8mm Forum: Universal 8 Features

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Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on October 08, 2012, 03:04 PM:

It's just in the past few days come to my attention that Universal 8 released some full length features. Scott McGillivray's book lists Hell's Angels and Jet Pilot. Another collector tells me that Night of the Living Dead was another.
Does anyone know of any other titles?
I always assumed they only released cutdowns like their predecessor Castle Films.

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on October 08, 2012, 03:10 PM:

I think they also released Scarface and The Conqueror features,Mark.

Posted by Timothy Ramzyk (Member # 718) on October 08, 2012, 03:24 PM:

I don't think they ever did NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Everybody else did though.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on October 08, 2012, 05:01 PM:

Would I be correct in saying these rarely turn up for sale?

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on October 08, 2012, 05:27 PM:

yes

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on October 08, 2012, 05:36 PM:

Can anyone report on the quality of the prints?

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on October 08, 2012, 06:10 PM:

I have Scarface and Hell's Angels. Both are decent prints, sharp with good contrast. The fifth feature release was The Unfinished Journey of Robert F. Kennedy. John Black and I traded for this one at CineSea, however I haven't screened it yet. Tim is correct that NOLD wasn't a U-8 release.

Doug

Posted by Barry Attwood (Member # 100) on October 09, 2012, 01:13 AM:

The John Wayne movie Hellfighters had a few prints done F/L but were never released, as this was the time when U8 went under. Derek Simmonds tried to get them but they were seized due to U8 owing money to the U.S. Gov. and he never tried again.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on October 09, 2012, 06:48 AM:

Does anyone know what these retailed for at the time?

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on October 09, 2012, 09:33 AM:

There is a 200' of Hellfighter available but it is B&W silent. Really not worth it.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on October 09, 2012, 10:05 AM:

Hi Pat, the 200' "Hellfighters" was also a col/sound release at the
same time as "High Plains Drifter" by Castle Films back in the
mid seventies.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on October 09, 2012, 11:55 AM:

Mike,

Just to re-write my post from 5 years ago, here is a picture to see how does the original box of super 8mm full feature from Universal 8 look:

Thanks to google, here is the thread:

Universal 8 box for full feature

Another good reading:

Universal features?

cheers,

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on October 09, 2012, 12:43 PM:

Thanks Winbert,

Interesting. I don't remember the topic from the last time. I'll go read that.

-Mike

Posted by Timothy Ramzyk (Member # 718) on October 09, 2012, 01:13 PM:

They must not have sold all that well, because releases were few and it was never an ongoing project. Why they didn't choose more sure-thing titles like PSYCHO, DUCK SOUP, or FRANKENSTEIN I don't know.Seems like they wanted no overlap with the digests.

I bought that Richard Pryor concert just because I saw it for $50 back in the day, but never had much interest in their offerings.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on October 09, 2012, 01:58 PM:

I wouldn't think overlap with digests would be a concern more than worries about bootleg versions of their features curculating among hobbyists.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on October 09, 2012, 02:24 PM:

Hi Michael,back in the day when these features were first made
available,about 1980, Derann were selling them at £79.95 for SCARFACE and £109.95 for HELLS ANGELS, Postage £2.50 extra.
At the same time the Marketing features were selling for between
£130.00 - £170.00 and Derann's 4x400's were £69.95 col/snd.
All these prices were for brand new prints.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on October 09, 2012, 02:27 PM:

Thanks Hugh.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on October 09, 2012, 03:20 PM:

quote:
Marketing features were selling for between
£130.00 - £170.00 and Derann's 4x400's were £69.95 col/snd.

So Derann price is so much cheaper!! [Eek!]

Do you know what is behind that? I think the variable of production cost would be more or less the same (film stock, plastic reel, lab process, labour, etc).

The only things that might different were probably: publication (advertising) and copy rights fees.

Any view Hugh?

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on October 09, 2012, 04:23 PM:

I'm new to this forum, but a collector from about 1975. I seem to remember when Universal 8 released some features on 8, some collectors were complaining about the selection. Must admit they were not to my taste.

On pricing between Marketing Film & Derann you should remember Derann's 'features' were mainly abridged versions. Where as the Marketing titles were also released as complete features. You need to compare the 3x400ft versions to get a nearer price comparison, although they probably did cost a little more.

Not exactly Universal 8, but Universal releases. I list a small selection that you could rent from the Rank Film Library:

American Graffiti, Charley Varrick, Day Of The Jackal, Great Waldo Pepper, Rooster Cogburn, The Sting, The Black Windmill.
There were a few other titles at the time (1978/9) The print quality was fantastic. But remember the cheapest for 'one' showing was £10 I think.

Columbia and FDA which were Fox also released a number of titles.

Would think that not many prints were made of these titles, and after the first batch I don't think any more were released.

Will have a look for the old listings and try to scan them to post if anyone's interested?

I hope someone has these prints at home. [Big Grin]

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on October 09, 2012, 06:29 PM:

Hi David,

Nice to see old collectors here as I like to read Hugh writing/stories of the old days.

