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Columbia Pictures
Logo description by Jason Jones and James Fabiano
Logo captures by Eric S., Logophile and naxo-ole
Editions by Eric S., V of Doom, Logophile and Shadeed A. Kelly
Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales
Background: This predecessor company of Columbia Pictures was founded originally in 1919 by Harry Cohn, his brother Jack Cohn, and Joe Brandt. Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. Many of the studio's early productions were low-budget affairs; the start-up CBC leased space in a poverty row studio on Hollywood's Gower Street. Among Hollywood's elite, CBC's reputation led some to joke that "CBC" stood for "Corned Beef and Cabbage".
_______________________________________________________________
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
Background: Following a reorganization, the Cohn brothers renamed the predecessor company as Columbia Pictures Corp. in 1924. Columbia's product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and a short-subject program of comedies, serials, cartoons, and sports films. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, building a reputation as one of Hollywood's more important studios. In 1968, it was renamed to Columbia Pictures Industries. Afterwards, it was sold to Coca-Cola in 1982, became part of Columbia Pictures Entertainment in December 1987, and since 1989, it's owned by Sony Corporation of Japan. Since 1998, it is part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the mentioned multinational conglomerate.
1st Logo
(1924-19??)
Nickname: "Myriad Lady"
Logo: TBA
FX/SFX: TBA
Music/Sounds: TBA
Availability: Ultra rare. Seen on very early films by Columbia Pictures. Last seen on The Lady With the Torch documentary on Encore Drama (whenever the network decides to rebroadcast it).
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1924-1936)
Nicknames: "Early Torch Lady", "Sparkler Torch Lady", "'20s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady I''
Logo: We see a medium shot of a lady (Columbia, a representation of the USA), holding a light torch in her right hand. The lady is featured with a dark bob and a kind of Cleopatra-like headdress across her forehead. She is draped in an American flag complete with the stars on her left shoulder and the stripes coming across her middle, supported by her left arm, and hanging down her right side. Her torch is displayed with a rather primitive, flickering style of animation emitting lines of light as rays. The torch lady's head is under an arch of chiseled-though square shaped letters reading the words "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" or "A COLUMBIA PICTURE". At the end of the movie, the words are... "THIS IS A COLUMBIA PICTURE" with "The End" below it in a script font.
Variants:
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The torch rays shining like fireworks and sparklers, which look silly, but the logo is from the '20s, so give them credit.
Music/Sounds: A majestic horn sounder, much like the Fox logo, or the opening/closing theme of the short.
Availability: All can be seen on The Three Stooges releases on DVD. Can still be seen on reruns of early (w/o Shemp) Three Stooges shorts on Spike TV.
Scare Factor: Low to medium.
3rd Logo
(1936-1976)
Nickname: "Classic Torch Lady", "'30s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady II''
Logo: We see the lady, this time standing on top of a pedestal with a backdrop of clouds over her, while she is holding her light torch. Much more refined, ethereal and goddess-like, her facial features became less pronounced and she looked away (up and to the right) instead of straight ahead. Her headdress was removed and her hair swept back instead of hanging by the sides of her face. The drape over her shoulder became less-obviously an American flag, the stars on the left shoulder having been toned down in a shadow, and the stripes visible only on the portion of the drape hanging down her right side. "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" was replaced with the tall chiseled letters of "COLUMBIA" (which fades in a second afterward) running straight across the top section of the screen, with the lady's torch glowing in front of the "U". A new form of animation was used on the logo as well, with a torch that radiates light instead of flickers. On the Three Stooges short "Disorder in the Court", "PRESENTS" appears below.
History/Evolution:
Byline: Starting in 1973-74, the company byline "A Division of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc." appears at the bottom of the screen.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The torch rays shine more realistically in this version.
