Updating the IMDb: The Seattle Edition

Temple of Schlock's friend in Seattle, John Black, told us a while back that his hometown had played host to a number of exclusive movie premieres in the early 1970s, but we only recently got around to investigating his claim. Boy, he wasn't kidding! Here are two major finds that we unearthed within minutes of threading the first reel of microfilm through the viewer.

THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY, writer-director Michael Roemer's second narrative indie feature (following the brilliant NOTHING BUT A MAN), opened in one Seattle theater for a week-long "world premiere" on January 27, 1971.

This quirky, b&w, New York-shot ethnic comedy -- filmed two years earlier -- would've attracted more attention and done some business if it had debuted a few blocks south of 14th Street instead of three thousand miles west of the Hudson. According to Seattle Times critic John Hartl in the review below, the film's "only appreciative audience may be Jewish bookies living in the Bronx."

After this not-so-impressive debut, Roemer put THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY on a shelf and forgot about it for 18 years.

In September 1989, THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY was screened during the Toronto and New York Film Festivals. Press coverage at the time detailed the film's disappearing act without ever mentioning its week-long run in Seattle, alluding instead to a "screening" that failed to secure a distribution deal (New Yorker Films finally released the film theatrically in January 1990). Some sources even claimed that THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY had languished for years unfinished. "Roemer actually shot this film, his second feature, in 1969," wrote Pete Travers in Rolling Stone, "but only recently found the money to complete postproduction."

It’s understandable why Roemer would avoid all discussion of the one-week Seattle engagement, since any kind of theatrical release would’ve made the film ineligible for the major festivals. However, we believe that 20+ years is well past the statute of limitations for this sort of thing, so THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY should now be considered a 1971 film, with January 27, 1971 (Seattle, WA) listed on the IMDb as the official release date.

Less than a month after THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY blew in and out of town, Skip Sherwood's spaced-out independent film DIDN'T YOU HEAR? opened in nine Seattle-area theaters on February 24, 1971. Billed as "The first completely electronically scored motion picture" and shot in widescreen Techniscope at the University of Washington and in the San Juan Islands during the summer of 1970, DIDN'T YOU HEAR? is of interest today for its early lead performances by Dennis Christopher, Gary Busey, and MACON COUNTY LINE's Cheryl Waters. A wider release through Futurama International was scheduled for June 1972, but we've found no evidence of additional playdates.

Skip Sherwood Productions renewed the copyright in 1983, which was the date ascribed to the film when it began showing on TV in 1985. A video release through American National Enterprises (A.N.E.) Home Video/Prism Entertainment also occurred in 1985, but the IMDb considers this a 1983 release. The date should be changed to 1971, with February 24, 1971 (Seattle, WA) submitted as the official release date.

Updating the IMDb: Blogger Contributions

Two of our blogging buddies have officially joined the Temple's "Updating the IMDb Board of Review" by contributing the following corrections...

John Charles of Video Watchdog and By John Charles sent us evidence that the Carlos Tobalina softcore pic TONITE...I LOVE YOU -– starring Liz Renay, "the world's most beautiful woman" and former girlfriend of mobster Mickey Cohen -- was released a year prior to the 1974 date given on the IMDb. We dug around a little more and found the above ad, from an April 28, 1972 opening in Salt Lake City, UT.

John also sent us the above ad for Larry Brown's loopy AN EYE FOR AN EYE, from its theatrical run in Gastonia, North Carolina, beginning on September 28, 1973. Better known under its re-release title THE PSYCHOPATH, this strange serial killer thriller -- about a disturbed TV kids show host named Mr. Rabbey (Tom Basham) who kills abusive parents -– is incorrectly listed on the IMDb as a 1975 release.

