Founded: 1942
Founder: Joseph E. Levine
Defunct: 1986
Fate: Folded into De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Successor:

• De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (theatrical)

• Nelson Entertainment (home video)

• New Line Home Video (home video)

• ELP Communications (television, logo, trademark, and copyrights)

Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution studio, active from 1942 to 1986. Embassy was responsible for films such as The Graduate, The Producers, The Fog, The Howling, Escape from New York, and This Is Spinal Tap, Swamp Thing, and television series such as The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time and The Facts of Life.

Embassy was founded in 1942 by Joseph E. Levine as a foreign film distributor, before branching out into film production in 1945.

In 1967, Embassy was acquired by Avco. The company struggled in the 1970s before focusing on lower-budget genre films at the end of the decade. In 1982, television producer Norman Lear and his partner Jerry Perenchio bought the studio, and it became involved in television production. In 1985, Embassy was sold to The Coca-Cola Company, which sold the studio to Dino De Laurentiis in October of that same year.

Today, StudioCanal owns ancillary rights to the majority of Embassy's theatrical library, while Sony Pictures Television owns worldwide television syndication rights to the studio's films and TV shows.

Founding

The company was founded in 1942[1] by Joseph E. Levine, initially to distribute foreign films in the United States. The company entered film production in 1945, co-producing with Maxwell Finn the documentary Gaslight Follies, a compilation of silent film clips narrated by Ben Grauer.[2]

Success

Embassy found success in 1956 bringing the Japanese film Godzilla to the American general public (in a re-edited version), acquiring the rights for $12,000 and spending $400,000 promoting it under the title Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, and earning $1 million in theatrical rentals.[2] They then made a $100,000 deal to bring the French-Italian film Attila (1954) to the United States in 1958 and spent $600,000 promoting it, which returned $2 million in rentals.[2] Their breakthrough came the following year with Hercules, starring Steve Reeves and released by Warner Bros. Levine invested $120,000 on dubbing, sound effects and new titles and spent $1.25 million on promoting the film. It was one of the highest-grossing films of the year, with rentals of $4.7 million, starting a growth in the sword-and-sandal genre.

Art house releases

After releasing the Hercules sequel, Hercules Unchained (1960), Embassy expanded to add 13 offices nationally as well as offices in Rome, London and Paris and signed deals with Italian production company Titanus and producer Carlo Ponti and began distributing art films, often European ones. In 1961, Embassy bought North American distribution rights for Two Women after Levine seeing no more than three minutes of its "rushes". The film, based on a novella written by Alberto Moravia, had been directed by Vittorio de Sica, and starred Sophia Loren (Ponti's wife) and Eleanora Brown, who acted out the respective roles of a mother and her young daughter whom World War II had displaced from their home. Levine's promotional campaign focused on one still photograph, which showed Loren, as the mother, wearing a torn dress, kneeling in the dirt, and weeping with rage and grief. Predicting that she would win the Academy Award for her performance, Levine brought Loren to the United States for interviews, bought space for, and placed, large advertisements in newspapers, and saw to it that Two Women appeared in the cities of residence of Academy Award jury members.

Levine's efforts paid off when the film was a hit and Loren became the first cast member of a foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Actress.[2] Embassy also acquired rights to and distributed Divorce Italian Style (1961); Salvatore Giuliano (1962); Federico Fellini's film 8½ (1963), as well as Ponti's producing credits including Boccaccio '70 (1962), and de Sica's Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) and Marriage Italian Style (1964).[2] Embassy also produced an adaptation of The Thief of Baghdad (1961), also with Reeves in the lead, and Rick Carrier's Strangers in the City (1962).

On the back of the success of Ingmar Bergman, Embassy released some of his earlier films in the United States, his film The Devil's Wanton (1949) in 1962 and his film Night Is My Future (1948) in 1963. Embassy also released two 1961 films produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman - What a Carve Up! (released in 1962) and The Hellfire Club (released in 1963). Other Ponti-produced films released by Embassy include Landru (1963), directed by Claude Chabrol; Contempt (1963), directed by Jean-Luc Godard; The Empty Canvas starring Bette Davis; The Ape Woman (1964); Casanova 70 (1965); The 10th Victim (1965); and de Sica's Sunflower (1970).