Your story is very valuable for collector who did not involve in 1970s. I started collecting in 1986. But grew quickly in 1990s. The atmosphere was already different. So reading the old stories are kinda time tunnel for me.

Please share more your stories.

ps: I don;t think forum leader can delete your post other than deleting this entire topic. You need to edit it and write "sorry for double post". The edit button is on the most right (with book and pencil icon).

cheersm

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on October 09, 2012, 09:04 PM:

Hi Winbert,and thanks for those kind words.I would hazard a
guess that Deranns features were cheaper, would be because
there was no fancy packaging involved and Dereks staffing levels
were not great, his 4x400s were the same as Marketings 3x400s
in price.At the end of the 70's I bought a lot of the Hammer films
for £49.00 per feature.On the whole DFS did give the collector
some very reasonably priced features over the years and I'm
sure Winbert, if you had been around in the 70's, you no doubt
would have been like the rest of us.......penniless,the selection
of film was taking off and by the 80's had really hit it's stride.
A little ploy Derek used to use ,was to place on his lists a title
like "Horror of Dracula" 5x400' imported title, when you rang up
of course it had been sold, this was to test the water for a release, and of course it used to pay off, and led to many collectors bulging shelves and disgruntled wives.Happy days.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on October 09, 2012, 09:26 PM:

Hugh - interesting story about 'non-titles' on Derann lists, something I haven't heard before. Amazingly I did once buy a genuinely imported full length 'Horror of Dracula' from Derann. The quality was quite poor as it was an obscure US 'bootleg' version that was clearly filmed off a screen (probably from a 16mm print) and compiled from 50ft lengths. Sound was probably added later and was not quite perfect in terms of sync. The colour was quite nice and it was just about watchable, taking into account its rarity value before the Derann release.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on October 10, 2012, 03:54 AM:

I'll say this for Derek and his company,they used to take on board
what collectors wanted, I had just placed an order for one of his
titles and he joked "Oh by the way , I've a few cpoies of "7th
Voyage of Sinbad" just come in if you're interested?", knowing
full well I'd continually asked for this title for years, a few months
down the line, there it was, thanks to a well known reviewer who
had helped out no end in helping get master material.So it showed
that in among the kidding, collectors were being listened to and
their requests were being taken on board,likewise with Walton
Film.I agree with folks here that have commented on the very
strange choice of features from U/8,I don't know if this is true
or not,but I was informed that Derann could have released the
"Dollar" westerns from UA, which I'm sure would have been
"sure fire" winners.Still one can't have everything, and what was missed on 8mm can always be picked up on 16mm.

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on October 10, 2012, 04:49 PM:

From the October 1980 Red Fox Films catalog:

Doug

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on October 10, 2012, 05:49 PM:

Hi Adrian,that sounds like an off beat copy of "Dracula" you've
got there and definately worth hanging onto just because of it
being so unique. When I was saying about Derek "putting the
feelers out" for collectors reaction, he did the same with "Sinbad"
advertised on the list,but when I tried to reserve it, one of the
lads at Derann told me it was just to see who was interested in
buying this title as it was due out soon, which I thought was quite a good idea.

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on October 12, 2012, 06:09 AM:

'THE CONQUERER 6X400 £99.99. John Wayne, Susan Hayward star in this 1956 classic action adventure. Rare Universal feature.' THE CONQUERER 6X400 They do sometimes become available.

Not exactly a feature, this is also for sale 'PIRATE TREASURE (B/W) 12X400 £99.99. Universal 1934 classic serial in 12 chapters with Richard Talmadge. Original boxes.' I bought this years ago from CHC. Quality was fairly good. Wonder if they released any more?

Another title that was for rental from Rank was Hitchcock's Family Plot.

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on October 12, 2012, 07:11 AM:

David,

I also have Pirate's Treasure and I was pleasantly surprised at how good the print is. It is a lot of fun, and Universal made a big deal of it since it was rolled out right at the launch of the U-8 brand. They never went back in the vaults to put out anything in the same vein.

Doug

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on October 18, 2012, 11:55 AM:

Quite enjoy watching Pirate's Treasure they seem to really enjoy fighting. Talmadge was a stunt coordinator on a lot of films. The fights do seem to be more real in the serials than features, if you can break it, hit em with it, then do it.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on October 18, 2012, 01:19 PM:

It should be noted, that Universal Films also released super 8 optical prints, one of which I have, "Tender Mercies".

Posted by Mark Williams (Member # 794) on October 18, 2012, 02:57 PM:

I also once has a full length print of Clint Eastwood's The Eiger Sanction with magnetic sound and this was a Universal release too,8mm rental only prints were also struck for American Graffitti,Charley Varrick,The Sting,Black Windmill,Day of the Jackal,The Front Page,Sugarland Express,Family Plot,Rooster Cogburn,The Seven Per Cent Solution & The Great Waldo Pepper via The Rank Film Library here in the UK.

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