Lionsgate 2 (1 Viewer)

[Aunt Peg]

"Jock" Petersen was just released this week in Australia on DVD as Petersen. The Rollocking Adventures of Eliza Fraser has been released as Eliza Fraser. Not too sure about The Picture Show Man & Sunday Too Far Away.

 

[Louis Letizia]

I think THE PICTURE SHOW MAN may be lost forever-a shame. It was one of Rod Taylors better later roles. SUNDAY TOO FAR AWAY was a winning little movie-I have an Embassy vhs that is long out of print. Was "Jock" Petersen released with that title there as it was here -or just as PETERSEN?

 

[Aunt Peg]

Just PETERSON. The Last Picture Show definitely isn't lost. The National Film Archive would have a print. It's only a matter of time before it shows up on DVD,

 

[Louis Letizia]

I know THE LAST PICTURE SHOW is not lost-thank goodness. I was referring to the 1977 Rod Taylor film -THE PICTURE SHOW MAN. TPSM hasnt been seen anywhere since a late 70s hbo showing. I've read about it and vaguely remember seeing it-but have never come acxross a video. Rod Taylor is still with us and was fun in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS. It was gret to see DARK OF THE SUN hit DVD last year.

 

[Aunt Peg]

Sorry, a slip up by me. I meant The Picture Show Man is not lost. I went to a retro screening of the film about 10 years ago. It may have been released on video in the early 80's but I cannot confirm that.

 

[Louis Letizia]

We all slip up once in a while. On the Lionsgate track again , I Netflixed ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and noticed the thundering Studio Canal logo in the beginning-not the roar of the MGM lion. I believe that Lionsgate now controls this as well as former MGM Avco embassy releases as ZAPPED! , TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT , PHANTASM , THE FOGand CARBON COPY among others. I'm surprised the exploitable titles such as DEADLY HERO , THE SOLDIER , PARADISE , GOLDENGIRL never made it to DVD. Is it easy to assume that ALL Avco Embassy titles are now controlled by Lionsgate? Including the Anchor Bay titles: THE SEDUCTION , VICE SQUAD and WINTER KILLS? It would be a shame if LG didnt do anything with this entertaining library-but I fear that the love poured on to the amazing Special Editions of MGM and the extras filled Anchor bay titles will be abandoned by Lionsgate. Hold on to what you own!

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

We all slip up once in a while. On the Lionsgate track again , I Netflixed ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and noticed the thundering Studio Canal logo in the beginning-not the roar of the MGM lion. I believe that Lionsgate now controls this as well as former MGM Avco embassy releases as ZAPPED! , TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT , PHANTASM , THE FOGand CARBON COPY among others. I'm surprised the exploitable titles such as DEADLY HERO , THE SOLDIER , PARADISE , GOLDENGIRL never made it to DVD. Is it easy to assume that ALL Avco Embassy titles are now controlled by Lionsgate? Including the Anchor Bay titles: THE SEDUCTION , VICE SQUAD and WINTER KILLS? It would be a shame if LG didnt do anything with this entertaining library-but I fear that the love poured on to the amazing Special Editions of MGM and the extras filled Anchor bay titles will be abandoned by Lionsgate. Hold on to what you own!

Once again, Marc Edward Heuck could give a very good explanation of the complex ownership of these films and probably will, eventually. Since he hasn't chimed in yet, to me, it seems as if there is some joint ownership / distribution over some of these at least in the States, at least where home video is concerned, as my ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK Blu-ray, for instance, is issued by MGM / Fox, but also has a Studio Canal logo on it. That title and many of the other titles in this group remain readily available for purchase on MGM DVDs and Blu-rays. I would say it's definitely not "easy to assume" anything, not in the case of Avco-Embassy / MGM / Studio Canal or any other. The Wikipedia entry on Embassy (by no means the be all and end all) has this to say about the ownership of the library:

Today, the Embassy corporation, its divisions and film & television holdings, are split. The theatrical rights to the Embassy film library (with the few exceptions noted in the next paragraph) are at the hands of French production company StudioCanal (represented by Stuart Lisell Films and Rialto Pictures, depending on the individual re-issue rights), with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (distributing for MGM), Image Entertainment (through The Criterion Collection), Lionsgate Home Entertainment, and Anchor Bay Entertainment handling video distribution (via separate output deals). MGM owns A Chorus Line outright due to co-producer PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's holdings being incorporated into MGM's library. Sony owns Crimewave and Saving Grace (both co-produced by Embassy Pictures) and the television rights to Embassy's entire film output, and also owns the television output outright by virtue of Sony Pictures Television acquiring the Embassy television division. As to the theatrical library, Columbia originally owned television rights to The Carpetbaggers and Nevada Smith, while Paramount owned all other rights (Trifecta Entertainment & Media now handles TV rights to the two films on behalf of Paramount). Columbia also originally handled television distribution of Blade Runner before WB took back full rights; ironically WB now also owns Watership Down and Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas In July, while the aforementioned Embassy-distributed ITC films are now the responsibility of ITV Global Entertainment Ltd.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

I'm surprised the exploitable titles such as DEADLY HERO , THE SOLDIER , PARADISE , GOLDENGIRL never made it to DVD.

