maturin

I was putting my film collection into a My Movie account at IMDb the other day and I looked for the first time at the date and place of first release of a number of British films. Can anyone explain why so many films of the 40s, 50s and later were first released (according to IMDb) in Scandinavia?

Here are a very few examples:

Denmark:
Green For Danger (47)
The Green Man (57)
Overlord (78)
Reach for the Sky (56)

Sweden
Carve Her Name with Pride (58)
The Colditz Story (55)
The Hill (65)
Expresso Bongo (60)
Carleton-Browne of The FO (60)
Hamlet (48)
The Man Who Never Was (56)
Seven Thunders (57)

Finland:
I Was Monty’s Double (59)
North West Frontier (60)

Richard

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Moor Larkin

Two Living, One Dead (1961)

Not only released first in Scandinavia but pretty much never released anywhere else.................

I think it was put out in Australia and, as it seems to have a Spanish alternative title, presumably in Spain or Somewhere in South America........

Maybe, with 24 hour nights in the winter, the Multiplexes in Scandinavia had an insatiable appetite for new product........

Steve Crook

How many of them have a release date in Scandanavia and then a later release date in the UK? Or is it that they have been told the release dates in Scandanavia but haven't been told the release dates in the UK?

But after checking a few I think you're mis-reading something (or it's showing it to you incorrectly). The IMDb shows that Carve Her Name with Pride was first released in the UK in February 1958 and wasn't released in Sweden & Denmark until September 1958 and Finland in January 1959. It also shows Green For Danger as being first released in the UK in December 1946, then in New York in August 1947 and then in Denmark & Finland in December 1947.

In both of those examples, the UK release date has an attribute like (London). Maybe the My Movie listing only shows those without such an attribute, where they consider it to have had a nationwide release?

Steve

maturin

Yes, that's plausible. I'll check and let you know.
But I still like Moor Larkin's idea. I can visualise Finnish cinemas offering long-term reindeer parking by the month while patrons watch back-to-back Cliff in Esiintuoda Bongo.


R

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

DB7

Old British films seem pretty popular over there, when I installed a motorised satellite dish I'd discover an old B&W film on (with subtitles) in Sweden and Norway most mornings - particularly Will Hay/Norman Wisdom.

R-T-C Tim

I noticed that a lot of films seem to have the Scandinavian release dates on IMDb - I guess that there must be some good details available for these releases and some dedicated submitters!

Mondo Esoterica - Cult and obscure DVD reviews from Spaghetti Westerns to Hammer Horror.

Steve Crook

There are some dedicated submitters from Scandinavia, also from Iceland and some other countries that you wouldn't expect

It's useful, because between most of the more experienced contributors, and the IMDb staff of course, we can cover queries in most languages.

The Scandinavians do also seem to have access to some good information about release dates, certificates, running times and the like.

Steve

Moor Larkin

Those 24 hour nights again............................