MGM Home Entertainment
Encyclopedia
MGM Home Entertainment is the home video
and DVD
arm of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
.
, the home video division of the CBS
television network, and established MGM/CBS Home Video. In October of that year, they released their first batch of Betamax and VHS tapes: The Wizard of Oz
, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Doctor Zhivago, Ben-Hur
, That's Entertainment!
, Network
, Coma
, The Dirty Dozen
, An American in Paris
, The Sunshine Boys
, Blow-Up
, Meet Me in St. Louis
, A Night at the Opera
, Adam's Rib
, Jailhouse Rock, Tom and Jerry
Cartoon Festival, The Boys in the Band
, Rude Boy
, Rio Lobo
, The Street Fighter
, Electric Light Orchestra
In Concert, James Taylor
In Concert, The Nutcracker
, and Giselle
.
The initial printings of all 24 films were packaged in brown leather clamshell cases with gold lettering; they were presented to CBS executives. Later printings of these films, as well as all printings of later releases by MGM/CBS, were packaged in oversized gray book boxes with either the MGM Abstract Lion print logo or CBS Video print logo in the upper right hand corner of the packaging. MGM/CBS also issued some early tapes of Lorimar product; those releases would instead bear the Lorimar print logo where the MGM or CBS Video print logo would normally be.
In 1982, a year after MGM bought and merged with the near-bankrupt United Artists
, CBS dropped out of the video partnership with MGM and moved to 20th Century Fox
to create CBS/Fox Video
. MGM's video division became known as MGM/UA Home Entertainment Group, Inc., more commonly known as MGM/UA Home Video. MGM/UA continued to license pre-1981 UA and pre-1950
WB
films (as well as some post-1981 titles) to CBS/Fox (due to an agreement UA had with Fox years earlier dating back to when CBS/Fox Home Video was called Magnetic Video
).
In 1986, MGM's pre-May 1986 library (also including the pre-1950 Warner Bros.
library, Bugs Bunny: Superstar
, the Fleischer Studios
/Famous Studios
Popeye
cartoons, most US rights to the RKO Pictures
library, and Gilligan's Island
and it's animated spin-offs), was acquired by Ted Turner
and his company Turner Entertainment Co.
. After the library was acquired, MGM/UA signed a deal with Turner to continue distributing the pre-May 1986 MGM and to begin distributing the pre-1950 Warner Bros. libraries for video release (the rest of the library went to Turner Home Entertainment).
In October 1990, after Pathé
bought MGM, MGM/UA struck a deal with Warner Home Video
to have them distribute MGM/UA's titles exclusively on home video. MGM/UA began distributing the UA library after its contract with CBS/Fox ended.
In 1997, MGM/UA began releasing its titles on DVD
, just like every other major studio. Some of the films MGM released on DVD were from the Turner catalog, which they were still allowed to keep after Turner merged into Time Warner
some time before because of their distribution deal. That same year, MGM acquired Orion Pictures
. As a result, Orion Home Video (Orion's home video division) was bought out by MGM/UA, and was retained as an in-name-only division until the acquisition deal was finalized in 1998. In 1998, the company was renamed MGM Home Entertainment.
In 1999, MGM gave up the home video rights to the MGM/UA films owned by Turner after they ended their distribution deal with Warner Bros.; as a result those films were distributed by Warner Home Video
by themselves.
In 2005, following MGM's acquisition by the Sony
-led consortium, the company was under the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
label but not using the MGM Home Entertainment name on any releases, which has distributed the MGM library, though under the MGM label. The deal ended a year later.
In 2006, after MGM ended their distribution agreement with Sony, they announced that they would be signing a new distribution deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Originally, DVD releases of MGM/UA/Columbia TriStar co-releases, continued to be distributed by SPHE, since Sony then still owned 20% of MGM, whereas Fox has no controlling interest; however Fox has since released DVD editions of Quantum of Solace and The Pink Panther 2. On April 14, 2011, Fox's deal distributing the MGM library was extended until 2016.
and most of the American International Pictures
libraries), pre-1997 Samuel Goldwyn film library
, and the pre-1996 Motion Picture Corporation of America
catalog.
