Columbia Pictures began as a “Poverty Row” studio, a producer of B-movies located on a low-rent strip of Gower Street in Los Angeles. Jewish brothers Jack and Harry Cohn, along with Joe Brandt—all former employees of Universal—established their studio Cohn-Brandt-Cohn in 1918. Rebranding as Columbia Pictures in 1924, it gained enough traction to absorb neighboring low-budget studios. Originally known for comedy shorts, Columbia rose to prestige through the talent of contracted director Frank Capra, whose delightful rom-com Platinum Blonde was the first of his many collaborations with the future Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert Riskin (It Happened One Night).