Allied Stars Ltd. was a film production company created by Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed in 1979. The firm was dissolved on March 3, 2020. [1]
The company was formed as a subsidiary of United Star Shipping, part of the Fayed group. [2] Al-Fayed appointed his son, Dodi Fayed as the chief executive. [3] Allied Star's first production was the 1980 British film Breaking Glass , which starred Hazel O'Connor. The next production backed by Allied Stars was the drama Chariots of Fire , in which Al-Fayed invested £3 million and purchased a 25% stake in the film. The film was also financed by Twentieth Century Fox and distributed by Alan Ladd, Jr.'s The Ladd Company. [4]
Before the completion of Chariots of Fire, Al-Fayed sold his stake for a share of the profits if the film succeeded. [3] The film was a huge success and earned Allied Stars $6 million.
Keith Allen's 2011 documentary on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Unlawful Killing , was funded by Al-Fayed at a cost of £2.5 million, and produced by Allied Stars.
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice. Ben Cross and Ian Charleson star as Abrahams and Liddell, alongside Nigel Havers, Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige, Brad Davis and Dennis Christopher in supporting roles. Kenneth Branagh and Stephen Fry make their debuts in minor roles.
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed was an Egyptian billionaire businessman whose residence and primary business interests were in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. His business interests included ownership of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Harrods department store and Fulham Football Club. At the time of his death in 2023, Forbes estimated his wealth at US$2 billion. From 1997 onwards, Fayed was the subject of media scrutiny and investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and assault. In 2024, he became the subject of posthumous accusations of rape.
Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em Fayed, commonly known as Dodi Fayed, was an Egyptian film producer and the eldest child of the businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. He was romantically involved with Diana, Princess of Wales, when they both died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.
Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in films noir, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Whispering Smith (1948) was his first Western and color film, and Shane (1953) was noted for its contributions to the genre. Ladd also appeared in ten films with William Bendix.
Barbara Dana Broccoli is a British-American film and stage producer, best known internationally for her work on the James Bond film series. With her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, Broccoli controls the James Bond film franchise.
Ian Charleson was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire. He is also well known for his portrayal of Rev. Charlie Andrews in the 1982 Oscar-winning film Gandhi.
Centrica plc is a British multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire. Its principal activity is the supply of electricity and gas to consumers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in the golden age of Hollywood, generally referred to collectively as Poverty Row. Lacking the financial resources to deliver the lavish sets, production values, and star power of the larger studios, Monogram sought to attract its audiences with the promise of action and adventure.
Colin Welland was an English actor and screenwriter. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Mr Farthing in Kes (1969) and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing Chariots of Fire (1981).
Breaking Glass is a 1980 British film starring Hazel O'Connor, Phil Daniels and Jonathan Pryce. It was co-produced by Dodi Fayed and written and directed by Brian Gibson, his feature film debut.
Goldcrest Films is an independent British distribution, production, post production, and finance company. Operating from London and New York, Goldcrest is a privately owned integrated filmed entertainment company.
Alan Walbridge Ladd Jr. was an American film industry executive and producer. He was president of 20th Century Fox from 1976 to 1979, during which he approved the production of Star Wars, on his confidence in George Lucas, which proved well-founded. He later established The Ladd Company and headed MGM/UA. Ladd won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1996 for producing Braveheart.
John Anthony "Tony" Smith is a British manager and music and film producer. He was talent manager for the band Genesis, for the solo careers of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, and co-manager of Pink Floyd.
The Ladd Company was an American film production company founded by Alan Ladd Jr., Jay Kanter, and Gareth Wigan on August 18, 1979.
2 Entertain Video Limited, trading as BBC Studios Home Entertainment, is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International by BBC Worldwide & Woolworths Group respectively.
Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment and production company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through Sony Music Entertainment entering a joint venture by purchasing Cowell's shares of his record label S Records and television company Syco Television. In 2009, Sony and Cowell entered a joint venture agreement that covered the joint ownership of Syco's television formats, which include the Got Talent and The X Factor franchises. Until 2020, the company operated television and music projects with Sony Music labels around the world and television production company Fremantle. It employs a staff of more than 50 in offices in London and Los Angeles, and manages a string of television and music brands through partnerships with the label Sony Music and the television production company.
Warwick Films was a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick Hotel in New York where Broccoli and his wife were staying at the time of the final negotiations for the company's creation. Their films were released by Columbia Pictures.
Left Bank Pictures Ltd. is a British film and television production company owned by Sony Pictures Television. It was formed in 2007 and was the first British media company to receive investment from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC.
Wild Harvest is a 1947 American drama film directed by Tay Garnett and starring Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour and Robert Preston. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Chariots of Fire is a 2012 stage adaptation of the 1981 Oscar-winning film of the same name. Production of the Olympic-themed play, which opened at London's Hampstead Theatre 9 May 2012 and transferred to the West End on 23 June 2012, was partially inspired by the 2012 London Summer Olympics.