Polaris Productions and Hawk Films; Distributed By Warner Bros.

Birds of a Feather

Stanley Kubrick had a thing for birds. He created Hawk Films to produce Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange, among others. He also created Peregrine Films and Harrier Films for later movies he produced. Kubrick formed Hawk Films after allegedly falling out with his previous production partner, Jimmy Harris. Kubrick, a director known for being quite the auteur, was actually more interested in making commercially successful films, which pulled the partnership apart (source).

What's Up, Doc?

When you think Warner Bros., you think Bugs Bunny, Casablanca, and a woman being raped while her rapist sings "Singin' in the Rain." Okay—you don't think of that last one. This film is different from your usual Warner Bros. production…and it's different from every other production.

Usually we hear about production companies meddling in a director's vision, but here, it was the other way around. After some shocking copycat crimes in the U.K., Kubrick requested that Warner Bros. pull the film in that country. He had received death threats from people offended by the film. The studio complied, and the U.K. didn't officially see A Clockwork Orange again until 1999, when Kubrick died. (You can't make death threats against a dead person.)