Vanguard Films

Vanguard Films, Inc. was an American film production company, established by producer David O. Selznick in 1943, after the dissolution of Selznick International Pictures. The company's president was Daniel T. O'Shea; Dore Schary was the head of production. The company was liquidated in 1951.^[1]

History

After the dissolution of Selznick International Pictures, David O. Selznick established Vanguard Films, Inc., in 1943^[2] and Selznick Releasing Organization in 1946.^[3] Vanguard was created to continue his productions, while the Selznick Releasing Organization was made to distribute output by Vanguard. Previously, Vanguard released through United Artists, of which Vanguard owned one-third of its stock. As with Selznick International, Vanguard was located at the RKO studio.

Vanguard Films took over the three films still in production—Since You Went Away, I'll Be Seeing You and Hitchcock's Spellbound—and delivered them to the distributor United Artists, thus fulfilling Selznick's contract with UA.

After the agreement with United Artists was completed, Vanguard films were distributed by RKO Radio Pictures or Selznick Releasing Organization. Notable films among those are Hitchcock's The Paradine Case and King Vidor's Duel in the Sun.

Vanguard Films was dissolved in 1951.^[4]

Filmography

Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman in Spellbound (1945)

Dorothy McGuire in The Spiral Staircase (1946)

Release Date	Title	Notes
May 18, 1944	Reward Unlimited	Short film distributed by the Office of War Information^[5]^[6]
July 20, 1944	Since You Went Away	Produced with Selznick International Pictures; distributed by United Artists^[7]
November 1944	The Fighting Generation	Short film produced with Selznick International Pictures and distributed by RKO Pictures, promoting war bond sales during the Sixth War Loan Drive^[8] (November 2 – December 16, 1944)
January 5, 1945	I'll Be Seeing You	Produced with Selznick International Pictures; distributed by United Artists^[9]
December 28, 1945	Spellbound	Produced with Selznick International Pictures; distributed by United Artists^[10]
February 7, 1946	The Spiral Staircase	Produced with RKO Pictures; distributed by RKO^[11]
May 8, 1947	Duel in the Sun	Distributed by Selznick Releasing Organization^[12]
January 8, 1948	The Paradine Case	Distributed by Selznick Releasing Organization^[13]
December 24, 1948	Portrait of Jennie	Distributed by Selznick Releasing Organization^[14]
October 14, 1950	Walk Softly, Stranger	Produced with RKO Pictures; distributed by RKO^[15]
May 28, 1952	The Wild Heart	Produced with London Films, distributed November 6, 1950, by British Lion Films, titled Gone to Earth Reshot and re-edited for Western Hemisphere release, distributed by RKO^[16]
December 14, 1957	A Farewell to Arms	Last Selznick film. Produced by Selznick Releasing Organization and Distributed by 20th Century Fox

Library

Like most Selznick productions, films made by Vanguard are now owned by The Walt Disney Company through ABC.

References

^ Slide, Anthony (1998). The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 221. ISBN 9780810866362. OCLC 681061659.
^ "Screen News Here and In Hollywood". The New York Times. May 20, 1943. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ Pryor, Thomas M. (December 12, 1946). "Selznick Quits U.A.; Forms a New Firm". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ Pryor, Thomas M. (February 14, 1959). "Selznick Names Loew's in a Suit". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ Doherty, Thomas (1993). Projections of War: Hollywood, American Culture, and World War II. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 325. ISBN 9780231082440.
^ Reward Unlimited. WorldCat. OCLC 20626007.
^ "Since You Went Away". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ Kerzoncuf, Alain (February 2009). "Alfred Hitchcock and The Fighting Generation". Senses of Cinema (49).
^ "I'll Be Seeing You". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ "Spellbound". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ "The Spiral Staircase". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ "Duel in the Sun". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ "The Paradine Case". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ "Portrait of Jennie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ "Walk Softly, Stranger". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
^ "The Wild Heart". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-05-20.