Posts Tagged ‘horror’
The first time I saw ONE MILLION B.C. (1940) was in the late 1950s on KSBW-TV in Salinas, California. Thought it was pretty cool, even though the station always was kind of fuzzy. (The VCI DVD and Blu-ray are exceptionally sharp) There was never any doubt the “dinosaurs” were anything other than lizards, but that made no difference to me, nor to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who bestowed an Oscar for its special effects. Clips of the “dinosaurs” were later used in over a dozen low-rent feature films, including two of mine, “Untamed Women” (1951) and “King Dinosaur” (1955).
The one shot that did stun me was watching the mother of a child being entombed by flowing lava. 60 years later it still kind of gives me the creeps. I enjoyed the movie enough to buy both Castle Films one-reel silent abridgements, “1 Million B.C.” and “Battle of the Giants.”
Author, Richard Bann, who personally knew Hal Roach for many years, was nice enough to contribute some facts. Thanks, Dick!
“Who wrote ONE MILLION B.C.? Hal E. Roach did. At one point he was going to (but elected not to) take credit for the original story as “Eugene Roche,” a pseudonym he sometimes (but rarely) used, Eugene being his middle name. Having known him so well, I can state that this direct, blunt, raw movie absolutely reflects his world view, his values, his way of thinking. Yet others received credit for the “original screenplay.” One, Mickell Novak, was his secretary, who I met once. She confirmed that Hal wrote the picture, and others who “helped” in some fashion were given screen credit to pad the production staff. When Hal first entered movies, he was a friend of and hired her mother, Jane Novak, who made Westerns with William S. Hart. And Mickell Novak’s aunt was another silent film actress of note, Eva Novak. And much has been written about the contributions of D.W. Griffith to ONE MILLION B.C. in various capacities. With respect to the story, Griffith wrote several treatments and offered a 76-page screenplay. All were rejected. By 1940, movies made in the teens seemed as antiquated as the setting for ONE MILLION B.C., and unfortunately Griffith had not changed with the times.”
Order ONE MILLION B.C. on DVD or Blu-ray from The Sprocket Vault –
DVD – http://thesprocketvault.com/product/one-million-b-c/
Blu-ray – http://thesprocketvault.com/product/one-million-b-c-blu-ray/
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Posted on: June 20, 2016
Retire?
No way…I’m still finding too many interesting movies to release on DVD/Blu-ray.
Hard to believe Kit Parker Films is fast approaching its 50th year in the distribution of classic motion pictures! Back in 1971 the 16mm non-theatrical industry was thriving, but it was largely owned by corporations which were passionate about money, but dispassionate about films, and the quality of the film prints showed it. I saw a niche to be filled — renting out quality prints at affordable prices, and Kit Parker Films was born.
The 16mm library expanded throughout the years until home video made inroads into the industry — the quality of VHS was marginal at best, but the price was right. By the 90s I branched out into the 35mm theatrical arena, eventually becoming the go-to source for classics in that film format.
In the late 1990s I realized the days of projecting celluloid were going to be replaced by DVDs, so slowly phased out the “old” KPF, and in 2001 began purchasing the copyrights to vintage films. Over the next 15 years my collection grew to include hundreds of feature films, television programs, serials and shorts. Many of my acquisitions required a great degree of patience and detective work to clear rights and locate suitable film elements, but those efforts unearthed many films that had seen little or no exposure for decades.
Originally “The Sprocket Vault” was created a sales division to sell my own DVD/Blu-rays through our distributor, Music Video Distributors (MVD). Other producers have started approaching me to sell their movies…so my company is growing, and that means lots of new releases of interest for you.
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