Came upon this gritty crime film from 1965 with Sal Mineo and Juliet Prowse, some great on location shots of a bygone era of New York, film is Morbid with a capital B, However what really impressed me was the opening theme song, a very effective haunting tune song impecably by?, does somebody know who?.Film has been rare and has been alien to TV showings for decades when once it was a stable on local tv stations in America.Any comments on film and music?
Thanks for that info, yes i know it was one of those films that was so effective, you felt you should take a shower after watching it, as you say guilty pleasures.
Unfortunately this film has not been on TCM.Maybe someday in the future it will get a showing on a Friday night on TCM UNDERGROUND. Maybe THIS NETWORK will get it someday and show it, but for now it lays in TV limbo.
The ownership of 1965's WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? is in some doubt. There is no record that the film was ever submitted for copyright protection. TEDDY BEAR was the only film by Phillips Productions. It was distributed by long-defunct Magna Pictures Distribution Corp., which distributed about 16 films between 1964 and 1969. Among them were the Italian "mondo" film MALAMONDO (1964) and the Carol Lynley / Electronovision version of HARLOW (1965). As near as I can tell, none of the films distributed by Magna have ever had a legitimate U.S. video release.
The ownership of 1965's WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? is in some doubt. There is no record that the film was ever submitted for copyright protection.
Thanks. So lots of films that lapse into the public domain - "Charade" and "Night of the Living Dead" come to mind - are readily available at dollar stores with your choice of cover art, not that these are the preferred formats, but at least you can watch them. What is different about "Teddy Bear" and the other films from this company? I'd buy an edited version for a dollar, in hopes that the real thing came along, but I'm not spending $20 bucks on an incomplete PAL version. Do you think the master elements are lost and that a clean, unedited copy hasn't surfaced yet?
The mid-nineties revival was licensed from the Joseph Cates family (Cates directed the film). It was distributed by Strand Releasing Corp, who refused to release the film on VHS or laserdisc (perhaps they only had theatrical rights, and not home video rights). Strand was very rude to those who requested them to release the picture on home video.
The full uncut version of the film runs nearly 95 minutes. Most prints are incomplete, but Strand's theatrical 35MM print was the uncut version.
