American film company
Embassy Pictures Corporation
(also and later known as
Avco Embassy Pictures
as well as
Embassy Films Associates
) was an American independent film
production
and
distribution
studio, active from 1942 to 1986. Embassy was responsible for films such as
The Graduate
,
The Producers
,
The Fog
,
The Howling
,
Escape from New York
, and
This Is Spinal Tap
,
Swamp Thing
,
and television series such as
The Jeffersons
,
One Day at a Time
and
The Facts of Life
.
Embassy was founded in 1942 by
Joseph E. Levine
as a foreign film distributor, before branching out into film production in 1945.
In 1967, Embassy was acquired by
Avco
. The company struggled in the 1970s before focusing on lower-budget genre films at the end of the decade. In 1982, television producer
Norman Lear
and his partner Jerry Perenchio bought the studio, and it became involved in television production. In 1985, Embassy was sold to
The Coca-Cola Company
, which sold the studio to
Dino De Laurentiis
in October of that same year.
Today,
StudioCanal
owns ancillary rights to the majority of Embassy's theatrical library, while
Sony Pictures Television
owns worldwide television syndication rights to the studio's films and TV shows.
History
[
edit
]
Founding
[
edit
]
The company was founded in 1942
by
Joseph E. Levine
, initially to distribute foreign films in the United States. The company entered film production in 1945, co-producing with Maxwell Finn the documentary
Gaslight Follies
, a compilation of silent film clips narrated by
Ben Grauer
.
[2]
Success
[
edit
]
Embassy found success in 1956 bringing the Japanese film
Godzilla
to the American general public (in a re-edited version), acquiring the rights for $12,000 and spending $400,000 promoting it under the title
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
, and earning $1 million in
theatrical rentals
.
[2]
They then made a $100,000 deal to bring the French-Italian film
Attila
(1954) to the United States in 1958 and spent $600,000 promoting it, which returned $2 million in rentals.
[2]
Their breakthrough came the following year with
Hercules
, starring
Steve Reeves
and released by
Warner Bros.
Levine invested $120,000 on
dubbing
,
sound effects
and new titles and spent $1.25 million on promoting the film. It was one of the highest-grossing films of the year, with rentals of $4.7 million, starting a growth in the
sword-and-sandal
genre.
[2]
Art house releases
[
edit
]
After releasing the
Hercules
sequel,
Hercules Unchained
(1960), Embassy expanded to add 13 offices nationally as well as offices in Rome, London and Paris and signed deals with Italian production company
Titanus
and producer
Carlo Ponti
and began distributing
art films
, often European ones. In 1961, Embassy bought North American distribution rights for
Two Women
after Levine seeing no more than three minutes of its "rushes". The film, based on a novella written by
Alberto Moravia
, had been directed by
Vittorio de Sica
, and starred
Sophia Loren
(Ponti's wife) and
Eleanora Brown
, who acted out the respective roles of a mother and her young daughter whom
World War II
had displaced from their home. Levine's promotional campaign focused on one still photograph, which showed Loren, as the mother, wearing a torn dress, kneeling in the dirt, and weeping with rage and grief. Predicting that she would win the
Academy Award
for her performance, Levine brought Loren to the United States for interviews, bought space for, and placed, large advertisements in newspapers, and saw to it that
Two Women
appeared in the cities of residence of Academy Award jury members.
Levine's efforts paid off when the film was a hit and Loren became the first cast member of a foreign-language film to win the
Academy Award for Best Actress
.
[2]
Embassy also acquired rights to and distributed
Divorce Italian Style
(1961);
Salvatore Giuliano
(1962);
Federico Fellini
's film
8½
(1963), as well as Ponti's producing credits including
Boccaccio '70
(1962), and de Sica's
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
(1963) and
Marriage Italian Style
(1964).
[2]
Embassy also produced an adaptation of
The Thief of Baghdad
(1961), also with Reeves in the lead, and Rick Carrier's
Strangers in the City
(1962).
On the back of the success of
Ingmar Bergman
, Embassy released some of his earlier films in the United States, his film
The Devil's Wanton
(1949) in 1962 and his film
Night Is My Future
(1948) in 1963. Embassy also released two 1961 films produced by
Robert S. Baker
and
Monty Berman
-
What a Carve Up!
(released in 1962) and
The Hellfire Club
(released in 1963). Other Ponti-produced films released by Embassy include
Landru
(1963), directed by
Claude Chabrol
;
Contempt
(1963), directed by
Jean-Luc Godard
;
The Empty Canvas
starring
Bette Davis
;
The Ape Woman
(1964);
Casanova 70
(1965);
The 10th Victim
(1965); and de Sica's
Sunflower
(1970).
[2]
Paramount Pictures deal
[
edit
]
By the 1960s, Levine had transformed Embassy into a production company. In 1963, Levine was offered a $30 million deal with
Paramount Pictures
to produce films in the vein of his previous successes. Paramount would finance the films and Embassy would receive part of its profits.
