Why are some movies never released to the public?

I have looked across the web for a couple of old 60's movies I wanted to either rent or buy and all I find are details that they were never released on video...
They were in theaters in the late 60's because I did see them...
Why can't I download or buy a copy now?

2008-03-30T13:56:08Z

BOBE...
I keep getting error messages on your links...
They say error, unknown store...
Sorry I can't access either one...

Panda0072008-03-29T04:51:36Z

Favorite Answer

It is purely a question of economics :
If any vintage movie is to be re-released and marketed as a VCD or DVD, there must be a 'minimum guarantee' that at least 20,000 copies of the film-discs will be sold - for both the original producers of the movie, and the disc makers/sellers to 'break even'...
Otherwise, the entire exercise will have to be written-off as a total loss - and the unsold stocks privately disposed-of through a 'distress sale' !
...That is why certain all-time-greats from the 1930s and '40s are readily available on discs, while even some 1990's films are not !
...You could try directly contacting the films' producers (if they are still active) at their websites - and find out if they have any downloading options for the films that you wish to buy.
...A few producers will feel so happy that someone still cares to remember their long-forgotten film, that they might even present you with a custom-made DVD !
:-)
Happy hunting !

Anonymous2008-03-29T01:48:40Z

There are various reasons why companies don't release movies for the public. Probably the main reason is that the company doesn't believe that the movie would sell in stores so it wouldn't be worthwhile to spend money to produce and distribute the DVDs and pay any royalties if they are only able to sell a couple thousand copies. Another reason would be legal implications where somebody owns the rights to the movie and wants more money to release the rights than anyone is willing to pay. Then there are cases similar to how George Lucas refused to release Star Wars onto DVD until movie technology had caught up to the point where he could edit/touch up the films the way he wanted them to be.

There are a lot of 50 movie packs that have been coming out lately that contain a lot of older movies from the 30s to the 80s, so I would recommend checking them to see if they have what you are looking for. Here is a list of all the 50 movie packs available at Best Buy (they all appear to be between $20-25 and some are even cheaper on amazon.com):
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=50+movie+pack&sc=Global&cp=1&sp=&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Eq3530206d6f766965207061636b%7E%7Enccat02015%23%230%23%23o&list=y&usc=All+Categories&nrp=15&iht=n

Each link contains a list of all the movies available in each collection.

PJ ~88~ FAN2008-03-29T06:42:32Z

I think that a lot of the movies from the 60's were a little anti government, anti war, a lot were protest movies and someone doesn't want them released.
I could be totally wrong but I have noticed the same thing myself. It's kind of like some of the good T.V. programs that were on back then....they were taken off the air. The 60's was a very controversial time. No one dared slam the establishment , the war or the government.
I could be way off base about this, but it's something to think about. :)
Have a great day!

bobe2008-03-29T00:06:22Z

If the movies were never released to the public, then the rights were purchased and kept private. They won't be available to purchase or download for the very same reason. However, when I visited Rasputin Records yesterday I noticed many "B" classic movies from the 1960's I haven't seen in years. Some of these old rare movies must have finally made it from out of production videos to DVD's. They do have a web site and you can scan by genre. Check it out: http://www.thestore24.com/Movies/Dcs.aspx?DecadeMovie=1960s&PriceMovie=Under+%2410&GenreMovie=Horror http://www.thestore24.com/Movies/default.aspx

?2016-04-03T07:01:50Z

Yea I agree Clint Eastwood has not made something good since Gran Torino. I'm saying this without watching J.Edgar or Hereafter. They both look like garbage. To answer your question yes I would go see a movie of my favorite director if it had bad reviews. Martin Scorcese Is my favorite director and I thought Hugo looked terrible from the trailer but when I saw it it was awesome!

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