Does anyone know why this film hasn't ever been released on video or DVD?! I read somewhere that it is a cult classic.
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zpzjones — 19 years ago(April 13, 2006 04:36 PM)
actually it shows up from time to time on ebay from a specialty company offering hard to find movies. Quality may be great or not depending on the print and age of the flick. A poster in the comments section, rbruner-1, has listed another specialty company offering the movie on dvd.
Since this came from a major Hollywood studio, Paramount, I'd like to see a proper dvd with best print and bonus material such as interviews with Whitman, York and surviving cast and crew or anybody associated with it's making reminiscing about the movie. Whitman is in his 80s but he's still around. Let's do it before it's too late. -
bluestocking-7 — 19 years ago(April 26, 2006 08:22 AM)
I knew that the DVD from Small Screen (listed by rbruner-1) is an unlicensed reproduction but I wanted badly to see the movie. I've seen it many years ago and it made an impression on me, especially the last shot.
The movie version from the Small Screen DVD was taped from the cable network A&E. You could tell when the movie pauses for commercial breaks.
I paid $11.99 for the DVD (free shipping). I just want to warn people that this is what you'll get. -
zpzjones — 19 years ago(April 28, 2006 04:19 AM)
thanx bluestocking, but at least rbruner tried. SoTK interestingly enough shows up on BBC 2 in it's widescreen version. Don't know what the holdup for this movie is in the United States. I'd like to post some sites of interest for fans of this movie and it's cast. As follows:
//cinema.msn.de/Film_aktuell/filmdetail/film?typ=inhalt&film_id=15073
(has stills from the movie notably a still of the near rape of Grace by Sturdevant which is cut from the A&E broadcast.)
//moviemarket.co.uk/index.html?kid=T102997&
(some wonderful sharp still photos during production of the movie. These photo sets are presumably sponsored by Fuji Film and MovieMarket as Fuji, and Im guessing, originally supplied the negative materials during the production.)
P.S. a little trivia about the casting: Richard Burton, Eliz Taylor & Geo. Peppard were orginally cast in the roles that Baker, York & Whitman took on. -
zpzjones — 19 years ago(April 18, 2006 08:42 AM)
Paramount was the distributor for this movie if Im not mistaken. Their involvement with the movie may have only been for the original 1965 theatrical release. Director Endfield, like David Lean, often independently produced his movies and released through a major studio. Unless otherwise noted a given film may pertain to that director or producer/s which means he may have sole control over his work. It's confusing to the general public because when they see a major Hollywood studio's logo in the credits they think that studio produced the film. This may be true in most cases but not always. Then look at the time period this movie was made: the mid 60s. This was a time of shake up in the movie industry. More films were being independently made and released through non Hollywood companies and independents wanted to get a larger chunk of the box office. Endfield's Zulu was totally independent but may have been distributed by Gaumont or a British distributor. When SoTK was released Paramount handled the distribution. When the movie played on A&E Columbia Pictures logo was on the credits. So from there we don't know who may have a distribution right and /or copyright. The 27 year copyright period would have been up in 1992 for this movie without a renewal. If so, then this film would be in the public domain to an extent until somebody comes along and renews or rebuys the copyright to it.(Im thinking like Republic gained control of It's a Wonderful Life after it having been in Public Domain for years). But writing Paramount, a multilayered conglomerate, could prove to be fruitless as this movie didn't do well at the box office 40 years ago and they wouldn't want to invest in dvd of an unknown movie. They would most likely be occupied with their most recent and successful modern releases.
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zpzjones — 19 years ago(April 19, 2006 06:28 PM)
Thanx for this info. The fact that a couple dvd copies are currently available on ebay makes me already wonder about that copyright. Screen captions on BritMovie.co.uk show the clips/scenes to be in fine shape. That's good. They might even look better if there are camera negatives, first generation print, whatnot, still available.
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Blue_Sage — 19 years ago(September 25, 2006 03:19 PM)
Fear I'll have to chalk this up to another "Favorite-Film-I'll-Never-Live-To-See-Released-On-Widescreen-HomeVideo". It will live in my memory. Met Stu Whitman once in a West Hollywood retail store across from CBS - had a Drop-Dead Blonde on EACH arm! Quite a guy.
"Swing your leaders wide, old man!"
www.nimbusbay.com/collection