Under the deal, Levine produced
Harold Robbins
's
The Carpetbaggers
(1964) and its prequel
Nevada Smith
(1966), which were successes, along with flops such as
Harlow
(1965), starring
Carroll Baker
. A third film based on a novel by Harold Robbins was also released as part of three-picture deal with Robbins,
Where Love Has Gone
(1964).
[2]
Embassy also released several films produced by or starring
Stanley Baker
including
Zulu
(1964),
Dingaka
(1965) and
Robbery
(1967).
[2]
Later in the decade, Embassy functioned on its own with many
Rankin/Bass Productions
animated features, including
The Daydreamer
(1966) and
Mad Monster Party?
(1967), and successful live-action productions including
The Graduate
, by second-time film director
Mike Nichols
,
The Producers
, by first-time director
Mel Brooks
(both 1967), and
The Lion in Winter
(1968), which won an
Academy Award
for
Katharine Hepburn
.
[2]
New ownership under Avco
[
edit
]
Embassy enjoyed its greatest success with
The Graduate
, which became the
highest-grossing film of the year
. This enabled Levine to sell his company to
Avco
for a deal worth $40 million, although he stayed on as chief executive.
[4]
[5]
In 1969, Embassy appointed Mike Nichols to the board of directors and acquired his film production company, Friwaftt.
[6]
Levine also ended a four-year feud with Ponti and Loren and produced Loren's first film since she became a mother,
Sunflower
(1970).
[6]
Levine also started a
record label
with music industry executives
Hugo Peretti
and
Luigi Creatore
,
Avco Embassy Records
, later shortened to
Avco Records
. In 1969, the company bought out Mike Nichols' production company and signed him to make two movies.
[7]
The company became less successful in the 1970s and only had hits with Mike Nichols'
Carnal Knowledge
(1971) and
A Touch of Class
(1973).
[2]
In 1972, the company had begun cutting back on production and in 1973 recorded a loss of $8.1 million. Levine resigned as president on May 28, 1974, to re-enter independent production and was replaced by Bill Chaikin.
[8]
By 1975, Avco Embassy stopped making movies altogether.
[9]
In 1968, Avco Embassy launched Avco Embassy Television, to syndicate films from the Avco Embassy library on television. In 1976, Avco Embassy sold their broadcasting division and Avco Program Sales to
Multimedia, Inc.
, becoming
Multimedia Entertainment
(since folded into what is now
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios
).
Robert Rehme years
[
edit
]
In late 1977, Avco Embassy announced its intention to resume production. In 1978,
Robert Rehme
was appointed president and chief operating officer and he convinced the company to give him $5 million for a production fund.
Under his stewardship, Avco Embassy concentrated on lower budgeted genre films, six of which were successful:
The Manitou
(1978),
Phantasm
(1979),
The Fog
(1980),
Scanners
(1981),
Time Bandits
(1981) and
The Howling
(1981). They benefited in part from the fact that
American International Pictures
recently left the exploitation field, lessening competition in this area.
[
citation needed
]
Rehme left the company in 1981, having seen it increase its revenue from $20 million to $90 million.
[10]
[11]
In 1981,
Tom Laughlin
offered to buy the company for $24 million but withdrew his offer.
[4]
Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio
[
edit
]
In January 1982, television producer
Norman Lear
and his partner
Jerry Perenchio
bought the studio for $25 million,
[10]
reverted the name to the previous Embassy Pictures by dropping
T.A.T. Communications
to Embassy Television and T.A.T. Communications Company to Embassy Communications, Inc. The company was producing such hits as
The Jeffersons
,
One Day at a Time
and
The Facts of Life
, and by Tandem,
Diff'rent Strokes
and
Archie Bunker's Place
. During this period, they launched
Silver Spoons
,
Square Pegs
,
Who's the Boss?
,
It's Your Move
and
Gloria
. They also expanded into making made-for-TV movies, including
Eleanor, First Lady of the World
(1982) and
Grace Kelly
(1983).
In late 1982, Embassy bought out Andre Blay Corporation and renamed the company to
Embassy Home Entertainment
; prior releases from its film catalog (as Avco Embassy Picture Corporation) had been handled through
Magnetic Video
, as well as reissues of the Blay Video catalog.
In 1984, Embassy Pictures was renamed to Embassy Films Associates. That same year,
Fanny and Alexander
, which it distributed in the United States, received the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
During this period,
Rob Reiner
, who up to that point had been most famous for playing Mike "Meathead" Stivic on
All in the Family
, began his directorial career with two Embassy releases,
This is Spinal Tap
(1984) and
The Sure Thing
(1985). His third film,
Stand By Me
(1986), started at Embassy, but it almost got cancelled because of the sale to Columbia days before filming was to begin. Norman Lear ended up putting up his own money for completion funds.
[12]
Coca-Cola and others
[
edit
]
Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy Communications (including Tandem Productions) to
The Coca-Cola Company
for $485 million on June 18, 1985.
