Astor Pictures

Astor Pictures

Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution service headed by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 - 29 April 1956). Astor, located at 130 West 46th Street, New York City initially acquired the rights to other motion pictures for profitable rerelease.

In 1947 the motion picture perodical "Boxoffice" reported that the number of reissued films for that year were four times that of the previous year. [p.72 Wilinsky, Barbara "Sure Seaters-The Emergence of Art House" University of Minnesota Press 2001] Many smaller cinemas wished to show double features to attract audiences with a reissue being the cheapest release.

Types of Astor releases

Astor Pictures--
* acquired the film library of the defunct Grand National Pictures films after their liquidation for cinema rerelase [Balio, Tino "Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise 1930-1939" University of California Press 1996]
* were sold rerelease rights of many RKO films
* rereleased William S. Hart's "Tumbleweeds (1925 film)" in 1939 with music and sound effects and Hart speaking a famous prologue "Oh, the thrill of it all"
*distributed many race films but only produced one, Louis Jordan's "Beware!" (1946). [McGilligan, Patrick "Oscar Micheaux The Great and Only: The Life of America's First Black Filmmaker" Harper 2007]
*in addition to showing many of Bing Crosby's short subjects made for Educational Pictures, put several of them together and released it as a feature called "The Road to Hollywood" to compete with Paramount's Road series.
*obtained the rights to many of Sam Katzman's Monogram East Side Kids pictures for rerelease at the same time Monogram Pictures was releasing Bowery Boys films
* released many of the early Hammer Films in the USA by an arrangement with Hammer's parent company Exclusive Films
* started Atlantic Television to distribute films to television in the early 1950's
* released many science fiction films of dubious quality such as "Cat-Women of the Moon" and "Missile to the Moon" in the 1950's.
* after Savini's death, Astor and Atlantic Television were acquired by George M. Foley Jr and Franklin Bruder who released European films in the USA such as "Peeping Tom" and "Shoot the Piano Player" where they went out of businsess shortly afterwards [Heffenan, Kevin "Ghouls, Gimmicks and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business 1953-1968" Duke University Press 2004]

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/company/co0070490 Astor Pictures at IMDB]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Astor — may refer to: * Mary Astor, an Academy Award winning American actress * The Astor family, a wealthy 19th century American family who became prominent in 20th century British politics. Several places are named after the family and its members: **… …   Wikipedia

  • Astor Place (Manhattan) — Astor Place is named for John Jacob Astor. Astor arrived in New York in 1783, and progressed to the point where he became the richest person in the United States at that time, and one of New York City s most famous sons. He died at the age of 75… …   Wikipedia

  • Astor Cinema — is located at 659 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley, Western Australia. It comprises a single, two and three storey masonry Inter war Art Deco style theatre and retail building.cite web |url=http://register.heritage.wa.gov.au/PDF… …   Wikipedia

  • Ástor Piazzolla — Infobox musical artist Name = Ástor Piazzolla Img capt = Ástor Piazzolla with his bandoneon in 1971. Background = non vocal instrumentalist Birth name = Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla Born = birth date|1921|3|11|mf=y Mar del Plata, Argentina Died =… …   Wikipedia

  • Educational Pictures — For the current and unrelated company of the same name, see Educational Pictures (image archive). Educational Pictures (or Educational Film Exchanges, Inc.) was a film distributor founded in 1915 by Earle (E. W.) Hammons (1882 1962). Educational… …   Wikipedia

  • Mary Astor — from the trailer for The Great Lie (1941) Born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke May 3, 1906(1906 05 03) Quincy …   Wikipedia

  • Gertrude Astor — Infobox Actor name = Gertrude Astor imagesize = caption = Gertrude Astor as Mrs. Hardy, Linda Loredo as Mrs. Laurel. birthdate = birth date|1887|11|9|mf=y birthplace = Lakewood, Ohio deathdate = death date and age|1977|11|9|1887|11|9|mf=y… …   Wikipedia

  • RKO Pictures — Infobox Company company name = RKO Radio Pictures Inc. company company type = Corporation foundation = 1929 (as Radio Pictures Inc., subsidiary of Radio Keith Orpheum Corp.) location = 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY key people =… …   Wikipedia

  • RKO Pictures — RKO (Radio Keith Orpheum) Pictures Inc. (auch: RKO Radio Pictures) war ein amerikanisches Filmproduktions , Filmverleih und Kinounternehmen. In der Studiozeit Hollywoods war RKO – neben MGM, 20th Century Fox, Paramount und Warner – das… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Double feature — This article is about film programming. For Susan Stroman s 2004 ballet, see Double Feature (ballet). A poster advertising a double feature of Die, Monster, Die! and Planet of the Vampires. The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”