Anglo-Amalgamated Films

Credits

Descriptions by
Lazlow and Henrynguye5

Captures by
Lazlow, Henrynguye5 and MizukiAccent48

Editions by
mr3urious and Shadeed A. Kelly

Video captures courtesy of
LogicSmash, Logo Archive and Peakpasha

Background

Anglo-Amalgamated was founded by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy in 1945. It produced and distributed many B-movies, but also musicals, horror films, and the famous Carry On films, as well as several films from the output of American International Pictures. Anglo-Amalgamated was later bought by EMI in 1971.

1st Logo (February 10, 1943?-May 11, 1960?)

• 
• 
• 
• 

Visuals: On a cloudy background, a man is holding a frame of a globe on his shoulders (representing the Greek god of Atlas), ascending some stairs. "ANGLO AMALGAMATED" is written in a curved, shadowy style above the globe, and "FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD" on the globe, while "PRESENTS" is written under Atlas. Atlas is naked except for a small piece of cloth hiding the "naughty bits". The logo is in black and white.

Variants:

• Sometimes, "PRESENTS" is missing from the logo.
• On CinemaScope films, the logo was in widescreen.

Technique: A still painting.

Audio: A majestic horn fanfare. Sometimes, it is silent or has the opening theme of any given film.

Availability: Seen on films of the period, like the early Carry On films and Peeping Tom.

2nd Logo (March 23, 1961?-1970s?)

• 
• 

Visuals: Similar to the first one, except Atlas is on the right side. On the left, there is:

ANGLO
AMALGAMATED
FILM DISTRIBUTORS LIMITED

On the horizontal axis of the globe, there is "Nat Cohen & Stuart Levy" in script font.

Variant: On full-screen versions of films such as Carry On Regardless, the logo is in 4:3 "open matte" ratio.

Technique: A still painting.

Audio: A majestic fanfare, completely different than the previous one. Like the above logo, sometimes it is silent or has the opening theme of any given film.

Availability: Seen on some films of this period like Carry On Regardless. After 1962, this would be used in tandem with the 1962 logo, and then eventually, the 1967 logo.

3rd Logo (April 13, 1962-1971)

• 
• 
• 
• 

Visuals: There is a close-up of the golden frame of a globe on a blue background. On the horizontal axis of the globe, there is "NAT COHEN & STUART LEVY". The camera pulls back and reveals Atlas (portrayed by a live-action model), holding the globe on his shoulders, half-kneeling. The name of the company appears in red fonts and "Presents" appears in white script font under it.

Variants:

• There is also a still variant of the logo.
• On some films, instead of "Presents", "Film Distributors Limited" appears in the same font.
• On other films, the text reads "An Anglo Amalgamated Presentation".
• The logo has appeared in B&W.
• On full-screen versions of films (mainly the UK VHS ones), the logo is in 4:3 "open matte" aspect ratio.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: Same as the previous logo. Though on some films, such as Dentist on the Job, an alternate fanfare (which was used for the next logo) is heard. Again, sometimes it is silent or has the opening theme of any given film.

Audio Variant: On films with the still variant of the logo, the fanfare is shortened.

Availability: Seen on the films of the period, like Carry On Cleo. It also appears in Dentist on the Job, and the 2001/2004 Columbia TriStar DVDs of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (in which the first few minutes of Dentist is played as a gag). Strangely, this does not appear on the Blu-Ray and Britbox prints of Carry On Screaming, which skips ahead to the opening credits after the 2003 StudioCanal logo, this also happens on the film's ITVX print, but with the current 2011 StudioCanal logo instead. Strangely, this also does not appear on the 2002 reissue print of Carry On Cruising, which skips ahead to the opening credits after the 2001 StudioCanal logo.

4th Logo (March 10, 1964)

• 

Visuals: There are two boxes against a light blue background. The black box has a white drawing of Atlas carrying a globe frame. In between the two boxes, the text "AN ANGLO AMALGAMATED PRESENTATION" is placed below. The bottom yellow box contains nothing.

Variant: Sometimes, the logo is in 4:3 "open matte" ratio.

Technique: A still graphic

Audio: An abridged version of the fanfare from the previous logo.

Availability: The only known film to carry the logo was Nothing But the Best.

5th Logo (November 26, 1967?-April 10, 1969?)

• 

Visuals: There are two boxes against a bright yellow background. The top black box has a blue drawing of Atlas carrying the globe frame. The words "NAT COHEN PRESENTS" later fade in next to the right of it. In between the two boxes, there's the text "ANGLO AMALGAMATED FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD". The bottom orange box features nothing.

Technique: Again, a still graphic.

Audio: The same alternate fanfare from the previous logo.

Audio Variant: On a Russian-dubbed print of Shalako, it uses the last half of the ABC Pictures International fanfare (with the first half being heard on the Palomar Pictures logo). This is likely due to a sloppy plaster job.

Availability: Seen on some foreign prints of Shalako, and an Australian TV airing of The Vengence of Fu Manchu. This was used in tandem with the 3rd logo.

Anglo-Amalgamated Films

EMI Films ►