Randomly...
Sep. 8th, 2006 03:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jetpack_monkeyJust going over the ever-dwindling collection of VHS tapes that are filed with DVD because no DVD equivalent exists, and a thought struck me that may be of interest only to myself.
Universal owns the entire Paramount catalogue from before 1949 (with the exception of anything in the public domain and Preston Sturges' Miracle of Morgan's Creek, which they would not buy as the material was far too racy). While Paramount's never been a big horror studio (something that they've stuck with through multiple changes in ownership), they did produce seven minor, but notable horror films that are not available on DVD in any shape or form. They are:
* Murder by the Clock '31
* Island of Lost Souls '33 (with Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi)
* Murders in the Zoo '33 (with Charles Ruggles, Lionel Atwill, and Randolph Scott)
* Supernatural '33 (with Carole Lombard and Randolph Scott)
* Dr. Cyclops '40 (the first all-Technicolor horror film)
* The Monster and the Girl '41 (with George Zucco)
* The Uninvited (with Ray Milland)
(two more are available on DVD -- The Ghost Breakers, which is a horror/comedy starring Bob Hope, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde '31, which through convoluted circumstances is owned by Warner).
It seems like Universal is sitting on both a treasure trove and a problem. Only three of the films have saleable horror stars, but most of the rest have either historical value or a "normal" star of some kind. However, major Hollywood stars of yesteryear do not tend to sell horror films of yesteryear, unless said stars are specifically linked with the horror genre.
Releasing each film individually would be folly, but there's also no major thematic link or star that brings all the movies together. Releasing a "Paramount Horrors" collection would be confusing (what's Universal doing advertising for Paramount horror films?). A generic "classic horrors" set might work, especially if the tossed in some of the harder-to-classify Universal horrors of the era (like Secret of the Blue Room, Mystery of Edwin Drood, and the 1943 Phantom of the Opera).
Anyway. That's your classic horror geek rambling for the day.
Universal owns the entire Paramount catalogue from before 1949 (with the exception of anything in the public domain and Preston Sturges' Miracle of Morgan's Creek, which they would not buy as the material was far too racy). While Paramount's never been a big horror studio (something that they've stuck with through multiple changes in ownership), they did produce seven minor, but notable horror films that are not available on DVD in any shape or form. They are:
* Murder by the Clock '31
* Island of Lost Souls '33 (with Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi)
* Murders in the Zoo '33 (with Charles Ruggles, Lionel Atwill, and Randolph Scott)
* Supernatural '33 (with Carole Lombard and Randolph Scott)
* Dr. Cyclops '40 (the first all-Technicolor horror film)
* The Monster and the Girl '41 (with George Zucco)
* The Uninvited (with Ray Milland)
(two more are available on DVD -- The Ghost Breakers, which is a horror/comedy starring Bob Hope, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde '31, which through convoluted circumstances is owned by Warner).
It seems like Universal is sitting on both a treasure trove and a problem. Only three of the films have saleable horror stars, but most of the rest have either historical value or a "normal" star of some kind. However, major Hollywood stars of yesteryear do not tend to sell horror films of yesteryear, unless said stars are specifically linked with the horror genre.
Releasing each film individually would be folly, but there's also no major thematic link or star that brings all the movies together. Releasing a "Paramount Horrors" collection would be confusing (what's Universal doing advertising for Paramount horror films?). A generic "classic horrors" set might work, especially if the tossed in some of the harder-to-classify Universal horrors of the era (like Secret of the Blue Room, Mystery of Edwin Drood, and the 1943 Phantom of the Opera).
Anyway. That's your classic horror geek rambling for the day.
