Legend has it that the iconic star-crested mountain logo of Paramount Pictures was born in 1914 from a simple napkin doodle by co-founder W.W. Hodkinson, inspired by his childhood memories of the majestic peaks in Utah. The fledgling company's name, the story goes, was taken from a sign on the side of an apartment building. From such humble origins, the oldest film studio in Hollywood would come to be known as the Mountain.
Along with its rivals, Paramount was forced to divest its theater operations and end the practice of vertical integration that had allowed it to control production, distribution and exhibition. Governed by settlements known as the Paramount Decrees, the decision all but drove a stake into the heart of the old Hollywood studio system and hobbled Paramount's business.