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