Castle Films was a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

company founded in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

by former

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

cameraman Eugene W. Castle (1897–1960) in 1924. Originally, Castle Films produced industrial and advertising films. Then in 1937, the company pioneered the production and distribution of 8 mm and 16 mm films for home projection, moving its principal office to New York City. It became a subsidiary of

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and was eventually renamed Universal 8 from 1977 before folding in the early 1980s due to competition from home video.

History

In 1937, Castle branched out into 8 mm and 16 mm home movies, buying newsreel footage and old theatrical films for home use. Castle's first home movie was a newsreel of the '' Hindenburg'' explosion. That same year, Castle launched his "News Parade" series, a year-in-review newsreel; travelogues followed in 1938. Castle also eventually compiled sports films, animal adventures, and "old time" movies excerpted from silent theatrical films. The films were all issued as one-reel entities, running about 9 minutes, affordably priced and box packaged. The films were sold at camera shops, in

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

s, and by mail-order catalog. Castle Films were extensively advertised in national magazines. Castle obtained home-movie rights to cartoons from several

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

studios, including Terrytoons (1938) and

Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...

(1941). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it produced numerous documentary and training films for the U.S. armed services. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Castle released a series of 16 mm "Music Albums" assembled from the Soundies musical shorts, combining three 3-minute songs into each nine-minute subject. Castle Films distributed two dozen

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

subjects over two decades, the first being '' Christmas-Time in Toyland'' (released in 1939) and the last '' The First Christmas'' (in 1959). The perennial in this category was ''

The Night Before Christmas "A Visit from St. Nicholas", routinely referred to as "The Night Before Christmas" and "Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" in 1823. A ...

'', a live-action dramatization of the poem; this 1946 release remained in print for 26 years.

Subsidiary of Universal

In 1947, United World Films, Inc., the non-theatrical subsidiary of

, purchased a majority stake in Castle Films."United World, Inc., Buys Castle Films", ''The New York Times'', January 2, 1947, p. 22. Eugene Castle became vice president of United World, but resigned in 1949. "Business Notes", ''The New York Times'', December 13, 1949, p. 55. Castle Films thus became the brand name of the United World subsidiary, and began drawing upon Universal's library of vintage films (with Abbott and Costello, W. C. Fields,

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

, etc.). The merger with Universal also brought to Castle the cartoons of Walter Lantz Productions with

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

, Andy Panda, Oswald Rabbit, and Chilly Willy. In the 1950s, Castle released a highly successful series of Hopalong Cassidy excerpts, licensed from the series' star William Boyd. When Universal was purchased by MCA Inc. in 1962, Castle also gained non-theatrical access to the pre-1950

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

sound feature films owned by MCA TV division, releasing sequences from Cecil B. DeMille's spectaculars and

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

comedies, among other Paramount titles. Newsreels edited from

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

footage of U.S. space flights were timely in the 1960s. Castle's most popular series was its line of science-fiction and horror films, many featuring the Universal Classic Monsters ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'', ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

'', '' The Wolf Man'', '' The Mummy'', '' Creature from the Black Lagoon'', and ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is an 1897 science fiction novel by British writer H. G. Wells. Originally serialised in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a s ...

''. The series launched in 1957 and grew to 30 titles.

Name change, decline and closing

Castle Films' name was changed to Universal 8 in 1977 and the new management experimented with longer-length films, but the era of

home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...

brought an end to Universal's home-movie enterprise in 1984. Universal 8 dealt mostly in excerpts, but

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (UPHE) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment unit of Comcast. UPHE is the home video distributor for all of the ...

(founded in 1980) offered feature films in their entirety on videotape. Collectors abandoned the excerpts in favor of the complete films.

Competitors

The largest U.S. competitor of Castle Films was Official Films, until rival movie studios entered the marketplace, including

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

and Warner Bros., and United Artists and 20th Century-Fox (both under the Ken Films brand name).

Legacy

The complete inventory of Castle Films (more than 1,000 titles over 40 years) is listed in Scott MacGillivray's book ''Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide'', .

Films

*''News Parade'', series **'' The News Parade of the Year 1942'', 9-minute newsreel of wartime footage *''Christmas-Time in Toyland'' (1939) *''The Night Before Christmas'' (1946), live-action dramatization of the poem *''The First Christmas'' (1959)

References

External links

Author Mark Evanier's in-depth history of Castle Films, plus cover gallery
* {{Authority control American companies established in 1924 Mass media companies established in 1924 1924 establishments in California 1947 mergers and acquisitions American companies disestablished in 1984 Mass media companies disestablished in 1984 1984 disestablishments in New York (state) Film distributors of the United States Universal Pictures subsidiaries Defunct mass media companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Defunct companies based in New York City Articles containing video clips