8mm Forum: What were the last releases of Columbia on Super 8?

This is topic What were the last releases of Columbia on Super 8? in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005610

Posted by David Kilderry (Member # 549) on July 31, 2010, 09:56 PM:

I have had a search and may have missed it, but what were the last releases by Columbia on Super 8? Did they close earlier than the others?

Who has a late 70's-1980 catalog of theirs? Mine are all earlier.

Here in Australia Columbia titles were prominent as they were distributed by a large department store, who had full page newspaper ads displaying their titles.

I can't recall however what their last ones were.

David

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on August 01, 2010, 07:51 PM:

I know "Pennies From Heaven", "Close Encounters" and some of the stooges' titles - "A Bird In The Head", "Woman Haters", "Dizzy Pilots" and "Calling All Curs" were some of the last out of the gate. The last catalog was from '76 and the titles I mentioned aren't in the brochure. I remember requesting a new catalog in '77 and they sent me the '76 catalog again so they never printed an updated edition. They must have been aware that 8mm was breathing it's last. It's the one with the Columbia sunburst morphing into the Columbia statuette of a woman on the cover which was printed on a nice photo-type paper. It was, by far, the sturdiest brochure I had ever seen. It must have cost them a pretty penny to print them.

Posted by Patrick Walsh (Member # 637) on August 01, 2010, 08:05 PM:

I have a copy of Midnight Express from Columbia/Warner.

Posted by Barry Attwood (Member # 100) on August 02, 2010, 04:37 AM:

There last official releases were "The China Syndrome" & the George C. Scott thriller "Hardcore", both were well edited, but "The China Syndrome" was a little soft in focus.

Posted by David Kilderry (Member # 549) on August 02, 2010, 07:39 AM:

Thanks Patrick, Barry and Brad.

I did have a copy of Midnight Express. I also had a copy of Dizzy Pilots - sold it last week!

I can't remember seeing The China Syndrome or Hardcore, perhaps I have and they did not stand out?

I also know Columbia had a sound version of "The Winning and Losing of The Heavyweight Championship" released a few years after the silent version with a slightly different edit. I have never seen that either.

David

Posted by Greg Marshall (Member # 1268) on August 02, 2010, 07:52 AM:

A copy of China Syndrome sold on one of the Ebay's a couple of months ago. This is the first one I've seen, and really didn't know it was released. I'd say they didn't print that many copies.

Posted by Antonis Galanakis (Member # 1455) on August 02, 2010, 08:35 AM:

I have a copy of "Midnight Express" 400ft and "The song remains the same - Led Zeppelin" 400ft (turn red, bad track) in great plastic boxes and "The China Syndrome" 400ft in cardboard photo-type B/W box. I bought "The China Syndrome" (good colors), this year at BFCC for 5.00 UK.
I also have "The Caine Munity" 400ft (turn red) in a white cardbord box. The box has the writings "Columbia" and "Classic cinema movie imports". Q: Is it a dupe or Columbia original?
Antonis

Posted by Mark Williams (Member # 794) on August 02, 2010, 10:54 AM:

The last Columbia releases in those horrible photocopied card boxes were actually BEAR ISLAND,CHINA SYNDROME & HARDCORE LIFE.

A pretty insipid bunch all round.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on August 02, 2010, 01:17 PM:

I briefly had a print of 'Hardcore' on the 1980s that I got in one of the Portland Films sales and I thought it had a colour box, so maybe earlier batches of the later releases didn't have the photocopied boxes.

What's really puzzling also (as many members here will know), is that some of the later prints, had the really nice clamshell-type cases that were probably influenced by their earliest video releases (in fact the FBI warning on the back actually refers to "motion pictures and video tapes"), so it's surprising that they invested in a new-type Super 8 Box so close to the end. These weren't just the last releases; I have ones such as 'Taxi Driver' and 'Tommy' that you can also find in the earlier cardboard boxes.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on August 02, 2010, 06:22 PM:

[sorry double post]

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on August 02, 2010, 06:30 PM:

I think we have to distinguish between Columbia US and Columbia UK.

The B/W box is not available for US release, as far as I am concerned. Beside, my understanding is that Columbia UK was held by Mountain Films and they did they own releases.

It is proven from my two copies of Three Stooges "Three Dark Horses" which is one is UK release and one is US. They have different edit and different quality.

The UK one is a bit dark, which is typical Mountain releases. So this is to show that Mountain made its own negative. Therefore what was released in Columbia UK was not necessarally released in US.

So David, you must clarify which Columbia you wanted to know (but I have an impression you were talking the US ones).