Brian Bankston of Cool Ass Cinema wrote to tell us that Bill Rebane’s RANA, THE LEGEND OF SHADOW LAKE sports a 1981 copyright date during the closing credits, but the IMDb claims a 1975 release date. Because of its flashback structure, we wouldn’t be surprised if Rebane actually did start production in 1975, but the article above -- from the September 24, 1981 issue of the Madison, Wisconsin Capital Times -- confirms that the bulk of RANA was shot in 1981. When syndicated television airings of the film began in 1988, the year most often cited in TV listings was 1977, but we’ve also found 1980 and 1985 noted in various newspapers. The IMDb entry should be changed to 1981.

Updating the IMDb: The World Northal Edition

My interest in the World Northal Corporation began on February 20th, 1982, when I saw my first Shaw Brothers kung fu movie, TEN TIGERS OF KWANGTUNG, on WNEW’s “Drive-In Movie.” I didn't know it then, but TEN TIGERS OF KWANGTUNG -- which had been released to theaters the previous August -- was one of the 13 movies that formed World Northal's first trendsetting "Black Belt Theater" TV syndication package. A few years ago I wrote an article about the company for George Reis’ excellent DVD Drive-In, and although subsequent research has revealed a couple of errors in the piece (including one that is now on the IMDb, and I’ll take full responsibility for correcting), it’s otherwise very thorough and includes quotes from a brief interview I did with former company head Mel Maron. For anyone unfamiliar with World Northal and its “Black Belt Theater” packages, I highly recommend reading that article before continuing with this post.

Like most of the independent distribution companies that handled imported martial arts movies (New Line, Aquarius, 21st Century, Transcontinental), World Northal was based in Manhattan, so the nationwide release “track” for their product began in the Times Square-42nd Street area, with additional playdates in the outer boroughs. After its New York debut, it might take weeks or even months for a movie like THE MASTER KILLER to reach other theaters on the track, such as the Colonial in Hartford, the McVickers in Chicago, the Capital in Philadelphia, and the Rialto in Atlanta. After a year on the track, the World Northal releases would be edited for time and content (by Larry Bensky) and sold to TV in the company’s successful syndication packages.

There are three sources responsible for the inaccuracies on the IMDb related to World Northal's kung fu releases. The first and most obvious is the regional release pattern of indepedent movies during the 1970s and '80s, which the ad below nicely illustrates. SATURDAY THE 14TH opened in October 1981, NEIGHBORS was a December '81 release, and REVENGE OF THE SHOGUN WOMEN hit theaters in the New York-New Jersey area in January '82, so one would assume that THE FOUR ASSASSINS and CHALLENGE OF THE NINJA were also late 1981 or early '82 releases -- yet World Northal premiered them both in November 1980.

The second is the MPAA database. For reasons possibly related to the syndication deals, World Northal would submit their movies to the MPAA months after they opened in New York. For example, THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS -- which played on 42nd Street in July 1980 -- is one of several World Northal releases from '80 that the MPAA has on file as being submitted in 1981.

The other source for incorrect information is John Willis' annual Screen World. Willis apparently got a lot of his information from Variety and its city-by-city box-office reports; if THE SPEARMAN OF DEATH was drawing big numbers in Cleveland for a week in January 1984 and Willis had no prior data for it, the movie would appear in the following volume of Screen World as a January 1984 release, even though it had been in circulation since 1982.

To gather the following information, I consulted the New York Daily News, New York Post, Newsday, Chicago Tribune, and Village Voice movie listings, as well as Boxoffice.
                                                                          -- Chris Poggiali

THE AVENGING EAGLE (1980)
a.k.a. LONG XIE SHI SAN YING (1978)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1980)

THE BLOODY AVENGERS (1980)
a.k.a. BA GUO LIAN JUN / BOXER REBELLION (1976)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1980)

CHALLENGE OF THE NINJA (1980)
a.k.a. ZHONG HUA ZHANG FU / HEROES OF THE EAST (1978)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of 1982, but it first appeared in New York theaters in November 1980

DEATH CHAMBER (1981)
a.k.a. SHAO LIN SI / SHAOLIN TEMPLE (1976)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1981)

DEATH STROKE (1981)
a.k.a. ZHU ROU RONG / BUDO WING (1979)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1981)

DISCIPLES OF DEATH (1983)
a.k.a. SHAOLIN ZI DI / MEN FROM THE MONASTERY (1974)
Under the distributor credit, 1976 is given as the World Northal release date. It’s actually 1983.