Music/Sounds: Usually, the beginning of a movie's opening score plays over the logo. On some films, the logo appears completely silent. However, on several mid to late '30s The Three Stooges shorts, it has a majestic logo theme before playing the Stooges' theme. On several other films, it would have a different theme.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; the old B/W film and scary drawing might send some chills.
4th Logo
(1976-1981)
Left: The torch lady.
Right: The sunburst.
Nicknames: "'70s Torch Lady", "The Abstract Torch", "The Sunburst", ''Torch Lady III''
Logo: It begins with the familiar Columbia Torch Lady, standing on the pedestal holding her light torch. Then, the picture moves upward and towards the torch, which shines even more as the picture blurs around it. It then emits a flash that fills the screen. When the flash dissolves, the light torch itself appears, as if in sunburst, against a black screen and as it shrinks, it changes into a more "abstract" torch: a blue half circle, or a semicircle, with thirteen white light rays in the center and the words "Columbia Pictures" (in Souvenir font) under it. The entire logo then slowly backs away as it fades out.
FX/SFX: The Torch Lady's torch zooming in, then turning into the Sunburst.
Music/Sounds: It begins with a dramatic theme that builds up as the camera zooms in on the torch composed by Suzanne Cnani. With the flash/sunburst, it takes an inspirational, majestic tone. Of course, like many other movie logos, this could also be silent or have the opening theme play over it, but usually not.
Availability: Actually more common than the TV version, as Sony is much better at keeping old logos on video releases of their movies, though in their home video division's early days this logo would be plastered by their home video logo. So you can usually still see the Torch Lady/Sunburst combination on movies from the time period. You can usually see it on cable movie channels like Turner Classic Movies, Showtime, and American Movie Classics as well. If you can't find it anywhere, the movie Superbad (2007) has a modified variant. One of the last films to feature this logo was Stir Crazy.
Scare Factor: Minimal; this was/is a favorite of many.
5th Logo
(1981-1993)
Nickname: "'80s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady IV''
Logo: We see the standard Columbia torch lady (a somewhat less detailed version of the '70s Torch Lady; she also appears to be resembling Da Vinci's Mona Lisa) standing on a pedestal with her torch. The torch then shines into a bright abstract shape, as if in sunburst, then dims back in place. The words "Columbia Pictures" (appearing in the same font from the last logo) fade to the left and right of the Torch Lady. Her torch "shines".
Variants:
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The torch lady "shining".
Music/Sounds: None, or the opening theme of the movie, but on one occasion, had used the sunburst music, which was probably a goof-up. Too bad; it kinda went well with this logo. Another recent occasion had the 1993 logo's music.
Availability: Usually saved on all movies when reran on cable or syndication, but the earlier variation is easier to come by, due to being used a longer time period and being on more popular movies; a few notable movies to have the short version are Ghostbusters II, The Adventures of Milo and Otis, Casualties of War, Awakenings, Mortal Thoughts, Mo' Money and Groundhog Day. The last movie to use this logo was Lost in Yonkers. Also on the 2005 Extended Edition of Stripes, it had the 1993 music playing over the logo.
Scare Factor: Minimal for the sunburst verson, none for the short version.
6th Logo
(1993- ) 
Nickname: "'90s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady V''
Logo: This logo has a face lifted Torch Lady from 1936-1976 on her pedestal, giving more detail to the drawing. First, we see a bright light, as if in sunburst. The light is coming from a torch, which zooms out to reveal the lady who's holding it. On the top "COLUMBIA", seen in a bold, silver chiseled font, fades in afterward as a ring of light shimmers around the lady.
Byline: Starting in May 1996, "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" appears on the bottom. It is slightly off center.
Variants:
The "Making Of" the '90s Torch Lady: The logo's most recent overhaul was undertaken during this era when Sony Corporation of Japan (which bought Columbia in 1989) commissioned illustrator Michael J. Deas to redesign the lady and return her to her "classic" look. The result, based on Deas' sessions with Mandeville, Louisiana homemaker Jenny Joseph who posed for him with a makeshift robe and torch, was a taller, slimmer Columbia Torch Lady with lighter, curlier hair and a dimmer torch. Rather than use Joseph's face however, Deas constructed a composite face made up of a couple of computer-generated features.
