position in the industry and Capra continued to make more movie classics like “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” (1935,) “You Can’t Take It With You,” (1938) and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939).  All in all, Capra’s decade working with Cohn earned him three Best Director Academy Awards® and a total of 35 nominations and wins to Columbia.  Frank Capra also had a long-standing history in Culver City, having started his career as a gag writer for the “Our Gang” comedies at the Hal Roach Studios, once located at the intersection of National and Washington Boulevards.

COHN BUILDING

Walk past the front of the Cohn building at the end of Main Street on the Sony Pictures Studios lot and you might think you were at the old Columbia Pictures studio at Sunset and Gower in Hollywood.  The front of the Cohn building, named after Columbia Pictures co-founder Harry Cohn, is an exact replica of the studio’s main entrance on “Poverty Row,” a stretch of production companies on Gower Street that established themselves by making a slew of low-budget, genre films.  The front of the Cohn building also bears plaques honoring brothers Harry and Jack Cohn, who, along with partner Joe Brandt, formed CBC Sales Co. in 1919.