DYNASTY OF BLOOD (1983)
a.k.a. CI MA / BLOOD BROTHERS (1973)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1983). Release date is November 9, 1983 (New York)

ENTER THE FAT DRAGON (1983)
a.k.a. FEI LUNG GWOH GONG (1978)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of January 1984, but it played in New York in 1983. This date should also be applied to the company credit.

THE EXECUTIONERS OF DEATH (1980)
a.k.a. HONG XI GUAN / EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN (1977)
In the company credits of the IMDb, New World Pictures is credited with releasing the movie in 1982. It’s possible their sub-distribution office in Atlanta (New World Pictures of Atlanta) handled it in the ATL territory -- and someone who lived in the area at the time added this information -- but New World didn’t release the movie nationally. The company credit should be World Northal (1980).

FISTS OF THE WHITE LOTUS (1982)
a.k.a. HONG WENDING SAN PO BIA LIAN JIAO / CLAN OF THE WHITE LOTUS (1980)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of 1983, but it played in New York theaters in 1982.

THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS (1980)
a.k.a. WU DU / FIVE VENOMS (1978)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of 1981, but it first appeared in New York theaters in July 1980.

THE FOUR ASSASSINS (1980)
a.k.a. MA KA PO LO / MARCO POLO (1975)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of 1981, but it first appeared in New York theaters in November 1980.

HEROES TWO (1984)
a.k.a. FANG SHIYU YU HONG XIGUAN / BLOODY FISTS (1974)
I couldn’t find a U.S. one-sheet or ad for HEROES TWO, but it opened on 42nd Street in June 1984 on a triple bill with DEATH CHAMBER and FIVE MASTERS OF DEATH. World Northal later changed the title to KUNG FU INVADERS for a TV syndication package.

THE INCREDIBLE KUNG FU MASTER (1980)
a.k.a. XING MU ZI GU HUO ZHAO (1979)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1980)

THE INVINCIBLE KUNG FU BROTHERS (1983)
a.k.a. FANG SHIH YU YU HU HUI CHIEN / THE SHAOLIN AVENGERS (1976)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1983)

THE INVINCIBLE ONE (1983)
a.k.a. HONG QUAN XIAO ZI / DISCIPLES OF SHAOLIN (1975)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1983).
Release date is November 16, 1983 (New York)

KARATE EXTERMINATORS (1984)
a.k.a. WAN REN ZAN / KILLER CONSTABLE (1981)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1984). Release date is November 1984.

KILLER ARMY (1982)
a.k.a. DA SHA SI FANG (1980)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1982)

THE KILLER FROM SHANTUNG (1980)
a.k.a. MA YONG ZHEN / BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1980)

THE MASTER AVENGERS (1981)
a.k.a. FEN ZHU CHI LAO HU / MASTER KILLERS (1980)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1981)

MASTER OF DISASTER (1982)
a.k.a. LUNG FU SIU YEH / THE TREASURE HUNTERS (1981)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of 1983, but it played in New York theaters in 1982.

MISSION KISS AND KILL (1980)
a.k.a. LANG DANG JIANG HU (1979) - Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1980)

ROAR OF THE LION (1983)
a.k.a. NAN BEI SHI WANG / LION VS. LION (1981)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1983)

THE SAVAGE FIVE (1980)
a.k.a. WU HU JIANG / FIVE TIGER GENERALS (1974)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of 1981, but it played in New York theaters in 1980.

THE SPEARMAN OF DEATH (1982)
a.k.a. TIE QI MEN / THE FLAG OF IRON (1980)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of February 1984, but it played in New York theaters in 1982.

