- Castle Films
Castle Films was a home-movie distributor founded in
California by formernewsreel cameraman Eugene W. Castle (1897–1960) in 1924. The company originally produced business and advertising films. By 1931 it had moved its principal office to New York City. In 1937, Castle branched out into 8 mm and 16 mm home movies, buying newsreel footage and old theatrical films for home use. Castle's first home movie was a newsreel of the "Hindenburg " explosion. [Thomas M. Pryor, "Newsreels for the Home", "The New York Times", July 4, 1937, p. 100] That same year, Castle launched his "News Parade" series, a year-in-review newsreel; travelogues followed in 1938. Castle also released sports films, animal adventures, and "old time movies."The films were sold at camera shops, in
department store s, and by mail order catalog.Castle obtained home-movie rights to cartoons from several
animation studios, includingTerrytoons (1938),Ub Iwerks (1941), andWalter Lantz (1947). DuringWorld War II it produced numerous documentary and training films for the U.S. armed services. [Theodore Strauss, "Of One Man's Castle", "The New York Times", April 4, 1943, p. X3.]In 1947, United World Films, Inc., the non-theatrical division of
Universal Pictures , purchased a majority stake in Castle Films. ["United World, Inc., Buys Castle Films", "The New York Times", January 2, 1947, p. 22. Eugene Castle became vice president of United World, but resigned in 1949. "Business Notes", "The New York Times", December 13, 1949, p. 55.] Castle subsequently became a Universal subsidiary, drawing upon the studio's library of vintage films (withAbbott and Costello ,W. C. Fields ,Boris Karloff , James Stewart, etc.). Castle Films changed its name to Universal 8 in 1977, but the era ofhome video brought an end to Universal's home-movie enterprise in 1984.The complete inventory of Castle Films (more than 1000 titles over 40 years) is listed in Scott MacGillivray's book "Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide", ISBN 0-595-32491-6.
References
ee also
*
The News Parade of the Year 1942
* [http://www.povonline.com/castle/Castle01.htm Author Mark Evanier's in-depth history of Castle Films, plus cover gallery]
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