Paramount Pictures deal

By the 1960s, Levine had transformed Embassy into a production company. In 1963, Levine was offered a $30 million deal with Paramount Pictures to produce films in the vein of his previous successes. Paramount would finance the films and Embassy would receive part of its profits. Under the deal, Levine produced Harold Robbins's The Carpetbaggers (1964) and its prequel Nevada Smith (1966), which were successes, along with flops such as Harlow (1965), starring Carroll Baker. A third film based on a novel by Harold Robbins was also released as part of three-picture deal with Robbins, Where Love Has Gone (1964).

Embassy also released several films produced by or starring Stanley Baker including Zulu (1964), Dingaka (1965) and Robbery (1967).

Later in the decade, Embassy functioned on its own with many Rankin/Bass Productions animated features, including The Daydreamer (1966) and Mad Monster Party? (1967), and successful live-action productions including The Graduate, by second-time film director Mike Nichols, The Producers, by first-time director Mel Brooks (both 1967), and The Lion in Winter (1968), which won an Academy Award for Katharine Hepburn.

New ownership under Avco

Embassy enjoyed its greatest success with The Graduate, which became the highest-grossing film of the year. This enabled Levine to sell his company to Avco for a deal worth $40 million, although he stayed on as chief executive.

In 1969, Embassy appointed Mike Nichols to the board of directors and acquired his film production company, Friwaftt.

Levine also ended a four-year feud with Ponti and Loren and produced Loren's first film since she became a mother, Sunflower (1970).

Levine also started a record label with music industry executives Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore, Avco Embassy Records, later shortened to Avco Records. In 1969, the company bought out Mike Nichols' production company and signed him to make two movies.

The company became less successful in the 1970s and only had hits with Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge (1971) and A Touch of Class (1973).[2] In 1972, the company had begun cutting back on production and in 1973 recorded a loss of $8.1 million. Levine resigned as president on May 28, 1974, to re-enter independent production and was replaced by Bill Chaikin.

By 1975, Avco Embassy stopped making movies altogether.

In 1968, Avco Embassy launched Avco Embassy Television, to syndicate films from the Avco Embassy library on television. In 1976, Avco Embassy sold their broadcasting division and Avco Program Sales to Multimedia, Inc., becoming Multimedia Entertainment (since folded into what is now NBCUniversal Syndication Studios).

Robert Rehme years

In late 1977, Avco Embassy announced its intention to resume production. In 1978, Robert Rehme was appointed president and chief operating officer and he convinced the company to give him $5 million for a production fund.

Under his stewardship, Avco Embassy concentrated on lower budgeted genre films, six of which were successful: The Manitou (1978), Phantasm (1979), The Fog (1980), Scanners (1981), Time Bandits (1981) and The Howling (1981). They benefited in part from the fact that American International Pictures recently left the exploitation field, lessening competition in this area.

Rehme left the company in 1981, having seen it increase its revenue from $20 million to $90 million.

In 1981, Tom Laughlin offered to buy the company for $24 million but withdrew his offer.

Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio

In January 1982, television producer Norman Lear and his partner Jerry Perenchio bought the studio for $25 million,[10] reverted the name to the previous Embassy Pictures by dropping T.A.T. Communications to Embassy Television and T.A.T. Communications Company to Embassy Communications, Inc. The company was producing such hits as The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time and The Facts of Life, and by Tandem, Diff'rent Strokes and Archie Bunker's Place. During this period, they launched Silver Spoons, Square Pegs, Who's the Boss?, It's Your Move and Gloria. They also expanded into making made-for-TV movies, including Eleanor, First Lady of the World (1982) and Grace Kelly (1983).

In late 1982, Embassy bought out Andre Blay Corporation and renamed the company to Embassy Home Entertainment; prior releases from its film catalog (as Avco Embassy Picture Corporation) had been handled through Magnetic Video, as well as reissues of the Blay Video catalog.

