PolyGram Pictures

Background

In October 1976, Casablanca Record & FilmWorks was formed from the merger of Peter Guber's FilmWorks and PolyGram's Casablanca Records. In 1977, PolyGram acquired a 50% stake in the studio, before buying it outright and renaming it PolyGram Pictures in 1980. Universal Pictures handled U.S. distribution for the majority of PolyGram's films through the pact it signed with Casablanca in 1979 (with the exceptions of Deadly Blessing, Split Image and Flashdance, which were released by United Artists, Orion Pictures and Paramount Pictures, respectively), while Producers Sales Organization would handle international distribution. In 1982, Guber and his business partner Jon Peters left PolyGram to form The Guber-Peters Entertainment Company, which would lead to the deactivation of PolyGram Pictures a year later. In 1985, MCA Inc. (then the parent of Universal) sold the video distribution rights to the PolyGram Pictures library to Vestron Video as a way of cutting losses, due to most of these films losing money at the box office. However, the home video rights to Deadly Blessing would go to Embassy Home Entertainment, while the rights to Flashdance remain with Paramount.

Universal would eventually regain the distribution rights to some of the PolyGram Pictures films they distributed, including Endless Love, An American Werewolf in London, King of the Mountain, and Missing. Lionsgate Films holds streaming and TV rights to the PolyGram Pictures library (except Flashdance), such as The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, King of the Mountain and Six Weeks, under license from Hearst Entertainment (which previously had the TV rights to these films via King Features).

Contents

1st Logo (May 18-30, 1980)	2nd Logo (May 1, 1981-December 17, 1982)	3rd Logo (November 13, 1981)

1st Logo (May 18-30, 1980)

Visuals: There is the text "PolyGram Pictures" in gold. A line of red stars pop up underneath the name.

Variant: A print version exists, which appears at the end of The Hollywood Knights.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The closing theme of the movie.

Availability:

It was only known to be seen on the 1980 ABC TV movie Mysteries of the Sea, which is very hard to come by as it seems to not have been reran in years.
The print version remains intact at the end of The Hollywood Knights.

2nd Logo (May 1, 1981-December 17, 1982)

Visuals: Over a black background, a row of red stars move upwards, then down in a curve, revealing the text:

PolyGram Pictures

The stars are in a line under the name.

Variants:

A later variant features the stars and name wiping, without any animation at all.
On An American Werewolf in London, the logo cuts to black instead of fading to black at the end.

Technique: Scanimate effects.

Audio: Usually none or the opening theme of the film.

Availability:

Seen on An American Werewolf in London, Endless Love, King of the Mountain, and Deadly Blessing (preceded by the 1976 United Artists logo on the latter).
It is also intact on the 2013 Shout! Factory DVD and Blu-ray releases of the latter.
The later variant can be seen on Split Image and Six Weeks.

3rd Logo (November 13, 1981)

Visuals: On a background of red, orange and yellow stripes, there are the words "POLYGRAM" in a Prisma-like font near the middle of the screen.

Variant: An open-matte version exists on VHS prints of the film.

Technique: A still, printed image.

Audio: None.

Availability: The only known film to use this logo is The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, and it is also preserved on current prints and the 1982 MCA Videocassette VHS release of said movie.

PolyGram Pictures

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

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