A look at some of the numerous meetings that we undertook in order to issue 8mm films to our customers.
Contracts & Rights Chapter 25
Our second batch of U.A. titles proved just as successful as the first, with only the sales of the 1956 Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis movie ‘Trapeze’ failing to excite the customers, possibly due to the poor qulity of the prints. The third extract taken from ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ sold so well that a fourth was quickly released. The scope versions of both ‘The Great Escape’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven’ surpassed our wildest dreams, far outselling the flat releases, meanwhile Busby Berkeley continued to show that his skills as a choreographer could still dazzle the masses with ‘Footlight Parade’, ‘Dames’ and ‘Golddiggers of 1935’.
There weren’t any further talks with UA, just the odd visit and just a few minutes on the phone to organize suitable master material. The first itles to be released in this new pattern were ‘The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex’ and ‘Dodge City’ both 1939, from which we were allowed to edit 3×400′ mini features, as well as a 400′ version. ,
Things get somewhat complicated now as Bob Lane of Ken Films had begun supply us with MGM full length negatives and MGM had recently acquired UA, so titles like ‘Rocky’, ‘To Have and To Have Not’, ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Some Like it Hot’ were released via that source and not UA. However the title ‘633 Squadron’ 1964 was definatly on a UA contract and as far as I can make out may have been the final film from UA.
Let me finish this tale with a small anecdote showing Rolf’s loyalty to U.A. Derann were exibiting at Photokina (A major photographic show held in Cologne) and Rolf made a special visit in order to see how we were faring. [Our rights were for the UK only, but as long as they got their royalty they were happy]. He arrived and soon spied our 200′ box for the Movietine news special ‘Pinewood Open Day’ and flew into a rage because we had an image of 007 in his famous gun pose on the full colour label. “It is U.A.s copyright” he said picking it up and throwing it under the counter! He left the stand just as quickly, spouting the words “I now go to see Avo Films, who I understand has been selling my Pink Panther cartoons”, and she was, but not for much longer!
…. to be continued.
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