# Realart Pictures Inc. > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Realart_Pictures_Inc. > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Realart_Pictures_Inc..md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realart_Pictures_Inc. > Source revision: 1339807811 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Motion picture distribution company}} {{redirect|Realart Pictures Corporation|the film company active in the 1920s|Famous Players–Lasky}} {{More footnotes|date=February 2021}} [[File:Phantom Monster Show.jpg|thumb|Poster promoting the 1953 Realart re-release of ''[Bride of Frankenstein](/source/Bride_of_Frankenstein)'' and ''[Son of Frankenstein](/source/Son_of_Frankenstein)'' on a [double bill](/source/Double_feature)]] '''Realart Pictures''' was an American motion picture distribution company founded in 1948 by Jack Broder and Joseph Harris. It specialized in reissues of older pictures, particularly from the library of [Universal Pictures](/source/Universal_Pictures), but also handled an occasional pickup or import, as well as the films made by [Jack Broder Productions](/source/Jack_Broder_Productions).[Ted Okuda](/source/Ted_Okuda) and [Scott MacGillivray](/source/Scott_MacGillivray), ''Play It Again, Jack! Remembering Realart: The Re-Releasing Company'', ''Filmfax'' Magazine #39 It is not to be confused with Realart Productions, a silent movie production unit that was affiliated with Adolph Zukor's [Famous Players–Lasky](/source/Famous_Players%E2%80%93Lasky) studios, and had no relation to the silent pictures' Realart Pictures Corporation that handled Paramount Pictures releases. ==History== When [Universal Pictures](/source/Universal_Pictures) became Universal-International in 1946, new studio head [William Goetz](/source/William_Goetz) discontinued the studio's B-pictures - comedies, musicals, mysteries, westerns, and serials - to begin a prestigious operation that would feature many independent productions. Goetz had no interest in Universal's sizable backlog, and leased the entire sound-film library (dating from 1930 to 1946) to Broder and Harris. Realart had theatrical reissue rights for 10 years; television rights were not included.[http://www.bmonster.com/profile39.html The Astounding B Monster | Profile] Realart reissued Universal's films in [double-feature](/source/double-feature) package deals, with new and more exciting advertising (Universal was never mentioned in the ads or posters). Most films were re-released under their original, familiar titles, while others were given more effective (and often more lurid) titles: ''[The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry](/source/The_Strange_Affair_of_Uncle_Harry)'' became ''Guilty of Murder''; ''[Man-Made Monster](/source/Man-Made_Monster)'' became ''The Atomic Monster''; ''[The Mystery of Marie Roget](/source/The_Mystery_of_Marie_Roget_(film))'' became ''Phantom of Paris''. Supporting players who had since become stars were now given more prominent billing, such as [Robert Mitchum](/source/Robert_Mitchum) becoming second-billed on the reissue of ''[Gung Ho!](/source/Gung_Ho!_(1943_film))'' (1943); [Dan Dailey](/source/Dan_Dailey) catapulted to top billing for the reissue of [The Andrews Sisters](/source/The_Andrews_Sisters)' ''[Give Out, Sisters](/source/Give_Out%2C_Sisters)''; and [Keefe Brasselle](/source/Keefe_Brasselle) of ''The Eddie Cantor Story'' was billed over star [Gloria Jean](/source/Gloria_Jean) in the waterfront melodrama ''River Gang''. [Abbott and Costello](/source/Abbott_and_Costello) were incidental players in their first film, the 1940 [Allan Jones](/source/Allan_Jones_(actor)) musical ''[One Night in the Tropics](/source/One_Night_in_the_Tropics)''; Realart removed 13 minutes of footage with the romantic leads, and remarketed the edited version as a full-fledged Abbott & Costello comedy. Realart also acquired non-Universal productions: ''[A Walk in the Sun](/source/A_Walk_in_the_Sun_(1945_film))'' was retitled ''[Salerno Beachhead](/source/Salerno_Beachhead)''. Theater managers were delighted with Realart's oldies, which did better business than certain new pictures, and Realart prospered. There was a steady market for double features, but exhibitors would not pay a premium for reissues. Realart's Jack Broder saw a chance to make more money by making ''new'' films for the double-feature theaters. Broder hired [Herman Cohen](/source/Herman_Cohen) as a new vice-president and formed Jack Broder Productions, releasing through Realart. These modestly budgeted films included the boxing drama ''[Kid Monk Baroni](/source/Kid_Monk_Baroni)'' with a then little known [Leonard Nimoy](/source/Leonard_Nimoy) as the title character, and the jungle comedy ''[Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla](/source/Bela_Lugosi_Meets_a_Brooklyn_Gorilla)'' featuring the veteran horror-movie actor and the comedy team of [Duke Mitchell](/source/Duke_Mitchell) and [Sammy Petrillo](/source/Sammy_Petrillo), who imitated [Dean Martin](/source/Dean_Martin) and [Jerry Lewis](/source/Jerry_Lewis). ''[Bride of the Gorilla](/source/Bride_of_the_Gorilla)'' and ''[Battles of Chief Pontiac](/source/Battles_of_Chief_Pontiac)'' ventured into the horror and Western genres, respectively. Toward the end of Realart's 10-year lease, certain re-releases were ''themselves'' re-released (''[Buck Privates](/source/Buck_Privates)'' and ''[Little Giant](/source/Little_Giant)'' circulated more than once). By the early 1950s, television had become increasingly popular and many [neighborhood theater](/source/neighborhood_theater)s had closed.[Ted Okuda](/source/Ted_Okuda) and [Scott MacGillivray](/source/Scott_MacGillivray), ''Play It Again, Jack! Remembering Realart: The Re-Releasing Company,'' ''Filmfax'' Magazine #39 Broder sold his own productions to television, with ''Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla'' making its television debut less than a year after its theatrical run. Broder released only four more Realart originals to theaters: [Roger Corman](/source/Roger_Corman)'s first film ''[Five Guns West](/source/Five_Guns_West)'' in 1955, ''[Wetbacks](/source/Wetbacks_(film))'' in 1956, and a science-fiction/horror double feature ''[Women of the Prehistoric Planet](/source/Women_of_the_Prehistoric_Planet)'' and ''[The Navy vs. the Night Monsters](/source/The_Navy_vs._the_Night_Monsters)'' in 1966. However, Realart continued to prosper in distribution through so-called "states' rights" offices in several major cities, handling product for production companies, such as [American International Pictures](/source/American_International_Pictures), without a distribution network of their own. == References == ==External links== {{Commons category|Realart Pictures Inc.}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304170120/http://www.hermancohen.com/interview-attack1.html Interview with Herman Cohen] (Internet Archive) {{Authority control}} Category:Film production companies of the United States Category:Film distributors of the United States Category:Mass media companies established in 1948 Category:American companies established in 1948 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Realart Pictures Inc.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realart_Pictures_Inc.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realart_Pictures_Inc.?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.