[13]
[14]
[15]
Coca-Cola, which also owned
Columbia Pictures
at the time, sold Embassy Pictures to
Dino De Laurentiis
on November 1, 1985,
[16]
but kept Embassy's television division active. De Laurentiis folded the company into his
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
, and the home video division became
Nelson Entertainment
, run by executives who had previously worked at DEG before it went bankrupt.
Although De Laurentiis was now owner of Embassy, he was not given rights to then-upcoming films such as
Crimewave
and
Saving Grace
(both 1986), and an adaptation of
Stephen King
's
The Body
, which became
Stand by Me
(1986), which became properties of Lear and Perenchio.
[17]
[18]
By the early 1990s, key rights to the Embassy library transferred from company to company due to the bankruptcies of the companies that separately owned them (De Laurentiis for theatrical, Nelson for home video). Dino De Laurentiis's assets went to Parafrance International, in conjunction with
Village Roadshow
, while Nelson's assets were acquired by
Credit Lyonnais
Bank and later sold to
PolyGram
. Nelson's parent company, NHI continued to exist well into the mid-1990s. In 1994, Parafrance's assets were acquired by the French production company
StudioCanal
which today owns ancillary rights to the majority of the Embassy theatrical library. However, North American video rights to the majority of Embassy's film library are owned by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(via
Orion Pictures
) due to them acquiring most of
PolyGram
's pre-March 31, 1996 film library which included the
Epic
catalog, which in turn incorporated the
Nelson
catalog, while
Sony Pictures Television
owns worldwide television syndication rights to the theatrical library as well as full ancillary and distribution rights to the Embassy Television library.
Films
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
McCarthy, Todd
(August 5, 1987). "Joseph E. Levine Dead At 81; Leading Indie Producer Of '60s".
Variety
. p. 4.
- ^
a
b
Harris, Kathryn (November 25, 1981). "Perenchio Lear to Purchase Avco Embassy Pictures: EMBASSY: Sale May Be $25 Million".
Los Angeles Times
. p. e1.
- ^
PENN, STANLEY (May 6, 1968). "Avco to Buy Embassy Pictures From Levine For $40 Million of Common, Preferred Stock".
The Wall Street Journal
. p. 8.
- ^
a
b
Green, Abel
(March 19, 1969). "Mike Nichols On Avco Embassy Board; Joe Levine's Peace With Ponti-Loren".
Variety
. p. 1.
- ^
SLOANE, LEONARD (March 19, 1969). "Mergers Set in Show Business: Avco Buys Nichols Unit MERGERS SHAPED IN SHOW BUSINESS".
The New York Times
. p. 61.
- ^
Weiler, A. H. (May 30, 1974). "Levine, Producer, Quits as President Of Avco Embassy: Amicable Resignation".
The New York Times
. p. 33.
- ^
"Avco Apparently Will Produce Movies After 5-Year Hiatus: Concern Would Likely Work With Others Instead of Making Films on Its Own".
The Wall Street Journal
. December 6, 1977. p. 10.
- ^
a
b
'Avco's Way to Lick the Movie Giants of Hollywood',
New Straits Times
, 6 Dec1981 p 8
- ^
Aljean Harmetz, 'Robert Rehme, King of the Low Budget Shocker',
The New York Times
, 30 Nov 1981 Section C p. 13
- ^
Lang, Brent (July 28, 2016).
"
'Stand by Me' Oral History: Rob Reiner and Cast on River Phoenix and How Coming-of-Age Classic Almost Didn't Happen"
.
Variety
.
Archived
from the original on December 15, 2018
. Retrieved
December 15,
2019
.
- ^
"Norman Lear"
Coke Buys Embassy & Tandem
Archived
2013-05-02 at the
Wayback Machine
normanlear.com Michael Schrage
The Washington Post
, Retrieved on January 25, 2013.
- ^
"Norman Lear"
Lear, Perenchio Sell Embassy Properties
Archived
2013-05-18 at the
Wayback Machine
normanlear.com AL DELUGACH and KATHRYN HARRIS,
Los Angeles Times
, Retrieved on January 25, 2013
- ^
"Norman Lear"
Coke buys Embassy: 485 million.
Archived
2013-05-18 at the
Wayback Machine
normanlear.com CHRISTOPHER VAUGHN and BILL DESOWITZ
The Hollywood Reporter
, Retrieved on January 25, 2013
- ^
Greenberg, James (November 13, 1985). "Dino Cleans House At Embassy; 70 Staffers Are Canned On Coast".
Variety
. p. 3.
- ^
"De Laurentiis to Market Own Films" Aljean Harmetz.
The New York Times
4 Oct 1985: C3.
- ^
"DE LAURENTIIS' EPIC PLAN FOR EMBASSY: FILM CLIPS FILM CLIPS" Mathews, Jack.
Los Angeles Times
9 Oct 1985: h1.
Further reading
[
edit
]