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Who owned Godzilla movie titles for TV release in 70's-80's?

M

mississippi fan

Who distributed the Godzilla movie titles for TV release in 70's-80's?

I am looking at two ads that ran in TV guides for Godzilla weeks.
XETV 6 had Terror of Mechagodzilla,Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster, Godzilla King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Megalon. The next channel was KPLR 11 had Godzilla King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. the Thing and Godzilla on Monster Island.

Here in Jackson, Miss. on WDBD 40 they had 3 titles -- Godzilla vs. the Thing, Ghidrah and Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster part of Alan Enterprises (I believe).

Any help will be appreciated.
 
The US rights to Godzilla were managed for over 25 years by the late Henry G. Saperstein, a promoter and film distributor who operated as UPA Pictures Inc. (successor to the 1950's animation studio that created Mr. Magoo), Benedict Pictures Corp. and Screen Entertainment Co. He was the US agent for the Toho Co. Ltd. of Japan, who still own the Godzilla character.

I believe American-International Pictures (and Television) were Saperstein's usual distributors, though some Godzilla films were released by other companies (for example, "King Kong vs. Godzilla" thru Universal.) Classic Media now handles the Saperstein-related Godzilla films, along with Mr. Magoo and his other properties.

Film Ventures International did not handle any of the Godzilla pictures; they released mainly horror, spaghetti western, and kung fu flicks. (Ref: IMDB.)
 
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Much appreciated. I thought at one time Cinema Shares (or International Amusements) may have done the TV distribution for the late 60-70's Godzilla films. Or maybe not.
 
Cinema Shares International did indeed distribute theatrically several of the Godzilla films in the 70's: Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Megalon, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Henry Saperstein was apparently involved in the English-language dubbing of the pictures, and syndicated them to TV thru UPA. Cinema Shares, like other smaller independent releasers, probably operated on a "state rights" basis; that is, regional film distributors would contract to handle the pictures in their territory of one or more states, and buy outright whatever number of prints they felt they needed, thus relieving CS of covering the laboratory costs. (This in contrast to major studios like Warner Bros. or Paramount, who operate their own sales offices.)

While Saperstein distributed 16mm films to TV stations, rental libraries, and schools, he does not appear to have ever operated as a 35mm theatrical distributor.
 
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