Kingsley-International Pictures is an American film importing and releasing agency, located in New York, active between 1952 and 1962 with its product distributed by Union Motion Picture Distributors. The company specializes in importing foreign art house film, mainly French but also some independent British titles, such as '' Carrington V.C.'' (1955), ''

Lucky Jim ''Lucky Jim'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel and won the 1955 Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. The novel follows the exploits of the eponymous James (Jim) Dixon, a reluctan ...

'' (1957), ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

'' (1960), and ''

Only Two Can Play ''Only Two Can Play'' is a 1962 British comedy film starring Peter Sellers, based on the 1955 novel '' That Uncertain Feeling'' by Kingsley Amis. Sidney Gilliat directed the film from a screenplay by Bryan Forbes. The film is set in the fiction ...

'' (1962).

History

The company was started and run by Edward Kingsley (1914-1962), a pioneer in " art house" film distribution in the US. Kingsley began as a publicist for Paramount Pictures in 1933. In 1949, he began distributing French films in partnership with

Arthur Mayer Arthur L. Mayer (March 28, 1886, Demopolis, Alabama - April 14, 1981, New York City) was an American film producer and film distributor who worked with Joseph Burstyn in distributing films directed by Roberto Rossellini and other famous Europea ...

, another art house distribution pioneer, but after a few years he branched out on his own by starting Kingsley-International Pictures. The company is mainly famous for two things: in 1957 it introduced

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

to the American audience via '' And God Created Woman'', which created a Bardot fever in the USA,Tino Balio: ''The Foreign Film Renaissance on American Screens, 1946–1973'' (Univ of Wisconsin Press 2010, page 84)
Linked 2013-08-21 and it released the first film version of '' Lady Chatterley's Lover'', the 1955 French film '' L'Amant de lady Chatterley'', which in 1955 was banned by

New York State Board of Regents The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Depa ...

, not because of any sex scenes, but because it "promoted adultery". The film was eventually released in 1959 after the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

ruled the banning unconstitutional. That court ruling is seen as a landmark decision forming modern US views on censorship. In 1956, the company became the art house subsidiary of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, not because of a sudden interest from Columbia for foreign films in general, but as a way for the Hollywood major to distribute and make money from ''And God Created Woman'' without having to submit the film to the PCA for approval, which the company as member of the

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

was obliged to do.Steve Neale: ''Classical Hollywood Reader'' (Routledge, 2012)
Linked 2013-08-21 When Kingsley died in 1962, at the age of 47, the company was transferred to Kingsley Global. A company owned by the Kingsley Family.

References

External links

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Official Telegram Channel
Film distributors of the United States {{US-film-company-stub