FX/SFX: The zoom-out.
Music/Sounds: A majestic tune is heard, which ends with a brass sounder. There are three versions of the fanfare: one that sounds orchestrated, one that sounds more synthesized, and the final having both themes mixed in together. All three have the same ending. Sometimes any movie's theme or any music from a soundtrack plays over it. Otherwise, it's silent.
Music/Sounds Variant: On the 2000 movie Finding Forrester, the logo theme was only played by a guitar. The theme wasn't accompanied by any other orchestrations.
Availability: Currently in use, but thankfully, not plastering anything from other eras. Some of the verry first movies to feature this logo were
Scare Factor: None; this logo has a beautiful fanfare and a soothing backdrop.
Logo captures by Eric S., Logophile and naxo-ole
Editions by Eric S., V of Doom, Logophile and Shadeed A. Kelly
Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales
Background: This predecessor company of Columbia Pictures was founded originally in 1919 by Harry Cohn, his brother Jack Cohn, and Joe Brandt. Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. Many of the studio's early productions were low-budget affairs; the start-up CBC leased space in a poverty row studio on Hollywood's Gower Street. Among Hollywood's elite, CBC's reputation led some to joke that "CBC" stood for "Corned Beef and Cabbage".
_______________________________________________________________
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
Background: Following a reorganization, the Cohn brothers renamed the predecessor company as Columbia Pictures Corp. in 1924. Columbia's product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and a short-subject program of comedies, serials, cartoons, and sports films. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, building a reputation as one of Hollywood's more important studios. In 1968, it was renamed to Columbia Pictures Industries. Afterwards, it was sold to Coca-Cola in 1982, became part of Columbia Pictures Entertainment in December 1987, and since 1989, it's owned by Sony Corporation of Japan. Since 1998, it is part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the mentioned multinational conglomerate.
1st Logo
(1924-19??)
Nickname: "Myriad Lady"
Logo: TBA
FX/SFX: TBA
Music/Sounds: TBA
Availability: Ultra rare. Seen on very early films by Columbia Pictures. Last seen on The Lady With the Torch documentary on Encore Drama (whenever the network decides to rebroadcast it).
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1924-1936)
Nicknames: "Early Torch Lady", "Sparkler Torch Lady", "'20s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady I''
Logo: We see a medium shot of a lady (Columbia, a representation of the USA), holding a light torch in her right hand. The lady is featured with a dark bob and a kind of Cleopatra-like headdress across her forehead. She is draped in an American flag complete with the stars on her left shoulder and the stripes coming across her middle, supported by her left arm, and hanging down her right side. Her torch is displayed with a rather primitive, flickering style of animation emitting lines of light as rays. The torch lady's head is under an arch of chiseled-though square shaped letters reading the words "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" or "A COLUMBIA PICTURE". At the end of the movie, the words are... "THIS IS A COLUMBIA PICTURE" with "The End" below it in a script font.
Variants:
- Some movies would feature the name in another typeface, and will sometimes be ID'ed as "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION" at the start of the film, and "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" at the end of the film. Another variation consists in the words "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" and "The End" below. It was spotted on a Three Stooges short.
- In 2004, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released several Three Stooges shorts by having the Torch Lady in color.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The torch rays shining like fireworks and sparklers, which look silly, but the logo is from the '20s, so give them credit.
Music/Sounds: A majestic horn sounder, much like the Fox logo, or the opening/closing theme of the short.
Availability: All can be seen on The Three Stooges releases on DVD. Can still be seen on reruns of early (w/o Shemp) Three Stooges shorts on Spike TV.
Scare Factor: Low to medium.