STONER (1981)
a.k.a. TIE JIN GANG DA PO ZI YANG GUAN / HONG KONG HITMAN (1974)
Distributor info is missing and should be added: World Northal (1981)

THE THREE AVENGERS (1980)
a.k.a. DA CHA TOU (1979)
The IMDb lists a U.S. release date of October 1981, but it played in New York theaters in 1980. Also, "re-release" needs to be removed; THE THREE AVENGERS and ENTER THREE DRAGONS are two different movies, but the person who last updated the company credits seems to think they're one and the same. Therefore, Cinematic Releasing Corporation (1979) needs to be removed from the company credits, since that applies to ENTER THREE DRAGONS and not THE THREE AVENGERS.

Movie Ad of the Week: THE MODELS (1974)

Here's a post that started as a "Mystery Movie" but quickly morphed into equal parts "Updating the IMDb" and "Movie Ad of the Week." A couple of days ago, our friend Marc Morris asked us to find the true identity of THE MODELS, a Euro sleaze pic that was released in the U.S. by Group 1 Films beginning in 1974. Some sources claim that it's Claude Pierson's AFFAIR (1974), starring Lucretia Love and Paola Senatore, but that was released stateside (with an X rating) in 1976 by Intercontinental Releasing Corporation. After digging our old Alpha Blue Archives tape out of storage, we quickly ascertained that THE MODELS is actually DONNEZ-NOUS NOTRE AMOUR QUOTIDIEN / IN LOVE WITH SEX (1973), also directed by Pierson and starring Love and Senatore.

For a better look at that Robert McGinnis artwork, click below.

Updating the IMDb...Again

In no particular order...

The deservedly obscure Anthony M. Lanza/Arch Hall Sr. talk show spoof THE IRV CARLSON SHOW resurfaced a decade ago courtesy of Something Weird Video, under the (sloppily spliced in) title THE WEIRD ONES. However, this so-called comedy was submitted to the MPAA in 1971 as TELL IT LIKE IT IS and then received its widest theatrical exposure under the title THE NOW PEOPLE. Neither of these titles are listed on the IMDb (Meanwhile, neither THE IRV CARLSON SHOW nor THE WEIRD ONES are on file with the MPAA).

Sean MacGregor directed four feature films that we know of: two that he was fired from (CRY BLOOD APACHE and DEVIL TIMES FIVE) and two that he may have finished himself (NOVEMBER CHILDREN and CAMPER JOHN). If there's anything to glean from his limited oeuvre, it's the strong suspicion that (1) he never learned how to work with sync sound, and (2) he had a serious case of Tom Laughlin envy. His second try, NOVEMBER CHILDREN, is better known today as NIGHTMARE COUNTY -- if it's known at all -- with a release date of 1977 according to the IMDb. This is a mistake on top of a mistake.

NOVEMBER CHILDREN was in theatrical release by August of 1972, and was retitled NIGHTMARE COUNTY and re-released by Intercontinental Releasing Corporation beginning in May 1976 (NIGHTMARE OF DEATH is another alternate title filed with the MPAA, who claim the movie was rated R in 1972, re-rated to a PG later that year, then re-rated R again in '73). IRC kept it in theatrical release into the 1980s in major markets like New York (where it played 42nd Street for one day) and Chicago (which explains its "Dog of the Week" appearance on Sneak Previews around this time), even though it was already on TV as early as March 1978.

Going by its original ad campaign, THE JESUS TRIP (1971) looks like a biker version of TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA...

...but this Eve Meyer presentation was re-released in 1972 as THE RAVAGED, with no sign of Sister Anna anywhere in its campaign. This alternate title is absent from the IMDb.

Robert J. Siegel's PARADES (1972), a military prison drama with music contributions from Barry Manilow and Alan Menken, is better known under its reissue title, THE LINE, but Cinerama Releasing also put it out as BREAK LOOSE, an alternate title that isn't in the IMDb.

