Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) is an Italian film production company founded in 1962 by Alberto Grimaldi to produce international co-productions.[1] It released its first feature film The Shadow of Zorro (L'ombra di Zorro) in December that year. Its next production was its first Spaghetti Western: Texas Ranger (I due violenti) released in 1964.

After the immense success of A Fistful of Dollars (1964) in popularizing the genre, United Artists financed the rest of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy films—For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)—and signed a contract to distribute PEA films.[2]

In 1976, due to the growing popularity of the cinema of the United States, PEA lost vitality (as well as viewers) and eventually limited its work solely to productions in Europe.[3]

References

  1. ^ Burke, Frank (13 April 2017). A Companion to Italian Cinema. John Wiley & Sons. p. 91.
  2. ^ Balio, Tino (1987). United Artists : The Company That Changed the Film Industry. The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 285-301. ISBN 0-299-11440-6.
  3. ^ "ANICA's Chairman Has Plans". Variety.com. 20 October 1976. p. 74.
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