3rd Logo
(1936-1976)
Nickname: "Classic Torch Lady", "'30s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady II''
Logo: We see the lady, this time standing on top of a pedestal with a backdrop of clouds over her, while she is holding her light torch. Much more refined, ethereal and goddess-like, her facial features became less pronounced and she looked away (up and to the right) instead of straight ahead. Her headdress was removed and her hair swept back instead of hanging by the sides of her face. The drape over her shoulder became less-obviously an American flag, the stars on the left shoulder having been toned down in a shadow, and the stripes visible only on the portion of the drape hanging down her right side. "A COLUMBIA PRODUCTION" was replaced with the tall chiseled letters of "COLUMBIA" (which fades in a second afterward) running straight across the top section of the screen, with the lady's torch glowing in front of the "U". A new form of animation was used on the logo as well, with a torch that radiates light instead of flickers. On the Three Stooges short "Disorder in the Court", "PRESENTS" appears below.
History/Evolution:
- 1942: The lady looks much like she did in 1936, only the stripes were removed and the flag became simply a drape without markings, dark on the left shoulder but only the shadows of the folds differentiating the rest of it from the lady's white gown on her right side. The "COLUMBIA" lettering was also modified, still chiseled but less bold, and with darker shadowing.
- 1953: The Columbia Lady's robe was redrawn with a plunging neckline.
- 1954: The torch lady lost her slipper-clad foot peeking out from the bottom of her robe as it divided just above the pedestal. Also, the clouds behind the logo became concentrated in the center and more billowy in shape.
- Late 1960's: The drapery was temporarily all white during this era.
Byline: Starting in 1973-74, the company byline "A Division of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc." appears at the bottom of the screen.
Variants:
- There is a black & white version of the 1973 logo on the 1953 Three Stooges short "Tricky Dicks".
- On The Three Stooges shorts from 1940-1945, the 1936 (or 1942) Torch Lady appears on the left side of The Three Stooges title card. On the steps are the words "COLUMBIA" on top, "SHORT SUBJECT" in the middle, and "PRESENTATION" on the bottom step.
- The logo was shown without the company name at the beginning of the 1958 film Cowboy.
- On Oliver! (1968), the logo is in black & white. When "COLUMBIA" appears, the words "PICTURES CORPORATION PRESENTS" appear as well.
FX/SFX: The torch rays shine more realistically in this version.
Music/Sounds: Usually, the beginning of a movie's opening score plays over the logo. On some films, the logo appears completely silent. However, on several mid to late '30s The Three Stooges shorts, it has a majestic logo theme before playing the Stooges' theme. On several other films, it would have a different theme.
Availability: Uncommon; can still be seen on various broadcasts of classic Columbia movies on AMC, TCM, SpikeTV, among other channels. As sony preserves their movie logos quite well. The 1970s black-and-white version was seen on some reissued Three Stooges shorts, some of which can be found on some out-of-print Three Stooges videos issued by Goodtimes Home Video in the early 1990s. The last films to feature this logo were Taxi Driver (currently aired on the Showtime Networks) and Drive-In.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; the old B/W film and scary drawing might send some chills.
4th Logo
(1976-1981)
Left: The torch lady.
Right: The sunburst.
Nicknames: "'70s Torch Lady", "The Abstract Torch", "The Sunburst", ''Torch Lady III''
Logo: It begins with the familiar Columbia Torch Lady, standing on the pedestal holding her light torch. Then, the picture moves upward and towards the torch, which shines even more as the picture blurs around it. It then emits a flash that fills the screen. When the flash dissolves, the light torch itself appears, as if in sunburst, against a black screen and as it shrinks, it changes into a more "abstract" torch: a blue half circle, or a semicircle, with thirteen white light rays in the center and the words "Columbia Pictures" (in Souvenir font) under it. The entire logo then slowly backs away as it fades out.
FX/SFX: The Torch Lady's torch zooming in, then turning into the Sunburst.