Readers of our second blog, The Paperback Film Projector, know how much we love novelizations. In 1969/1970, adults-only publisher Greenleaf Classics released a series of rare photo illustrated novelizations of softcore movies, several of which were issued under alternate titles. One of these is The Incredible Peeping Tom by Tod Nylan, which is actually a novelization of the black-and-white invisible man nudie HENRY'S NIGHT IN (1969)...

...while Weekend Warrior by Emil Ludwig is a novelization of the Harry Novak release WEEKEND LOVERS (1969), directed by Dwayne Avery.

Speaking of Harry Novak and Dwayne Avery, another of their skinful collaborations, THE EXOTIC DREAMS OF CASANOVA, is on the IMDb as a 1974 release, but we've confirmed playdates for it going back to June 1971.

Here's one that our friend John Charles brought to our attention. Frederick Friedel's neat horror-crime hybrid AXE is listed as a July 1977 release on the IMDb, but it opened in Gastonia, North Carolina on August 23, 1974 as LISA, LISA.

The IMDb has LITTLE GIRL, BIG TEASE as a February 1977 release, but we've found theatrical bookings for it as early as July 1976. It was rated R by the MPAA in 1975, under the title SNATCHED, so it may have been in circulation even earlier, and under that title as well.

Troma released James Riffel's shoestring Jersey-shot horror flick DEAD DUDES IN THE HOUSE (a.k.a. THE HOUSE ON TOMBSTONE HILL) beginning in 1991...

...but Riffel himself released it as THE DEAD COME HOME in October 1989. It played midnight shows at different theaters in New Jersey after a one-week run at the legendary Fabian Theater in Paterson, NJ.

The IMDb claims a November 1979 release date for the inept, micro-budgeted Wildman Steve comedy THE SIX THOUSAND DOLLAR NIGGER, but the ad above is from its Atlanta opening on December 22, 1978. Also, SUPER SOUL BROTHER is credited as a "video title" when it's an alternate theatrical title as well.

THE CARHOPS is credited with a 1975 release date on the IMDb, which is incorrect. NMD Film Distributing put out the version known as THE CARHOPS in 1977. As for the 1975 release date...

...that applies to KITTY CAN'T HELP IT, the original cut of the movie without the carhop footage that was added for the '77 release. Given an R rating by the MPAA in 1974, KITTY CAN'T HELP IT was released by Mammoth Films in 1975 (The ad above is from a May '75 run in De Moines, IA).

All-Scope International released THE HOAX in Phoenix, Arizona on April 19, 1972...

...but American Films Ltd. re-released it as SWISS BANK ACCOUNT in 1974, which isn't noted on the IMDb.

When the South African actioner DEATH OF A SNOWMAN (1976) came out on DVD from Synapse Films in November 2010, there was quite a bit of confusion over its U.S. release history, which still hasn't been cleared up on the IMDb. In a nutshell, Cinematic Releasing Corporation released it in 1978 as BLACK TRASH...

...then re-released it as SOUL PATROL in 1981 with a completely different ad campaign (The film received video releases under both titles, too).

There's currently no U.S. theatrical release info for León Klimovsky's LA REBELION DE LAS MUERTAS on the IMDb, despite the fact that we did a One-Sheet of the Week post about it nearly two and a half years ago. The film was released stateside on the bottom half of a double bill with LA SAGA DE LOS DRACULA/THE SAGA OF DRACULA beginning in December 1973, from International Cine Film Corporation. The 1976 volume of John Willis' Screen World lists both films as February '75 releases through International Amusements Corporation, which is what the IMDb has as release info for THE SAGA OF DRACULA (The earlier date and distributor should be added to this entry).

But that's not the end of the story, because...

...LA REBELION DE LAS MUERTAS was re-released in 1981 as WALK OF THE DEAD by Independent Artists Corporation, another bit of info missing from the U-know-what.

By the way, our earliest sighting of LA REBELION DE LAS MUERTAS in the U.S. is a one-week run at the Cine 1 & 2, Times Square's premier Spanish-language theater, where it was co-billed with ESCALOFRIO DIABOLICO (1971) during the week of October 17-23, 1973.