In 1984, Embassy Pictures was renamed to Embassy Films Associates. That same year, Fanny and Alexander, which it distributed in the United States, received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

During this period, Rob Reiner, who up to that point had been most famous for playing Mike "Meathead" Stivic on All in the Family, began his directorial career with two Embassy releases, This is Spinal Tap (1984) and The Sure Thing (1985). His third film, Stand By Me (1986), started at Embassy, but it almost got cancelled because of the sale to Columbia days before filming was to begin. Norman Lear ended up putting up his own money for completion funds.

Coca-Cola and others

Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy Communications (including Tandem Productions) to The Coca-Cola Company for $485 million on June 18, 1985.[13][14][15] Coca-Cola, which also owned Columbia Pictures at the time, sold Embassy Pictures to Dino De Laurentiis on November 1, 1985,[16] but kept Embassy's television division active. De Laurentiis folded the company into his De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, and the home video division became Nelson Entertainment, run by executives who had previously worked at DEG before it went bankrupt.

Although De Laurentiis was now owner of Embassy, he was not given rights to then-upcoming films such as Crimewave and Saving Grace (both 1986), and an adaptation of Stephen King's The Body, which became Stand by Me (1986), which became properties of Lear and Perenchio.

By the early 1990s, key rights to the Embassy library transferred from company to company due to the bankruptcies of the companies that separately owned them (De Laurentiis for theatrical, Nelson for home video). Dino De Laurentiis's assets went to Parafrance International, in conjunction with Village Roadshow, while Nelson's assets were acquired by Crédit Lyonnais Bank and later sold to PolyGram. Nelson's parent company, NHI continued to exist well into the mid-1990s. In 1994, Parafrance's assets were acquired by the French production company StudioCanal which today owns ancillary rights to the majority of the Embassy theatrical library. However, North American video rights to the majority of Embassy's film library are owned by Amazon MGM Studios via its Orion Pictures subsidiary due to them acquiring most of PolyGram's pre-March 31, 1996 film library which included the Epic catalog, which in turn incorporated the Nelson catalog, while Sony Pictures Television owns worldwide television syndication rights to the theatrical library as well as full ancillary and distribution rights to the Embassy Television library.

List of Embassy Pictures films

This is a list of films produced by Embassy Pictures.

1950s

• April 27, 1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters! 1956 re-cut of Godzilla, originally produced and released by Toho in 1954.

• February 4, 1959 The Lady Is a Square distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, originally released by Associated British-Pathé

• July 22, 1959 Hercules distributed by Warner Bros.

1960s

• February 17, 1960 Jack the Ripper distributed by Paramount Pictures

• July 13, 1960 Hercules Unchained distributed by Warner Bros.

• May 9, 1961 Two Women North American distribution only

• May 28, 1961 David and Goliath

• August 10, 1961 The Thief of Baghdad Co-production with Titanus and Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

• November 17, 1961 Morgan, the Pirate Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

• December 13, 1961 The Wonders of Aladdin

• July 16, 1962 Strangers in the City

• October 10, 1962 Long Day's Journey Into Night

• January 23, 1963 The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah distributed by 20th Century Fox

• 1964 Goliath and the Rebel Slave

• March 10, 1964 The Empty Canvas co-production with Paramount Pictures

• April 9, 1964 The Carpetbaggers Distributed by Paramount Pictures

• August 12, 1964 A House Is Not a Home

• November 2, 1964 Where Love Has Gone Distributed by Paramount Pictures

• November 14, 1964 Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

• December 18, 1964 Contempt

• June 23, 1965 Harlow Distributed by Paramount Pictures

• June 30, 1965 Requiem for a Gunfighter

• July 31, 1965 The Bounty Killer

• October 20, 1965 Village of the Giants

• October 1965 Git!

