MGM now owns THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1946) (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

Anchor Bay released this on DVD a few years back, now it's OOP and commanding outrageous sums on eBay and Amazon. It was an R.K.O. film, so how did A.B. get it in the first place? Doesn't Warner own this? I'd sure love to see it come out again.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Anchor Bay probably got it at the time they had the rights to the Selznick/ABC library (Selznick handled a re-release of the film).

It might be with Disney, who now own most of the Selznick library, or it could have reverted back to RKO, which would make it with Warner.

 

[Todd Robertson]

I missed the boat. would love to have this gem in the library. watched it tonight on TCM, though.

 

[Jo_C]

ABC acquired most of the Selznick library after the director's passing in 1965. The package does not include "Gone With The Wind" (now owned by Warner/Turner), the remake of "A Farewell To Arms" (owned now by 20th Century Fox), the original "A Star Is Born" (Republic, I believe, now holds the original film elements even though it is now in the public domain), and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (also now owned by Warner/Turner--RKO originally held the copyright).

When Disney bought ABC, it became part of the Disney/Buena Vista/ABC aura, so although ABC does now hold the copyright, Disney/Buena Vista is responsible for its theatrical distribution.

MGM recently struck a deal with Buena Vista for the video rights, so now MGM takes over from Anchor Bay for the video rights.

 

[Christian R]

In case anyone has multi-region capabilities - get the reasonably priced UK disk - it's a beautiful transfer.
I have a feeling that the rights might be with MGM as quite a few of the Anchor Bay disks that were licenced thru ABC pictures are getting a re-release thru MGM now. (Shalako, Custer of the West, Silkwood, Duel in the Sun, The Last Valley, etc.)
A few of the ones that have disappeared (like Staircase, Garden of Allah, The Grissom Gang, Charly) are all still available in the UK for reasonable prices - I'd just never pay HUGE amounts for any of these disks...not as long as they are available in R2.

 

[Jeff_HR]

I'm glad I bought this cheaply a couple of years ago!

 

[Patrick McCart]

Warner apparently owns the '37 film. UCLA's listing for their elements (including the 3-strip nitrate negatives ) and there is a mention of Warner Bros. being the owner of some rights. It's possible that UCLA owns the restored version, while Warner owns holds the element rights.

It would at least make sense given that they made the '54 and '76 remakes.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

This is a very good film. I obtained a copy from eBay recently for around $25.

 

[GlennH]

Appears to be a new release coming on 10/4/05?

http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musit...asp?sku=D18515

from http://www.dvdjournal.com/

 

[Robert Crawford]

There appears to be some confusion as to whether that dvd is the 1946 version or the 1975 remake so I wouldn't go out preordering it until some clarification is made regarding which version would be released on 10/04/05.

http://www.lasersedge.com/item_detai...64646&tMedia=1

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I went ahead about a year ago and won a copy of the old Anchor Bay disc off Ebay (for the 1946 version). So in a way I'm hoping the new release is the remake.

 

[GlennH]

Hmm. Yeah, that lasersedge listing is all messed up. Date and actors are for the 1975 version, but synopsis is for 1946. But isn't the 1975 version Warner property?

I see that the 1975 version on IMDB is wrong, showing the cover of the Anchor Bay DVD.

We shall see. I do have that Anchor Bay version already.

It should be a misdemeanor to list a movie title without the year when there are multiple versions.

 

[Herb Kane]

It would appear to be the 1975 remake.

However, I hadn't seen the announcement for one of my all time favorites, True Confessions (1981). I couldn't be happier and it's gotta be better than the R2 abomination.

Herb.

 

[Thomas T]

I hope it IS the 1975 remake! I already have the Anchor Bay Spiral Staircase and it's a decent transfer and I've never seen the remake and I'd love to compare them.

As for those of you who missed out on the Anchor Bay version ..... hey, you snooze, you lose. I make it a point to pick the DVD movies I really want within the first year of their release. It seems that when a DVD beomes rare or hard to get, suddenly it retains an allure it never had when it was readily available.

 

[Greg Black]

Another one of those things in life where I wish I had known the future. I bought the now OOP AB release at Kmart a few years back, when a lot of AB titles were on sale for SEVEN DOLLARS. I should have bought them out.

 

[GregoryMesh]

If you check out the cover artwork at DVD Empire, you'll see it's 1946 version.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[GlennH]

Yep, here's the link:

http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_ite...d=700017&tab=5

 

[Chris Cheese]

That's great news. I'd love to get a copy of this on DVD, so I'm eagerly awaiting the October release date. More noir on DVD is always a good thing.

edit: that's really weird about the Amazon listing though. But I can't imagine DVDEmpire fabricating a cover for the wrong version.

 

[Charles H]

Amazon and Movies Unlimited announced THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1975) version as being 83 minutes. The '75 remake is 89 minutes. The 1946 original is 83 minutes.