The unit releases some titles by IFC Films
, the pre-1996 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
library, most of the Cannon library, many by Embassy Pictures
, the pre-1994 Castle Rock
library and Nelson Entertainment, among other companies.
films on video released by MGM
. The line launched in 1999 on VHS, and 2001 on DVD. Titles include:
Soul Cinema was also a Pay-Per-View
option for Comcast
back in 2004.
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
arm of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
.
History
The home video division of MGM started in 1979 as MGM Home Video, releasing all the movies and TV shows by MGM. In 1980, MGM joined forces with CBS Video EnterprisesCBS Video Enterprises
CBS Home Entertainment is the home entertainment arm of CBS Corporation.-CBS Video Enterprises:CBS, Inc...
, the home video division of the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television network, and established MGM/CBS Home Video. In October of that year, they released their first batch of Betamax and VHS tapes: The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Doctor Zhivago, Ben-Hur
Ben Hur (1907 film)
Ben Hur is a 15 minute long 1907 silent film, the first film version of Lew Wallace's novel Ben-Hur, one of the best-selling books at that time....
, That's Entertainment!
That's Entertainment!
That's Entertainment! is a 1974 compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate its 50th anniversary. It was followed by two sequels and a related film called That's Dancing!....
, Network
Network (film)
Network is a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System , and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet...
, Coma
Coma (film)
Coma is a 1978 suspense film based on the novel of the same name by Robin Cook. The film rights were acquired by director Michael Crichton, and the movie was produced by Martin Erlichmann for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
, The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 film directed by Robert Aldrich and released by MGM. It was filmed in England and features an ensemble cast, including Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Robert Webber. The film is based on E. M...
, An American in Paris
An American in Paris
An American in Paris is a symphonic tone poem by the American composer George Gershwin, written in 1928. Inspired by the time Gershwin had spent in Paris, it evokes the sights and energy of the French capital in the 1920s. It is one of Gershwin's best-known compositions.Gershwin composed the piece...
, The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys is a play by Neil Simon that was produced on Broadway in 1972 and later adapted for film and television.-Plot:The play focuses on aging Al Lewis and Willy Clark, a one-time vaudevillian team known as "Lewis and Clark" who, over the course of forty-odd years, not only grew to hate...
, Blow-Up
Blow-Up
-History:Claudio Camaione and Paolo Cilione came to New York City in the late 1990s, then further on to Southern California to build their studio for recording and film editing in a villa overlooking Silver Lake...
, Meet Me in St. Louis
Meet Me in St. Louis
Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 musical film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which tells the story of an American family living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904...
, A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera (film)
A Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, and featuring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, and Walter Woolf King. It was the first film the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after their departure from...
, Adam's Rib
Adam's Rib
Adam's Rib is a 1949 American film written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin and directed by George Cukor. It stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers who come to oppose each other in court. Judy Holliday co-stars in her first substantial film role...
, Jailhouse Rock, Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
Cartoon Festival, The Boys in the Band
The Boys in the Band
The Boys in the Band is a 1970 American drama film directed by William Friedkin. The screenplay by Mart Crowley is based on his Off Broadway play of the same title, Crowley penned a sequel to the play years later entitled The Men From The Boys...
, Rude Boy
Rude boy
Rude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi or rudy are common terms used in Jamaica. In the 1960s it was also used for juvenile delinquents and criminals in Jamaica, and has since been used in other contexts...
, Rio Lobo
Rio Lobo
Rio Lobo is a 1970 Western movie starring John Wayne. The film was the last film directed by Howard Hawks, from a script by Leigh Brackett. The film was shot in Technicolor with a running time of 114 minutes...
, The Street Fighter
The Street Fighter
, literally Clash, Killer Fist!, is a Japanese martial arts film released in 1974 and produced by Toei Company Ltd. It was released in the US by New Line Cinema and became one of the first films to be a commercial success for the distributor....
, Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
In Concert, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
In Concert, The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
, and Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
.
The initial printings of all 24 films were packaged in brown leather clamshell cases with gold lettering; they were presented to CBS executives. Later printings of these films, as well as all printings of later releases by MGM/CBS, were packaged in oversized gray book boxes with either the MGM Abstract Lion print logo or CBS Video print logo in the upper right hand corner of the packaging. MGM/CBS also issued some early tapes of Lorimar product; those releases would instead bear the Lorimar print logo where the MGM or CBS Video print logo would normally be.
In 1982, a year after MGM bought and merged with the near-bankrupt United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, CBS dropped out of the video partnership with MGM and moved to 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
to create CBS/Fox Video
CBS/Fox Video
CBS/Fox Video was a home video company formed and established in 1982, as a merger between 20th Century Fox Video, formerly Magnetic Video Corporation, and CBS Video Enterprises....
. MGM's video division became known as MGM/UA Home Entertainment Group, Inc., more commonly known as MGM/UA Home Video. MGM/UA continued to license pre-1981 UA and pre-1950
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...
WB
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
films (as well as some post-1981 titles) to CBS/Fox (due to an agreement UA had with Fox years earlier dating back to when CBS/Fox Home Video was called Magnetic Video
Magnetic Video
Magnetic Video was a home video/audio duplication service established by Andre Blay in 1968 and based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. In 1977 it became the first corporation to release theatrical motion pictures onto Betamax and VHS videocassette for consumer use. Magnetic Video was a home...
).
In 1986, MGM's pre-May 1986 library (also including the pre-1950 Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
library, Bugs Bunny: Superstar
Bugs Bunny: Superstar
Bugs Bunny: Superstar is a 1975 Looney Tunes documentary film, narrated by Orson Welles and produced and directed by Larry Jackson.The film includes nine Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons which were previously released during the 1940s :* What's Cookin' Doc? * The Wild Hare Bugs Bunny:...
, the Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
/Famous Studios
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
Popeye
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
cartoons, most US rights to the RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
library, and Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
and it's animated spin-offs), was acquired by Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
and his company Turner Entertainment Co.
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
. After the library was acquired, MGM/UA signed a deal with Turner to continue distributing the pre-May 1986 MGM and to begin distributing the pre-1950 Warner Bros. libraries for video release (the rest of the library went to Turner Home Entertainment).
In October 1990, after Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
bought MGM, MGM/UA struck a deal with Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
to have them distribute MGM/UA's titles exclusively on home video. MGM/UA began distributing the UA library after its contract with CBS/Fox ended.
In 1997, MGM/UA began releasing its titles on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, just like every other major studio. Some of the films MGM released on DVD were from the Turner catalog, which they were still allowed to keep after Turner merged into Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
some time before because of their distribution deal. That same year, MGM acquired Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
. As a result, Orion Home Video (Orion's home video division) was bought out by MGM/UA, and was retained as an in-name-only division until the acquisition deal was finalized in 1998. In 1998, the company was renamed MGM Home Entertainment.
In 1999, MGM gave up the home video rights to the MGM/UA films owned by Turner after they ended their distribution deal with Warner Bros.; as a result those films were distributed by Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
by themselves.
In 2005, following MGM's acquisition by the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
-led consortium, the company was under the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
label but not using the MGM Home Entertainment name on any releases, which has distributed the MGM library, though under the MGM label. The deal ended a year later.
In 2006, after MGM ended their distribution agreement with Sony, they announced that they would be signing a new distribution deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
Originally, DVD releases of MGM/UA/Columbia TriStar co-releases, continued to be distributed by SPHE, since Sony then still owned 20% of MGM, whereas Fox has no controlling interest; however Fox has since released DVD editions of Quantum of Solace and The Pink Panther 2. On April 14, 2011, Fox's deal distributing the MGM library was extended until 2016.