• November 5, 1965 Country Music on Broadway

• November 14, 1965 The Little Nuns US distribution only; Hesperia Cinematografica (Italy)

• The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World US distribution only; Alistair Films (UK)

• December 20, 1965 The 10th Victim US distribution only; Italo-French co-production

• March 4, 1966 The Oscar

• April 10, 1966 Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter

• John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums

• Billy the Kid Versus Dracula

• June 1966 The Cat

• An Eye for an Eye

• June 22, 1966 The Daydreamer co-production with Rankin/Bass Productions

• August 3, 1966 A Man Called Adam

• August 10, 1966 The Idol Distributed by Paramount Pictures

• September 1966 Jack Frost US distribution only; produced by Gorky Film Studio

• November 2, 1966 Picture Mommy Dead

• March 8, 1967 Mad Monster Party? co-production with Rankin/Bass Productions

• May 1, 1967 They Came from Beyond Space US distribution only; produced by Amicus Productions

• The Terrornauts US distribution only; produced by Amicus Productions

• May 24, 1967 The Caper of the Golden Bulls Distributed by Paramount Pictures

• June 27, 1967 Woman Times Seven

• September 6, 1967 Where the Bullets Fly US distribution only; Alistair Films (UK) and Puck Films (UK)

• September 27, 1967 Robbery US distribution only; Oakhurst Productions (UK)

• December 2, 1967 The Wacky World of Mother Goose co-production with Rankin/Bass Productions

• December 21, 1967 The Graduate

• March 18, 1968 The Producers

• October 30, 1968 The Lion in Winter

• March 19, 1969 Baby Love

• July 30, 1969 Stiletto

• November 11, 1969 Don't Drink the Water

• December 3, 1969 A Nice Girl Like Me

• December 15, 1969 Generation

1970s

• March 25, 1970 The Adventurers co-production with Paramount Pictures

• August 12, 1970 Soldier Blue

• August 17, 1970 Macho Callahan

• August 26, 1970 The People Next Door

• October 14, 1970 C.C. and Company

• January 21, 1971 Promise at Dawn

• February 8, 1971 Hot Pants Holiday

• February 17, 1971 The Man Who Had Power Over Women

• February 28, 1971 The Sporting Club

• June 30, 1971 Carnal Knowledge

• September 15, 1971 The Steagle

• December 1, 1971 The Ski Bum

• 1972 Wacky Taxi

• 1972 The Witches Mountain US distribution only

• February 15, 1972 The Nightcomers

• April 1, 1972 J.C.

• June 15, 1972 A Place Called Today

• August 1972 Bloomfield

• August 23, 1972 Rivals

• September 13, 1972 The Ruling Class

• October 1972 Thumb Tripping

• November 1972 The Stoolie

• February 1973 Jory

• April 11, 1973 Book of Numbers

• June 15, 1973 Interval

• June 20, 1973 A Touch of Class distribution rights currently owned by Warner Bros. Pictures through Turner Entertainment

• August 10, 1973 Night Watch

• October 23, 1973 The Summertime Killer

• November 14, 1973 Hurry Up, or I'll Be 30

• December 19, 1973 The Day of the Dolphin

• July 11, 1974 The Tamarind Seed produced by ITC Entertainment and Lorimar Productions

