Crown International Pictures
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Crown International Pictures (CIP) was an independent film studio and distribution company formed in 1959 by Newton P. Jacobs.


History

Jacobs was a branch head of
RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
until 1947, when he formed Favorite Films, an organization which released films acquired from the studios which had originally produced them, long after their first run release. CIP became one of the first franchise distributors for
American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...
(AIP) product. Like AIP, Crown International is primarily known for low-budget genre films, including;
grindhouse A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a fil ...
cinema,
biker Biker or bikie may refer to: * A cyclist, a bicycle rider or participant in cycling sports * A motorcyclist, any motorcycle rider or passenger, or participant in motorcycle sports ** A motorcycle club member, defined more narrowly than all motor ...
films,
exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
s, and
B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...
drive-in fare. Crown International began releasing both low-budget films as ''
Bloodlust! ''Bloodlust!'' is a 1961 American horror thriller film written, directed and produced by Ralph Brooke and starring Wilton Graff, June Kenney, Joan Lora, Eugene Persson, and Robert Reed. It is based on Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most ...
'' and ''The Seventh Commandment'', by American producers, as well as foreign films such as ''
First Spaceship on Venus ''Milcząca Gwiazda'' (german: Der schweigende Stern), literal English translation ''The Silent Star'', is a 1960 East German/Polish color science fiction film based on the 1951 science fiction novel ''The Astronauts'' by Polish science fiction wri ...
'' and ''
Varan the Unbelievable is a 1958 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it stars Kōzō Nomura, Ayumi Sonoda, and Koreya Senda, with Haruo Nakajima as Varan. In the fi ...
'' (released as a
double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...
in 1962) which Crown was able to acquire inexpensively, due to the US dollar's strength. Crown began producing its own films, starting with
Coleman Francis Coleman Chambers Francis (January 24, 1919 – January 15, 1973) was an American actor, writer, producer and director. He was best known for his film trilogy consisting of ''The Beast of Yucca Flats'' (1961), ''The Skydivers'' (1963) and '' ...
' ''
The Skydivers ''The Skydivers'' is a 1963 American crime film produced by Anthony Cardoza, and written and directed by Coleman Francis. It stars actress Kevin Casey, Eric Tomlin, Cardoza and Marcia Knight, with a performance by influential guitarist Jimmy B ...
'', in 1963. Beginning in 1961, Crown began by releasing six films, with the number rising to 12 a decade years later. Jacobs felt that Crown survived by having carefully planned growth and not overextending its product. He said that Crown did not want to be regarded as a mini
major studio Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, th ...
but as the top of the independents, to give the company more freedom in selecting and exploiting its film library. Well over 50% of exhibitors showing Crown's products were
drive-in theatre A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movi ...
s, with the number decreasing to 30% in 1981. Crown often re-titled its releases to make them sound more exciting or exploit current trends. Jacobs told the
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
in November 1963, "A title is the handle  . . . You can't lift a picture very high if the handle is weak" Crown also acted as importer for
Sonny Chiba , known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fuku ...
's ''Street Fighter'' films to the United States. In 1973, Mark Tenser, who had been vice-president, became president with Jacobs' ascension to become
chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
. Jacobs' daughter Marilyn Jacobs Tenser became vice president. The company handled its in-house production division, Marimark Productions, to produce a majority of the Crown's later output. The director of ''Death Machines'' (1976) gave an account of how Crown picked up and shot new scenes for his film that included shooting a prologue that would make the martial arts film a science-fiction one to make it more in line with current box-office trends. In 1983, Crown International Pictures launched a new international division Crown International Pictures Export Corporation, whereas it took over duties from previous firm distributor who had once got a contract from Crown,
Manson International Manson International was an independent American film production company and distributor. The name was derived from the founders' surnames. Initially a distributor of foreign films, it became one of the pioneer film sales agencies in the country. ...
, in order to market sales of Crown's own pictures internationally. In 1987, Crown International Pictures, signed a three-title deal with RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, which resulted in RCA/Columbia picking up home video rights to Crown's in-house production '' Hunk'', as well as acquisitions handled by Crown, which are ''Scorpion'' and '' Jocks'', of which all three Crown films will be headed to home video this summer. In July 1988, Jacobs died in a motorcycle accident, which resulted in his son, Louis, taking the helm of Crown International.


Filmography


Home media

In 1964 Crown packaged several of the features that it released or had acquired rights to become part of a package of the Westhampton Film Corp. American television production company
Desilu Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as ''I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchabl ...
entered film syndication in 1964 by acquiring the rights to show Crown International films as part of the "Westhampton Feature Package". In the 1970s Crown released films for syndication through Gold Key Entertainment, which was a division of Vidtronics, Inc. Many of Crown's releases have been released to
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
on BCI Home Entertainment's ''Welcome to the Grindhouse'', ''Starlite Drive-In Theater'' and ''Drive-In Cult Classics'' series. Several Crown films have been shown on ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...
''. Since
Navarre Corporation Navarre Corporation was an American public distribution and publishing company founded in 1983 by Eric H. Paulson. The company was headquartered in New Hope, Minnesota. Navarre owned three subsidiary companies: a software publisher, Encore, In ...
's closing of its subsidiary BCI Home Entertainment, DVD distribution of Crown's library has transferred to Mill Creek Entertainment. Most of the television rights to Crown's library are today owned by
Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
via their 2005 acquisition of Modern Entertainment.


References


External links


Crown International Pictures website
{{Authority control Film distributors of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Beverly Hills, California Entertainment companies established in 1959 1959 establishments in California American companies established in 1959 American companies disestablished in 1992 American independent film studios