Film Rights - a very confusing trail

[filmlover]

It is always surprising when you discover one studio now distributes another studio's films -- and makes headaches for TV programmers. (I'm sure Charlie Tabesh, TCM's programmer, has many tales he could tell.)

 

I was just watching TCM and after Dial M for Murder, I saw the trailer for A Streetcar Named Desire. At the end of the trailer, underneath the the title "A Streetcar Named Desire" it read "Released by 20th Century Fox". Say what? It's a WB film. Checking IMDB, it seems Fox got the 1958 theatrical rerelease. And have the cable TV rights. WB has home video rights.

 

You are welcome to list other titles/libraries and their confusing trails.

 

Edited by: filmlover on Sep 20, 2010 12:07 AM

[LoveFilmNoir]

I think this will be an interesting thread.

 

Wikipedia page on A STREETCAR makes no mention of the film being made at Fox although now that you've started this thread, I went and took a look at the order of Elia Kazan's filmography, and the three films he made before A STREETCAR as well as the three after were all as 20th Century Fox....which leads me to believe he was on a long term contract with them and indeed direct A STREETCAR there rather than at WB. I think rights etc may have been shuffled because the film was also a play (and I think a made for TV movie.

[cody1949]

Same situation with THE GLASS MENAGERIE. Made at WB, with a score by Max Steiner but now in the Fox library.

[LoveFilmNoir]

> {quote:title=cody1949 wrote:}{quote}

> Same situation with THE GLASS MENAGERIE. Made at WB, with a score by Max Steiner but now in the Fox library.

 

Great example. This one pops up on Fox Movie Channel every now and then. Horrible print too.

[Ray Faiola]

As I've mentioned here before, STREETCAR and MENAGERIE were produced by Charles K. Feldman for release through Warners. Feldman retained the rights to both pictures and sold them to Fox, who reissued them. Warners later renegotiated and got STREETCAR back. They didn't bother with MENAGERIE, which is too bad because it's a very good picture despite its being disowned by its author. When Fox reissued STREETCAR and MENAGERIE, they attached Fox logos and removed the Warner shield AND the opening bars of each picture's score. STREETCAR has been restored. MENAGERIE still jump cuts into its main title cue.

[SansFin]

*Guys and Dolls* (1955)

 

Made by The Samuel Goldwyn Company.

 

Distributed by:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Theatrical

American Broadcasting Company - TV, original airing, pan/scan

CBS/Fox - Laserdisc

Hallmark Video - Video

Image Entertainment - Laserdisc

MGM/UA Home Entertainment - DVD

Network Entertainment - VHS

[clore]

>>You are welcome to list other titles/libraries and their confusing trails.

 

There are the Hitchcock films that he made for Paramount:

Rear Window

Vertigo

Man Who Knew Too Much

The Trouble With Harry

Psycho

 

...that are now controlled by Universal under a deal where first the films reverted to Sir Alfred after a certain number of years, and then somehow ended up at Universal once his estate was settled. The one exception, PSYCHO was re-released by Paramount in 1965 but just three years later, Universal did a re-release in 1968 in select cities.

 

Somehow TO CATCH A THIEF, a Paramount film from the same period still remains under that studio's ownership.

 

What I get a kick from seeing these days is a DVD box set such as the Warner Western Classics Collection which contains six titles, not a one of which was actually produced by Warners.

[FredCDobbs]

I think the film was shot at Warner Brothers:

 

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm442996736/tt0044081

[lzcutter]

Was *Streetcar* included on the 50th Anniversary WBrothers album set that we've been talking about in another thread?

 

If it was included that would indicate that it was a WBrothers film back then.

[filmlover]

lz, it was, and I knew it was WB back when it first came out because the lobby cards and poster had Warner Bros. on them. Plus, yes, the section on the record came to mind.

 

[JamesJazGuitar]

Nice poster. Funny that in the poster Blanche does look like a lady and a fairly healthy and good looking one, while in the movie she looks very run down and somewhat scary.

[musicalnovelty]

> {quote:title=filmlover wrote:}{quote}

> It is always surprising when you discover one studio now distributes another studio's films -- and makes headaches for TV programmers. (I'm sure Charlie Tabesh, TCM's programmer, has many tales he could tell.)

>

> You are welcome to list other titles/libraries and their confusing trails.

>

 

I think it's very amusing and ironic that the current TV prints of movies from studios such as Monogram and American-International have the MGM logo attached. Back when those movies were made those studios were considered the bottom of the barrel for cheapness and poor quality while MGM was considered by most to be the tops in quality and it probably would have been thought inconceivable at that time for them to be connected later in any way to those "poverty row" outfits.

[HarryLong]

*in the poster Blanche does look like a lady and a fairly healthy and good looking one*

But with ET's neck...

[DownGoesFrazier]

Are you certain that I don't own a piece of GUYS AND DOLLS?