Music/Sounds: It begins with a dramatic theme that builds up as the camera zooms in on the torch composed by Suzanne Cnani. With the flash/sunburst, it takes an inspirational, majestic tone. Of course, like many other movie logos, this could also be silent or have the opening theme play over it, but usually not.
Availability: Actually more common than the TV version, as Sony is much better at keeping old logos on video releases of their movies, though in their home video division's early days this logo would be plastered by their home video logo. So you can usually still see the Torch Lady/Sunburst combination on movies from the time period. You can usually see it on cable movie channels like Turner Classic Movies, Showtime, and American Movie Classics as well. If you can't find it anywhere, the movie Superbad (2007) has a modified variant. One of the last films to feature this logo was Stir Crazy.
Scare Factor: Minimal; this was/is a favorite of many.
5th Logo
(1981-1993)
Nickname: "'80s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady IV''
Logo: We see the standard Columbia torch lady (a somewhat less detailed version of the '70s Torch Lady; she also appears to be resembling Da Vinci's Mona Lisa) standing on a pedestal with her torch. The torch then shines into a bright abstract shape, as if in sunburst, then dims back in place. The words "Columbia Pictures" (appearing in the same font from the last logo) fade to the left and right of the Torch Lady. Her torch "shines".
Variants:
- After 1988, the logo fades in and then the company name fades in about a second afterward. There was no big bright light in this variation.
- When viewed in full screen, there are varying versions where we see her pedestal. Sometimes it's close, sometimes it's far.
- Also around this late period, Columbia's print logo was featured scrolling at the end of the movies' closing credits. This features the Torch Lady with the "sunburst" from the 1981-1988 variation of the opening logo. The phrase, appearing in the same font as the opening logo, reads "A Columbia Pictures Release" underneath.
- Another one would feature the same closing logo, but would use "COLUMBIA PICTURES" in Bank Gothic font with the SPE byline below. On Castle Rock films, the words "Distributed by" appears on top. Used from September 1992-1993.
FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The torch lady "shining".
Music/Sounds: None, or the opening theme of the movie, but on one occasion, had used the sunburst music, which was probably a goof-up. Too bad; it kinda went well with this logo. Another recent occasion had the 1993 logo's music.
Availability: Usually saved on all movies when reran on cable or syndication, but the earlier variation is easier to come by, due to being used a longer time period and being on more popular movies; a few notable movies to have the short version are Ghostbusters II, The Adventures of Milo and Otis, Casualties of War, Awakenings, Mortal Thoughts, Mo' Money and Groundhog Day. The last movie to use this logo was Lost in Yonkers. Also on the 2005 Extended Edition of Stripes, it had the 1993 music playing over the logo.
Scare Factor: Minimal for the sunburst verson, none for the short version.
6th Logo
(1993- )
Nickname: "'90s Torch Lady", ''Torch Lady V''
Logo: This logo has a face lifted Torch Lady from 1936-1976 on her pedestal, giving more detail to the drawing. First, we see a bright light, as if in sunburst. The light is coming from a torch, which zooms out to reveal the lady who's holding it. On the top "COLUMBIA", seen in a bold, silver chiseled font, fades in afterward as a ring of light shimmers around the lady.
Byline: Starting in May 1996, "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" appears on the bottom. It is slightly off center.
Variants:
- In 1999, the company celebrated its 75th anniversary. The beginning of the logo started off with the 1936 logo of Columbia Pictures in black and white, leaving the 1992 cloud background intact. The Torch Lady then slowly morphs into the current Torch Lady as the effects from black & white later turns to color. As the camera zooms back, we see a red arched banner dropping from above saying "SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY LIGHTING UP SCREENS AROUND THE WORLD" and the Torch Lady standing on the pedestal, where we see a red box with the gold, giant chiseled name "COLUMBIA" inside on top, and the small word "PICTURES" below. We also see the gold giant number "75" unfolding in between the Torch Lady.
