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Embassy Pictures
Compiled by James Fabiano, Sean Beard, Eric S., Matt Williams, Matthew Anscher, and Mark Edward Heuek
Logo captures by Eric S., and V of Doom
Editions by V of Doom, Mr. Logo Lord and Shadeed A. Kelly
Video capture by ColumbiaPictures58
Background: Embassy Pictures Corporation was founded by film producer Joseph E. Levine in the late 1940s. Levine distributed among others Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Hercules (the 1955 Steve Reeves version) and most infamously, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. [There was no logo in the pre-Avco years, just a "Joseph E. Levine Presents" blurb at the beginning and "An Embassy Pictures Release" blurb at the end of a film, both in the style of the credits]. But in 1967, he sold the company to Avco, an aviation equipment and financial services company. The familiar AE logo wasn't used for movies until about 1969 though the TV unit adopted the logo upon Avco's buyout of the film distributor. In 1982, when Lear acquired Avco Embassy, the motion picture division changed accordingly, becoming "Embassy Pictures". Also, Lord Lew Grade (who had just stepped down as head of ITC) was brought in to run the Embassy Pictures International unit, which lasted until Norman Lear split Embassy into three parts. Currenly, MGM Holdings, Inc. owns most of the Embassy Pictures/Nelson libraries and Sony Pictures Entertainment owns Embassy Television (now ELP Communications) all under Sony Corporation.
1st Logo
(1961-1969)
Nicknames: "Circular E", "Spotlight E"
Logo: On a black background, a spotlight is shining on the middle of the screen, and a HUGE black, lower-case "e" is on it. Inside the "e" are the words "AN EMBASSY PICTURES RELEASE", with the "EMBASSY PICTURES" (in white) in the middle, centered, and the "AN" and "RELEASE" (both in black) above it. All the
words are in a broad font.
FX: The "spotlight".
Music/Sounds: Only the opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Rare; seen on distributed Italian movies and on AMC's recent airing of The Graduate. Being that this movie is a new print by Sony Pictures Television for television, it appears that this logo predates the Avco Embassy logo, and it may turn up on other Embassy's films of that era. I don't know if it'll turn up on MGM's DVD releases, though.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
2nd Logo
(1969-1982)
Nickname: "AE Slate"
Logo: Three copies of a stylized "AE" (consisting of a right triangle, a rectangle, and three striped horizontal vertical lines) float in a circular pattern. The logos are red, green, and blue, and they eventually merge to form a white version of the logo. This one changes colors one shape at a time; the triangle turns blue, and each of the other shapes turn green. Below, three copies of the message "AN AVCO EMBASSY FILM" (red, green, and blue) come in from the left, right, and bottom and merge under the logo to form a white version of the words.
FX: The "merging", similar to the early '80s Marvel Productions logo.
Music/Sounds: None, but some films use a dreamy string tune, or the opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Seen on The Producers, Swamp Thing, as well as The Graduate, among others.
Scare Factor: Low.
3rd Logo
(1982-1988)
Nicknames: "Spinning *E", "Rotating *E"
Logo: Same as Embassy Television, but with several differences:
Later Variant: Starting in 1984, the logo appeared without the "EMBASSY PICTURES" text and the registered trademark symbol blotted out. This is mainly when the company was referred to as "Embassy Film Associates".
FX: The "spinning E".
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Embassy's library is spread across several companies, with the majority owned by MGM. It's more available than the television version, and can be seen on This is Spinal Tap (with company name and MGM preceding it), and The Sure Thing (no company name, Nelson preceding).
Scare Factor: Minimal.
Logo captures by Eric S., and V of Doom
Editions by V of Doom, Mr. Logo Lord and Shadeed A. Kelly
Video capture by ColumbiaPictures58
Background: Embassy Pictures Corporation was founded by film producer Joseph E. Levine in the late 1940s. Levine distributed among others Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Hercules (the 1955 Steve Reeves version) and most infamously, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. [There was no logo in the pre-Avco years, just a "Joseph E. Levine Presents" blurb at the beginning and "An Embassy Pictures Release" blurb at the end of a film, both in the style of the credits]. But in 1967, he sold the company to Avco, an aviation equipment and financial services company. The familiar AE logo wasn't used for movies until about 1969 though the TV unit adopted the logo upon Avco's buyout of the film distributor. In 1982, when Lear acquired Avco Embassy, the motion picture division changed accordingly, becoming "Embassy Pictures". Also, Lord Lew Grade (who had just stepped down as head of ITC) was brought in to run the Embassy Pictures International unit, which lasted until Norman Lear split Embassy into three parts. Currenly, MGM Holdings, Inc. owns most of the Embassy Pictures/Nelson libraries and Sony Pictures Entertainment owns Embassy Television (now ELP Communications) all under Sony Corporation.
1st Logo
(1961-1969)
Nicknames: "Circular E", "Spotlight E"
Logo: On a black background, a spotlight is shining on the middle of the screen, and a HUGE black, lower-case "e" is on it. Inside the "e" are the words "AN EMBASSY PICTURES RELEASE", with the "EMBASSY PICTURES" (in white) in the middle, centered, and the "AN" and "RELEASE" (both in black) above it. All the
words are in a broad font.FX: The "spotlight".
Music/Sounds: Only the opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Rare; seen on distributed Italian movies and on AMC's recent airing of The Graduate. Being that this movie is a new print by Sony Pictures Television for television, it appears that this logo predates the Avco Embassy logo, and it may turn up on other Embassy's films of that era. I don't know if it'll turn up on MGM's DVD releases, though.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
2nd Logo
(1969-1982)
Nickname: "AE Slate"
Logo: Three copies of a stylized "AE" (consisting of a right triangle, a rectangle, and three striped horizontal vertical lines) float in a circular pattern. The logos are red, green, and blue, and they eventually merge to form a white version of the logo. This one changes colors one shape at a time; the triangle turns blue, and each of the other shapes turn green. Below, three copies of the message "AN AVCO EMBASSY FILM" (red, green, and blue) come in from the left, right, and bottom and merge under the logo to form a white version of the words.
FX: The "merging", similar to the early '80s Marvel Productions logo.
Music/Sounds: None, but some films use a dreamy string tune, or the opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Seen on The Producers, Swamp Thing, as well as The Graduate, among others.
Scare Factor: Low.
3rd Logo
(1982-1988)
Nicknames: "Spinning *E", "Rotating *E"
Logo: Same as Embassy Television, but with several differences:
- The logo is on a brighter blue background.
- The animation is much slower and smoother.
- "EMBASSY PICTURES", of course, is underneath, but it fades in instead of simply appears.
- No music.
Later Variant: Starting in 1984, the logo appeared without the "EMBASSY PICTURES" text and the registered trademark symbol blotted out. This is mainly when the company was referred to as "Embassy Film Associates".
FX: The "spinning E".
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Embassy's library is spread across several companies, with the majority owned by MGM. It's more available than the television version, and can be seen on This is Spinal Tap (with company name and MGM preceding it), and The Sure Thing (no company name, Nelson preceding).
Scare Factor: Minimal.
Latest page update: made by Newave
, Aug 23 2008, 11:32 AM EDT
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Edited by Newave
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view changes
- complete history)
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