PARADISE and THE SOLDIER have been released in several other regions and can be had rather cheaply. Not sure about DEADLY HERO or GOLDENGIRL.

 

[Louis Letizia]

The wikepedia article was very informative-thanks. The more I delve , the more I believe Avco Embassy was only a distribution arm as many of their films are scattered. I'm fascinated y all of this and ultimately it comes down to the original producers perogative. Seperatly it seems the Joseph E. Levine library is as scattershot. You would think HERCULES and its sequel would be put out by a major distributor. I am aware that Paramount now controls THE CARBETBAGGERS , HARLOW and NEVADA SMITH but wHAT of THE OSCAR and TATTOO? 2 films that seem assured sellers? 20th Century Fox seems to not have controlled alot of their 70s/80s films for homevideo either. In only 7 releases in 1978 -2 of Fox's biggest hits -THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and MAGIC are controlled by others. But it seems we may never see their Mel Simon product -THE RUNNER STUMBLES and SCAVENGER HUNT and CHU CHU AND THE PHILLY FLASH. I believe they no longer own MIDDLE AGE CRAZY . Would that reside with Kroft and thus with BCI ? ON THE RIGHT TRACK from 1981 is also MIA. In its way Fox is as complex as Embassy.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Louis Letizia

The wikepedia article was very informative-thanks. The more I delve , the more I believe Avco Embassy was only a distribution arm as many of their films are scattered. I'm fascinated y all of this and ultimately it comes down to the original producers perogative.
Seperatly it seems the Joseph E. Levine library is as scattershot. You would think HERCULES and its sequel would be put out by a major distributor. I am aware that Paramount now controls THE CARBETBAGGERS , HARLOW and NEVADA SMITH but wHAT of THE OSCAR and TATTOO? 2 films that seem assured sellers?
20th Century Fox seems to not have controlled alot of their 70s/80s films for homevideo either. In only 7 releases in 1978 -2 of Fox's biggest hits -THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and MAGIC are controlled by others. But it seems we may never see their Mel Simon product -THE RUNNER STUMBLES and SCAVENGER HUNT and CHU CHU AND THE PHILLY FLASH. I believe they no longer own MIDDLE AGE CRAZY . Would that reside with Kroft and thus with BCI ? ON THE RIGHT TRACK from 1981 is also MIA. In its way Fox is as complex as Embassy.

Most of the smaller distribution company's of the 60's, 70's and 80's, such as Avco Embassy, Allied Artists, Group 1, and Cinerama Releasing augmented their distribution arm by doing the theatrical releasing only along with producing their own titles. MGM, Fox, Columbia also did the same thing. They were not producing enough films themselves to kept the distribution and marketing departments busy so they picked up independent titles to keep their pipelines open and bring in money to cover their cost. The pick-ups were for theatre release and some television sales only and they did not include home entertainment rights. Mostly due to the fact that home entertainment was not around in the 60's and 70's. That is one of the reasons trying to determine who has controlling rights can be a mystery. Sometimes they go back to the producer, who has passed and the estate does not even know they own the film. Or, the producer that has the rights thinks it is worth so much more than it is and can never make a deal for the release, such as the case with the missing seven AIP films that Susan Hart Nicholson owns from her late husband James H. Nicholson. Warner Brothers which controls a large part of Allied Artists, has said several times that the number of AA films they control the rights too are minimal for titles in the late 60's and 70's.


Hercules was nothing more than a pick-up for theatrical release. Rights went back to the original producer many years ago and no one as been able to make a deal with them for a legitimate region 1 release.

The Oscar now is controlled by Studio Canal so it would, at the present fall under LionsGate. Fat chance for a release on that one. Tattoo resides with AMC Holding along with Magic. I supposed that Dark Sky could release it since it released Magic, but if a deal was struck it would have come out a few years ago around the same time as Magic.