- Around fall to winter 2006, the logo was a bit darker to test an enhanced logo look for Columbia Pictures. As seen on such films like Spider-Man 3.
- In late 2006, the logo was given a more "enhanced" look, similar to the 2001 Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment logo and Michael J. Deas' original artwork of the logo. It can be seen here. The hand is in a different pose in which the finger is at the tip of the torch. The sky is also darker and the company's name looks more silverish.
- At the end of the 2001 film Black Hawk Down, the logo zooms out to a much more farther distance than usual, revealing more of the cloud background below the pedestal; this variant is available on the VHS of the film. A similar variant can also be found on the Open Season short film Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run.
- Closing Variant: The superimposed closing variant features the Torch Lady (and the cloud background) placed inside a rectangular box. The torch, and the cloud BG, overlap the top of the box. Next to the logo are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES", with "COLUMBIA" over "PICTURES". The phrase below the logo reads "A COLUMBIA PICTURES RELEASE" or "RELEASED BY" above the logo with the SPE byline underneath.
- One early closing variant of such featured the boxed Torch Lady logo at center, with "COLUMBIA PICTURES", and the SPE byline below one another.
- On the 2005 Special Extended Edition of Stripes, the 1993 music was heard during the "80s Torch Lady" logo.
The "Making Of" the '90s Torch Lady: The logo's most recent overhaul was undertaken during this era when Sony Corporation of Japan (which bought Columbia in 1989) commissioned illustrator Michael J. Deas to redesign the lady and return her to her "classic" look. The result, based on Deas' sessions with Mandeville, Louisiana homemaker Jenny Joseph who posed for him with a makeshift robe and torch, was a taller, slimmer Columbia Torch Lady with lighter, curlier hair and a dimmer torch. Rather than use Joseph's face however, Deas constructed a composite face made up of a couple of computer-generated features.
FX/SFX: The zoom-out.
Music/Sounds: A majestic tune is heard, which ends with a brass sounder. There are three versions of the fanfare: one that sounds orchestrated, one that sounds more synthesized, and the final having both themes mixed in together. All three have the same ending. Sometimes any movie's theme or any music from a soundtrack plays over it. Otherwise, it's silent.
Music/Sounds Variant: On the 2000 movie Finding Forrester, the logo theme was only played by a guitar. The theme wasn't accompanied by any other orchestrations.
Availability: Currently in use, but thankfully, not plastering anything from other eras. Some of the verry first movies to feature this logo were
Scare Factor: None; this logo has a beautiful fanfare and a soothing backdrop.
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Keyword tags:
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| flappytheclown | Headless Torch Lady | 0 | Jun 4 2009, 1:42 PM EDT by flappytheclown | ||
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Thread started: Jun 4 2009, 1:42 PM EDT
Watch
In the film "Strait-Jacket" (1964)
"A variant of the Columbia Pictures logo appears at the end of the film, showing a decapitated Torch Lady, her severed head resting at her feet. Her torch does not shine." Taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait-Jacket |
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| Lazlow | Pink drape | 1 | May 24 2009, 10:15 AM EDT by PaPaLuigi | ||
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Thread started: May 24 2009, 4:19 AM EDT
Watch
I recently saw "The Wrecking Crew" (1969) and the Columbia logo on it was different, as the drape was pink. Has anyone seen this on other films?
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| Logophile | the 1981 torch lady on 80s videos | 0 | Jan 17 2009, 1:35 PM EST by Logophile | ||
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Thread started: Jan 17 2009, 1:35 PM EST
Watch
I'm not sure but I think the 1981 torch lady has plastered the original torch ladies on RCA/Columbia videos in the 80s. Evidence of this is on the 1985 VHS release of The Lords of Flatbrush, which was a 1974 film, but has the 1981 logo. Anyone seen anything else like this, I'll be dying to know.
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