Distribution managements
Here is the list of distributors that managed to distribute MGM/CBS Home Video, MGM/UA Home Video and MGM Home Entertainment titles:- CBS Video (1979-1982, Outside of Australia)
- Publishing and Broadcasting VideoCommunications and Entertainment LimitedCommunications and Entertainment Limited was an Australian home video cassette distributor in the 1980s. They were originally known as Publishing and Broadcasting Video .-History:...
(1979-1990, Australia) - Warner Home VideoWarner Home VideoWarner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
(1990-1999, 1999-present for the pre-May 1986 MGM and a.a.p.Associated Artists ProductionsAssociated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...
libraries now owned by Turner Entertainment Co.) - 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment20th Century Fox Home Entertainment20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
(1999-2003, Australia) - Shock DVDShock RecordsShock Records is Australia's largest independent record label. It helps distribute records from overseas records labels such as Epitaph Records, and also for small record labels designed specifically for that band such as Cement Records...
(2003-present, selected catalogue in Australia) - Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
(2005-2006) - 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
(2006-present, worldwide) - Roadshow EntertainmentRoadshow Home VideoRoadshow Entertainment is a division of the Australian media company Village Roadshow . Notable releases include First Blood, Mad Max, Gallipoli, and The Terminator. Their first release was Scanners...
(late 80's-present, in New Zealand)
Libraries
Through TCFHE, MGM Home Entertainment releases titles from MGM (post-April 1986), United Artists (post-November 1952 plus a fraction of the pre-1952 library UA still owns), Orion Pictures (post-1981, which itself includes the FilmwaysFilmways
Filmways, Inc. was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff in 1958...
and most of the American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
libraries), pre-1997 Samuel Goldwyn film library
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...
, and the pre-1996 Motion Picture Corporation of America
Motion Picture Corporation of America
Motion Picture Corporation of America is an American film production company founded by Brad Krevoy in 1986 to focus on producing, acquiring, and distributing commercial motion picture and television productions.-History:...
catalog.
The unit releases some titles by IFC Films
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....
, the pre-1996 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment was a film studio, founded in 1979 as a European competitor to Hollywood, but eventually sold and merged with Universal Pictures in 1999....
library, most of the Cannon library, many by Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as The Graduate, The Lion in Winter, This Is Spinal Tap and Escape from New York.-Founding:The company was founded in 1942 by producer Joseph E...
, the pre-1994 Castle Rock
Castle Rock Entertainment
Castle Rock Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick and Alan Horn. It is a subsidiary of Warner Bros...
library and Nelson Entertainment, among other companies.
Soul Cinema
Soul Cinema is a line of blaxploitationBlaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
films on video released by MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. The line launched in 1999 on VHS, and 2001 on DVD. Titles include:
- Across 110th StreetAcross 110th StreetAcross 110th Street is a 1972 American crime-drama film starring Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, and Anthony Franciosa, and directed by Barry Shear...
(UA) - Black CaesarBlack Caesar (film)Black Caesar is a 1973 American blaxploitation film, starring Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry. The film was written and directed by Larry Cohen. It is a remake of the 1931 film Little Caesar. It features a notable musical score by James Brown , his first experience with writing music for film...
- Black Mama, White MamaBlack Mama, White MamaBlack Mama, White Mama is a 1973 women in prison film with elements of blaxploitation, starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov, and directed by Eddie Romero.-Plot:...
- BlaculaBlaculaBlacula is a 1972 American horror film produced for American International Pictures. It was directed by William Crain and stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is both turned into a vampire and locked inside a coffin by Count Dracula...
- Bucktown
- CoffyCoffy- Track listing :# "Coffy Is The Color" - 3:03Vocals – Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Ayers, Wayne Garfield# "Priscilla's Theme" - 3:58# "King George" - 3:00Vocals – Roy Ayers# "Aragon" - 2:55# "Coffy Sauna" - 2:16# "King's Last Ride" - 1:10# "Coffy Baby" - 2:26...