On The Right Track, Chu Chu, Scavenger Hunt and Runner Stumbles still belong to Fox and unless Shout or Twilight grab the titles, then you will not see a DVD.

Middle Age Crazy as several copyright holders, including Canada, as producers and they have not been able to agree on what to do with the film so it sits in a dark hole. It would have made too much sence to just renew the agreement with Fox.

 

[Louis Letizia]

You would think with the renewed interest in 2011 of Tony Bennett -as well as the films 45th anniversary -that THE OSCAR would have garnered even a token release. Lionsgate has released some even more obscure Studio Canal films, but yet this one -itself a 2 time Oscar nominee -linger in limbo. Its one of the best bad movies ever. Bennetts one and only film-and he is (unintentionally) hilarious. I miss the days when this was a staple around Oscar time on the Million Dollar Movie in New York on channel 9 (a plug -btw-for the fun new book about Channel 9s horror movi programming-a must read)

 

[ahollis]

The Oscar is not a very good film, even as a 60's glamour soap opera. But I would buy for the train wreck that it is and the over the top acting. The Tony Bennett number is about the best thing there is. TCM has run this a lot during Oscar time also.

 

[Louis Letizia]

Another one I'm sure Lionsgate owns is another Joseph E. Levine potboiler- THE EMPTY CANVAS. Until I recently discovered this at a used video store-I had never been aware of it or ever remeber it on tv as a child (I loved everything 60s -I would have remembered). I had alot of fun with this. I'd only known the very beautiful Catherine Spaak from a terrible Robert Blake movie (it played quite alot on HBO as RIPPED OFF -the running time was as short as Blake himself - 72 minutes and the screenplay was all F bombs. Till today I dont know what its about) . She was very good for the eyes here. Horst Buchholz (what became of him-so good in ONE TWO THREE)was very handsome and came off well as a Italian named Dino. This may have been the beginning of Bette Davis' female impersanotor years -but seeing it was 1964 it was one of her more glamorous roles. An erotic , sexy , black and white beauty that somehow fell under my radar. Glad Embassy video released it. I'd like to see this , A QUIET PLACE TO KILL and ROAD TO SALINA as a triple LG feature

 

[walter o]

DEADLY HERO was out on DVD, on Trinity, Castle Hill controls it now

 

[Louis Letizia]

Hey Walter. I've checked IMDB and DVD Empire (they list companies discontinued titles as well such as Trinity's PLAGUE DOGS and THE FINAL TERROR) and neither list DEADLY HERO. Castle Hill is another complex structure. They used to have a website listing their library-but its down now. They released a nice DVD of THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE WITH THE SEA-but that title deserves the Criterion treatment and screams out for BluRay. CH seems to control quite a few Avco/Embassy titles but arent exploiting them much. I believe they have PIPE DREAMS as well. Is Trinity a legit company? I have all their ACR output-some with nice extras-but they seem almost bootleg with vhs transfers.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Hey Walter. I've checked IMDB and DVD Empire (they list companies discontinued titles as well such as Trinity's PLAGUE DOGS and THE FINAL TERROR) and neither list DEADLY HERO.

This what you're looking for?

 

[Louis Letizia]

Didnt think Amazon...thanks. Steep price to pay , I'll rewatch my Magnetic video. This flew under my radar. Kims Video in NYC used to have plenty of Trinity releases and as is still my custom < I go faithfully every week as Ive done the past 20 odd years. I would have snapped that up in a second -its one of my favorite 70s NY set thrillers. Very underrated. Interesting how they picture Treat Williams as the star on their always bootleg looking covers. But I am a video whore-and take movies where I can get them . We finally have REPORT TO HE COMMISIONER and SUPER COPS on DVD -all I'd need is NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER and THE CHOIRBOYS .

 

[walter o]

The Trinity DVD of DEADLY HERO isnt all that good, its full frame, and for some odd reason, one of the reels is a TV print version. I prefer the Embassy video of it over Magnetic, better colors.

 

[Louis Letizia]

hanks Walter. I trust your judgement more than myself. I have an Embassy copy as well. If the Trinity (again-are they a legit company?) is that much and full frame -I'll stick with vhs. More and more it seems like he best option for older films.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

hanks Walter. I trust your judgement more than myself. I have an Embassy copy as well. If the Trinity (again-are they a legit company?) is that much and full frame -I'll stick with vhs. More and more it seems like he best option for older films.

As far as I know, Trinity are (were?) legit. I have a 16x9 DVD of Jerzy Skolimowski's MOONLIGHTING from Trinity and it is the real deal.