PolyGram Pictures

Credits

Descriptions by
codyfinke, Eric S., Supermarty-o, V of Doom, UniversalFlorida1990, and Shadeed A. Kelly

Captures by
V of Doom and Eric S.

Editions by
thehugetvfan, indycar, UniversalFlorida1990 and Michael Kenchington

Video captures courtesy of
EnormousRat, LogicSmash, Logo Archive, CraigS1996Entertainment, SpikeyTheDog188, TheRedBaron1985, and Jamster

Background

PolyGram Pictures was originally formed in 1975 by producer Peter Guber after he left Columbia Pictures as Filmworks, which was eventually merged with Casablanca Records during the production of The Deep and renamed it to Casablanca Records & Filmworks. During that time, the production company was affiliated with Columbia. In 1977, PolyGram bought out 50% of Casablanca Records & Filmworks, and it was renamed in 1980 to "PolyGram Pictures" after the PolyGram Records label bought out 50% of the company; Guber was then joined by fellow producer Jon Peters.

Universal Pictures handled U.S. distribution for a majority of their films through the pact it signed in 1979 (with the exceptions of Wes Craven's Deadly Blessing, Split Image and Flashdance, which were distributed by United Artists, Orion Pictures and Paramount Pictures respectively), while Producers Sales Organization would handle distribution outside the US. In 1982, Peters and Guber left PolyGram to form The Guber-Peters Entertainment Company (and later co-founded Vision P.D.G. International with Mark Damon, founder of PSO and later MDP Worldwide; Guber and Peters later individually formed Mandalay Pictures and Peters Entertainment), which would lead to the deactivation of PolyGram Pictures a year later. Two years later, MCA Inc. (Universal's then-parent company) sold the video distribution rights to the PolyGram Pictures library to Vestron Video as a way of cutting losses due to most of these films losing money at the box office. However, the home video rights to Deadly Blessing would go to Embassy Home Entertainment while the rights to Flashdance remain with Paramount.

Universal would eventually regain the distribution rights to some of the PolyGram films they distributed, which included Endless Love, An American Werewolf in London, King of the Mountain and Missing, among others. Lionsgate Films holds streaming and TV rights to the PolyGram Pictures-era films (except Flashdance) such as The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, King of the Mountain and Six Weeks, under license from Hearst Entertainment, which previously had the TV rights to these films via King Features, Lionsgate eventually gained the TV/streaming rights to Hearst's library in 2015.

1st Logo (May 18-30, 1980)

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Visuals: There is the text "PolyGram Pictures" in gold. A line of red stars pop up underneath the name.

Variant: A print version exists, which appears at the end of The Hollywood Knights.

Technique: Simple animation.

Audio: The closing theme of the movie.

Availability:

• It was only known to be seen on the 1980 ABC TV movie Mysteries of the Sea, which is very hard to come by as it seems to not have been reran in years.
• The print version remains intact at the end of The Hollywood Knights.

2nd Logo (April 4, 1981-December 17, 1982)

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Visuals: Over a black background is red stars going up, then down in a curve (like the 1980 Telepictures Corporation logo), revealing the text:

PolyGram Pictures

The stars are in a line under the name.

Variants:

• A later variant features the stars and name wiping, without any animation at all.
• On An American Werewolf in London, the logo cuts to black instead of fading to black at the end.

Technique: Scanimate effects.

Audio: Usually none or the opening theme of the film.

Availability:

• Seen on An American Werewolf in London, Endless Love, King of the Mountain, and Deadly Blessing (preceded by the 1976 United Artists Pictures logo).
• It is also intact on the 2013 Shout! Factory DVD and Blu-ray releases of the latter.
• The later variant can be seen on Split Image and Six Weeks.

3rd Logo (November 13, 1981)

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Visuals: On a background of red, orange and yellow stripes, there are the words "POLYGRAM" in a Prisma-like font near the middle of the screen.

Variant: An open-matte version exists on VHS prints of the film.

Technique: A still, printed image.

Audio: None.

Availability:

• The only known film to use this logo is The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper.
• It is also preserved on current prints (including the future Kino Lorber Blu-Ray release) and the 1982 MCA Videocassette VHS release of said movie.

PolyGram Pictures

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