Re: MGM; Please release the rest of your horror library
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Originally Posted by Stephen_J_H
And this is where it gets really screwy. MOST Joseph E. Levine titles, but not all, are distributed by MGM on video, either by virtue of the Orion acquisition (which gave them a good chunk of the Nelson/Embassy titles), or by virtue of having been distributed theatrically by United Artists e.g. A Bridge Too Far. However, some Levine titles initially distribued by Embassy on video fell into rights hell and wound up being released on DVD by neither MGM nor Lionsgate e.g. Magic, which was released theatrically by Fox, then on video by Blay Video, which became Magnetic Video, then was purchased by Fox. It was then released by Embassy, then by some wierd little PD outfit that released the TV cut. It is now available from Dark Sky, a horror and cult movie outfit.
In short, I don't think there's an easy answer to your question.
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It's not that screwy actually. Most, if not all, of the Joseph E. Levine films produced for other studios BEFORE the creation of Embassy Pictures in the late '60's is part of the Embassy package that StudioCanal controls - those films reverted back to him and he fused it into the company.
By the late '70's, Levine left Embassy after having sold the company to Avco, and became an independent producer. Those films stayed with the studios that released them - A BRIDGE TOO FAR with UA, TATTOO with Fox. MAGIC is the only exception, because that was a Fox pickup that Levine financed himself, so he kept all ancillary rights to it.
And this is where your timeline is a little off Stephen. Andre Blay created Magnetic Video with Fox's help, and also initially licensed the Avco Embassy library for them, along with ITC, Viacom, Brut, and other suppliers. When Fox took over the company completely, Blay left and then formed the short-lived Blay Video: MAGIC was one of their first releases. Around the same time, Avco sold off Embassy to Norman Lear, which included getting home video rights to the entire library back from Fox, and Lear merged operations with Blay to create the Embassy Home Entertainment label. So it's just irony that MAGIC, as a Levine production, wound up at the same label as other movies that he had produced.
The tiny indie release of the TV cut was likely a bootleg, using the defunct company reading of copyright law that made numerous boots of Allied Artists and National General movies ubiquitous as their rationale. (In general, if a company you've never heard of releases a TV cut of an R-rated movie, it's likely unlicensed) MAGIC's rights have apparently gone to a company related to Rainbow Media, who own the AMC cable network, and that's who made the deal with Dark Sky.
So to answer Peter's question, SANDS OF THE KALIHARI would likely be a Lionsgate project. Though it may not be a bad idea to petition Criterion to sublicense it, as they have a longstanding relationship with StudioCanal, and they did do an excellent laserdisc of the other great Levine epic initially handled by Paramount, ZULU.