• July 24, 1974 Lucky Luciano

• September 20, 1974 Homebodies

• December 5, 1974 The Photographer

• March 1, 1975 Shatter

• April 30, 1975 Tubby the Tuba

• August 8, 1975 Farewell, My Lovely produced by ITC Entertainment

• August 20, 1975 Russian Roulette

• October 22, 1975 Diamonds

• October 27, 1975 The Mummy's Revenge

• November 1, 1975 Permission to Kill

• November 7, 1975 Mister Quilp

• November 1975 Petersen

• December 14, 1975 Deadly Hero

• December 1975 Psychic Killer

• January 1976 The Four Deuces

• March 5, 1976 Man Friday

• April 11, 1976 The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

• May 19, 1976 The Premonition

• May 28, 1976 Shoot

• October 1976 Bittersweet Love

• November 1976 Pipe Dreams

• December 22, 1976 Voyage of the Damned produced by ITC Entertainment

• January 1977 False Face

• February 9, 1977 The Cassandra Crossing produced by ITC Entertainment

• March 23, 1977 The Domino Principle produced by ITC Entertainment

• May 7, 1977 Cross of Iron produced by EMI Films and ITC Entertainment

• August 4, 1977 The Great Gundown

• August 1977 Sidewinder 1

• October 1977 The Chicken Chronicles

• April 9, 1978 Rabbit Test

• April 28, 1978 The Manitou

• May 10, 1978 A Different Story

• June 14, 1978 Go Tell the Spartans

• August 1978 Stingray

• October 1978 Born Again

• November 1, 1978 Watership Down US theatrical distribution only

• February 1, 1979 Murder By Decree

• March 21, 1979 The Bell Jar

• March 28, 1979 Phantasm

• April 13, 1979 Old Boyfriends

• May 11, 1979 Winter Kills

• June 15, 1979 Goldengirl

• August 31, 1979 City on Fire

• September 19, 1979 The Onion Field

• September 28, 1979 A Man, a Woman, and a Bank

1980s

• January 25, 1980 Fish Hawk distribution only; produced by Canadian Film Development Corporation

• February 1, 1980 The Fog

• March 7, 1980 The Black Marble

• March 7, 1980 Death Ship distribution only; produced by Astral Films

• April 1, 1980 The Baltimore Bullet distribution only; produced by Filmfair Communications

• April 11, 1980 Night Games distribution only; produced by Golden Harvest

• June 1, 1980 Hog Wild distribution only

• August 15, 1980 Prom Night distribution only; produced by Astral Films

• September 10, 1980 The Exterminator distribution only; produced by Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment

• September 26, 1980 Hopscotch distribution only

• January 14, 1981 Scanners distribution only; produced by Filmplan International

• January 16, 1981 Fear No Evil co-production with LaLoggia Productions

• March 6, 1981 Dirty Tricks distribution only; produced by Filmplan International

• March 13, 1981 The Howling co-production with International Film Investors and Wescom Productions

• May 15, 1981 Take This Job and Shove It co-production with Cinema Group Ventures

• May 29, 1981 Dead & Buried distribution only

• June 5, 1981 The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

• Final Exam distribution only

• July 10, 1981 Escape from New York co-production with International Film Investors, Goldcrest Films International and City Films

• August 14, 1981 An Eye for an Eye co-production with Adams Apple Production Company, South Street Films and Westcom Barber International

• September 25, 1981 Carbon Copy distribution only; produced by Hemdale and RKO Pictures

• October 1981 Tulips distribution only; produced by Astral Films

• November 6, 1981 Time Bandits US distribution only; produced by Handmade Films

• November 18, 1981 Crunch distribution only

• November 19, 1981 Roadgames

• January 22, 1982 Vice Squad

• January 29, 1982 The Seduction

• February 19, 1982 Swamp Thing

• March 12, 1982 Parasite

• April 2, 1982 The Long Good Friday US distribution only; produced by Handmade Films

• May 7, 1982 Paradise co-production with RSL Films

• June 11, 1982 Humongous distribution only; produced by Astral Films

• June 15, 1982 The Soldier

• July 23, 1982 The Challenge distribution only, produced by CBS Theatrical Films

• July 23, 1982 Zapped!

• July 30, 1982 Hysterical distribution only

• October 15, 1982 Enigma

• December 10, 1982 Savannah Smiles

• April 8, 1983 Losin' It

• April 20, 1983 Champions

• June 17, 1983 Fanny and Alexander US distribution only

• July 8, 1983 Deadly Force

• August 5, 1983 Get Crazy distribution only

• August 19, 1983 The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez

• September 23, 1983 Eddie and the Cruisers co-production with Aurora Productions

• March 2, 1984 This Is Spinal Tap

• September 28, 1984 The Bear

• March 1, 1985 The Sure Thing co-production with Monument Pictures

• July 3, 1985 The Emerald Forest

• December 13, 1985 A Chorus Line co-production with PolyGram Pictures; distributed by Columbia Pictures

• January 31, 1986 The Goodbye People distribution only; produced by Castle Hill Productions

• April 25, 1986 Crimewave co-production with Renaissance Pictures; distributed by Columbia Pictures

• May 2, 1986 Saving Grace distributed by Columbia Pictures