Regards

Posted by David Kilderry (Member # 549) on August 04, 2010, 12:22 AM:

Hi Winbert. In Australia we had the US releases and they were sold by a large department store chain as well as other stores.

My Midnight Express was in a colour clamshell case but my Dizzy Pilots was not. Did any stooges titles come in clamshell cases?

I did have one UK/Mountain Columbia title, The Jolson Story. Many of my other Columbia titles were in the generic yellow boxes, yet one or two were in a hard plastic case (like a larger version of an audio cassette). I also have cardboard coloured cover titles as well. Seems they changed around a lot at Columbia.

I would not be surprised if Ken, MGM and Columbia all shared the same manufacturer of the clamshell cases.

David

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on August 04, 2010, 06:43 AM:

David, regarding the clam shell type, I have a feeling that it was used for titles that were not solely Columbia release but sharing with other companies such as Warner. Can it be true? Because the very same clam shell and layout was used for "Song remains the same" and "Enter for the Dragon" (Bruce Lee) which was solely a Warner release (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070034/).

I never found Stooges in clam shell box, they are always in cardboard with several generic artwork i.e red/green + photo (most common esp for 200 feet), white/purple + cartoon picture, pink/yellow + cartoon picture, individual cartoon artwoork (eg Missing Link, Dizzy Pilots) and white/blue for super generic artwork (for any comedy titles from Columbia).

Secondly, the white clam shell used by Warner/Columbia is different with those belong to MGM/Ken, so I believe it was made by different company. The white one is much thicker.

Lastly, I understand what you are saying regarding the US releases in Australia. I was in Australia from 1996-98 and could see that in terms of 8mm films, Australian were more using US releases instead of UK releases (although Australia is a Commonwealth members, any reason behind this?).

This brought bad impact that many of 8mm films in Australia have now faded due to Eastman stock instead AGFA. Is that right?

Did you see many Walton (UK) sold during the heydey era (1980s)?

cheers,

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on August 04, 2010, 12:20 PM:

I have Midnight Express, The Professionals, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone, Tommy and Taxi Driver in clamshell cases. These are all strictly Columbia releases. Towards the end, Columbia made an effort to put their titles (and Warner's) in nicer packaging.

I have The China Syndrome. As Antonis and Mark stated, it's in a cardboard box with a photocopy cover. I'll do a scan and a review shortly.

Doug

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on August 04, 2010, 02:05 PM:

I've compared the Warner clamshell case for 'The Exorcist' and it seems identical to the Columbia ones in every respect other than the company name. I presumed that it was basically the same film/video division releasing both, but perhaps someone else could confirm whether that's the case.

Regarding the US Columbia prints in Australia, I'm not certain but I think it's very likely that Mountain were only licensed to sell their Columbia titles in the UK. I'm positive that their deal with Columbia either ended before the later releases, or the decline in the market meant that Mountain stopped printing before then, because there are quite a few Columbia titles that you never see Mountain prints of. No doubt Mountain's decline partly explains why quite a few prints in the clamshell cases were sold new in the UK.

Posted by David Kilderry (Member # 549) on August 04, 2010, 07:58 PM:

Adrian, we certainly had many Mountain Films sold here, but I can never recall any of the Columbia titles under their banner. All the Columbia titles were sold under the Columbia name and in the Columbia (US) boxes.

Winbert, Walton Films were very popular here, in fact they had their own catalogues printed here in Melbourne by their local distributor.

The list that you mention Doug, that are all in clamshells, demonstrates how the packaging changed over time. My copies were packaged as: Midnight Express - clamshell, Bridge On The River Kwai - yellow generic, Tommy - don't have a box, Taxi Driver - coloured cardboard picture box.

As mentioned I also have some Columbia Comedy Classics on 400ft in a hard plastic audio cassette type box with a blue and white paper insert. Were these only used for this Columbia series?

David

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on August 06, 2010, 12:20 PM:

.

The cardboard and the clamshell Taxi Drivers:

David,

I've only seen the blue & white cardboard boxes for the Comedy Classics line. I don't recall ever seeing a Columbia release in a hard plastic case.

Doug

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on August 06, 2010, 04:31 PM:

Doug,

Was China Syndrome also released by Columbia US? If yes, what type of case was used?

thanks

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on August 07, 2010, 09:48 AM:

Winbert,

The cardboard box pictured is a Columbia US release. I believe Columbia at this point knew the end was near and spent as little money as possible.

Doug

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on August 07, 2010, 11:34 AM:

Doug, was the cover to "Syndrome" truly B&W?

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on August 07, 2010, 12:32 PM:

Yes! At first I thought I ended up with someone's homemade cover, but mine is the same as Antonis'.

I've only seen Hardcore on a used list once and that was years ago.

Doug

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2