- Cooley HighCooley HighCooley High is a 1975 American film based upon the real high school located on the near north side of Chicago produced and released by American International Pictures and written by Eric Monte...
(1975) (AIP) - Cornbread, Earl and MeCornbread, Earl and MeCornbread, Earl and Me is a 1975 American drama film that stars Tierre Turner as Earl Carter, Laurence Fishburne as Wilford Robinson and Jamaal Wilkes as Nathaniel "Cornbread" Hamilton. It was directed and produced by Joseph Manduke...
- Cotton Comes to Harlem (UA)
- Five on the Black Hand SideFive on the Black Hand SideFive on the Black Hand Side is a 1973 comedy film based on the play by Charlie L. Russell. It was shot in Los Angeles. Leonard Jackson appeared as John Henry Brooks. He was cast in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple fifteen years later. Its tagline was "You've been coffy-tized, blacula-rized and...
(UA) - Foxy Brown
- Friday FosterFriday Foster (film)Friday Foster is a 1975 blaxploitation film, written and directed by Arthur Marks, and starring Pam Grier in the title role. Yaphet Kotto, Eartha Kitt, Scatman Crothers and Carl Weathers co-starred. It was an adaptation of the 1970-74 eponymous syndicated newspaper comic strip, scripted by Jim...
- HammerHammer (film)Hammer is a 1972 blaxploitation film directed by Bruce Clark. The film was released following the successes of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Shaft, notable 1971 films that popularized black cinema....
(1972) (UA) - Hell Up in HarlemHell Up in HarlemHell Up in Harlem is a 1973 blaxploitation film, starring Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry. The film was written and directed by Larry Cohen...
- I'm Gonna Git You SuckaI'm Gonna Git You SuckaI'm Gonna Git You Sucka is a 1988 blaxploitation parody film written by, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans. Featured in the film are several black actors who were part of the blaxploitation phenomenon; including Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas and Isaac Hayes...
(1988) (UA) - J. D.'s Revenge
- The Monkey HustleThe Monkey HustleThe Monkey Hustle is a 1976 blaxploitation film written by Odie Hawkins and Charles Eric Johnson. It stars Yaphet Kotto as Chicago con-man and "hustler" Big Daddy Foxx and Kirk Calloway as his teenage apprentice. Co-stars include Thomas Carter, Donn C...
- Original GangstasOriginal GangstasOriginal Gangstas is a 1996 action movie set in urban Gary, Indiana starring Blaxploitation film stars such as Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, and Richard Roundtree....
(1996) (OrionOrion PicturesOrion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
) - Scream Blacula ScreamScream Blacula ScreamScream Blacula Scream is a 1973 blaxploitation horror film, made under the working titles Blacula Is Beautiful and Blacula Lives Again!. This is the only sequel to the 1972 film Blacula...
- Sheba, BabySheba, BabyThe action movie Sheba, Baby is a 1975 blaxploitation film starring Pam Grier as Sheba Shayne. In the film, Sheba returns to her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, to confront thugs who are trying to intimidate her father into dissolving or handing over his family business...
- SlaughterSlaughter (film)Slaughter is a 1972 Blaxploitation film which was released during the early 1970s Blaxploitation film era. It was directed by Jack Starrett and is stars Jim Brown as an African American Vietnam Veteran and former Green Beret captain who is referred to only by his last name Slaughter. He seeks...
- Slaughter's Big Rip-OffSlaughter's Big Rip-OffSlaughter’s Big Rip-off is a 1973 Blaxploitation film which was released during the 1970s Blaxploitation film era. It is directed by Gordon Douglass...
- Truck TurnerTruck TurnerTruck Turner is a 1974 blaxploitation film, starring Isaac Hayes and Yaphet Kotto, and directed by Jonathan Kaplan. The screenplay was written by Michael Allin, Jerry Wilkes and Oscar Williams...
(1975) (AIPAmerican International PicturesAmerican International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
)
Soul Cinema was also a Pay-Per-View
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
option for Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
back in 2004.