The studio was originally constructed for Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short subjects were filmed there between 1920 and 1933. The first Sherlock Holmes sound film, "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" (also 1929), was made at the studio by the British producer Basil Dean. "The Dance of Life" (1929) was a film musical shot on sound stages, with most exterior scenes filmed on a back lot that existed at that time. The first two films featuring the Marx Brothers, "The Cocoanuts" (1929) and "Animal Crackers" (1930), were shot at the Astoria Studio. It was also known as the Paramount Studio.