Billy Wilder on Blu-ray

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

I believe that is the logic that people have applied, but Warner Archive has been repeatedly asked over the years and they always say they don't have it. Not "we have no plans" or "inferior elements". I think they said they don't know who does, but that might be my memory embellishing. (Not sure when the last time anybody tried was.) I think sometimes there are movies that fall into a limbo where nobody wants to bother to spend the money it would take to hire a few lawyers to track it all down and figure it all out, especially if they might wind up spending money just to prove they *don't* own something.

True, and it's especially tough if the film in question was an infamous flop that its director disowned. After watching the Spanish bootleg DVD, the film is truly dreadful, there's no way around it. That said, it's bizarre for a film from an important filmmaker, with two major stars, to have been absent from US home video since VHS. There are plenty of FAR worse films readily available.

I just looked it up on eBay, and the old VHS tapes were through MGM/Turner:

[Show spoiler]

And then through Warner:

[Show spoiler]

The box stayed the same, the Warner label only got added to the actual cassette, this is the back of both:

[Show spoiler]

So I suspect you're right, and Warners may control it.

However it's always possible that MGM's distribution rights were for a limited window, and that has now ended, and the film has reverted back to its financiers. The VHS tapes credit it to © 1981 Heron Productions Limited, I can't seem to find anything about them online associated with any other film, presumably it was a company formed to make this one film. Tracking down who actually owns the film today could be a nightmare.