Bryanston Pictures
GET (Originally mr3urious and SuperMetro)
Captures by
Logoarto
Editions by
Buzzfan120, Atlanta0315, Logoarto, NinjaThunderbolt1989, Henrynguye5, Channeleven, SPA, Oh, No! It's Eddie!, LMgamer36, BaldiBasicsFan, and TVB
Video captures courtesy of
Peakpasha Mr. Gann and Jordan Rios
Background
Bryanston Pictures was a film distribution company headed by Louis "Butchie" Peraino, a leading man in the Columbo Crime Family. Their pornographic film, Deep Throat, was a box-office success, and the company went on to distribute more films during their four years active. Their first big deal came from distributing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), the predecessor movie of the TCM franchise. However, shady business practices (such as giving directors significantly less than 35% of the profits made from the movie, and threatening theaters to fork over 50% of the profits) led them to be sued into bankruptcy in 1976. Reports from people who allowed them to distribute their movies said, "it was like making a deal with the devil".
1st Logo (BP) (June 12, 1972-August 7, 1975)
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Visuals: On a black background, the gold letters "BP" zoom out. Then, there is a series of small multicolored lines waving in the center, followed by a gold multi-lined cross shape with the same "BP" in the middle, which leaves several multicolored residue trails. Then, the cross shape shifts a little taller while "BRYANSTON" and "PICTURES" in Eurostile Bold Extended in yellow appear above and below, respectively. Then, all of a sudden, they dissolve, and form the word "PRESENTS" in the same font, also in gold.
Variants:
- Most of the time, the company name was not shown, due to the cropping or matting.
- A rare film deteriorated version exists where the background is denim blue. The logo itself is white and the colors seen when the second box begins to stretch are pink and mint green. Also, "PICTURES" is barely visible.
- On a French-Canadian dub of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the last quarter is cut out and we see the yellow text "BRYANSTON PICTURES PRÉSENTE".
Technique: Scanimate.
Audio: A series of random, warbly synthesized sounds produced by a Moog synthesizer. It starts with an ascending whoosh, then descending beeping sounds, a loud descending chirp, an array of fast-paced ominous music with a sound that resembles the descending voices of the THX Deep Note, then warbly sounds that end with a droning synth hum and continuous synth beats and chirps.
Audio Variant: On Lord Shango and The Black Gestapo, bongo drums can be heard over the logo.
Availability: Appeared on films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Devil's Rain, Deep Throat, Bruce Lee's Return of the Dragon, Andy Warhol's Dracula and Andy Warhol's Frankenstein.
- All current DVD releases and TV prints of these films plaster this logo over or go straight to the opening scene, while the VCI VHS of Dark Star also skips this logo.
- It can be currently seen on Lord Shango, The Black Gestapo, Those Mad, Mad Movie Makers (AKA, The Last Porno Movie), and the UK Fabulous Films and VCI Blu-ray releases of Dark Star.
- Most recent versions of Return of the Dragon, under its original title Way of the Dragon, utilize Golden Harvest's "international" print featuring the 1978 Golden Harvest logo at the front (the previous CBS/FOX laserdisc and the 2001 DVD release feature the Golden Harvest logo with a blue background and the Bryanston Pictures music underneath!).
- It was also seen on some streaming and TV prints of the theatrical version of That’s the Way of the World (which was originally a United Artists release and had the 1968 Transamerica T logo on some versions).
Legacy: While it is typically seen as a "scary logo" on the surface, it has been seen as symbolism for the practices the company did. As mentioned in the background, reports from people who allowed the company to distribute their movies said, "it was like making a deal with the devil".
2nd Logo (October 26, 1973-1976)
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Visuals: On a purple background, the text "BRYANSTON DISTRIBUTORS PRESENTS" in the Impact font slides from the right middle of the screen and stops in the middle of the screen.
Technique: Camera-controlled animation.
Audio: None.
Availability: This logo can be seen on Last House on Massacre Street (AKA, The Bride) and the extended director's cut of That’s the Way of the World.
