The African Queen on DVD in late 2005? (1 Viewer)

[Jing_B]

Well I guess late 2005 is out the window now. Let's all see in 2006 how it all turns out. BTW I heard news that The Jazz Singer was being meticulously restored over there at good Warner Bros. and is being released sometime in 2006 or for its 80th Anniversary in 2007.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I am still having difficulty in understanding how Paramount acquired the rights. Did CBS-Fox own the film outright? CBS-Fox are now owned by Viacom, who also own Paramount. Recent CBS titles from Paramount include, The Reivers, Prime Cut and Little Big Man, all of which have exceptional transfers, by-the-way, but unfortunately have no extras.

Paramount recently said that they were to step-up DVD production and release more catalogue titles as special editions and that seems to have already begun. Maybe we will see The African Queen in 2006. We'll just to have wait and see.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

I think what you are trying to say is that CBS-owned titles released by the former CBS-Fox label (now of course just plain Fox Video) are now owned by Viacom.

THE AFRICAN QUEEN was an odd situation where Huston got private financing from Horizon Pictures (Sam Spiegel's company) to make it, and United Artists briefly released it but did not keep the copyright. Horizon sold the film in the U.S. to Viacom in the '70's. Viacom, long before swallowing Paramount, licensed this film and some Elvis Presley movies they acquired from producer Hal Wallis to Fox's first video subsidiary, Magnetic Video, and those titles stayed there a long time.

Now that Viacom, through Paramount, has their own label, all the films they controlled now go out through that label.

That is how Paramount now controls THE AFRICAN QUEEN.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Thanks for clarifying things, Mark.