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Background: Anglo-Amalgamated was founded by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy in 1945. It produced and distributed many B movies, but also musicals, horror films, and the famous Carry On films, as well as several films from the output of American International Pictures. 50% of the company was bought out by Associated British Picture Corporation in 1962, and ABPC acquired the remaining stock in 1967.
1st Logo (1945?-1960?)[]
Nickname: "Atlas"
Logo: On a cloudy background, we can see a man holding a frame of a globe on his shoulders (possibly that of Greek God Atlas), ascending some stairs. "ANGLO AMALGAMATED" is written in a curved, shadowy style above the globe, and "FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD" on the globe, while "PRESENTS" is written under the man. The man is naked except for a small piece of cloth hiding the "naughty bits". The logo is in black and white.
Variant: Sometimes, "PRESENTS" is missing from the logo.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: A majestic horn fanfare. Sometimes, it is silent or has the opening theme of any given film.
Availability: Seen on films of the period, like the early Carry On films and Peeping Tom.
Editor's Note: None.
2nd Logo (1960?-1962?)[]
Nickname: "Atlas II"
Logo: Similar to the first one, except Atlas is on the right side. On the left, we see:
ANGLO
AMALGAMATED
FILM DISTRIBUTORS LIMITED
On the horizontal axis of the globe, we see "Nat Cohen & Stuart Levy" in script font.
Variant: On 4:3 full screen prints, the logo is in 1.37:1 academy ratio, reveals more of the open matte.
FX/SFX: None; it's a still logo.
Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare, completely different than the previous one. Like the above logo, sometimes it is silent or has the opening theme of any given film.
Availability: Rare. Seen on some films of this period like Carry On Regardless.
Editor's Note: None.
3rd Logo (1961?-1967?)[]
Nicknames: "Atlas III", "Golden Globe"
Logo: We see a close-up of the golden frame of a globe on a blue background. On the horizontal axis of the globe, we see "NAT COHEN & STUART LEVY". The camera pulls back and reveals Atlas, holding the globe on his shoulders, half-kneeling. The name of the company appears in red fonts and "Presents" appears in white script font under it.
Variants:
- There is also a still variant of the logo.
- On some films, instead of "Presents", "Film Distributors Limited" appears in the same font.
- The logo has appeared in B&W.
- Sometimes, the text says "An Anglo-Amalgamated Presentation"
- On 4:3 full screen prints of films (mainly the UK VHS ones), along with the film itself, the logo is in 1.37:1 academy ratio, revealing more of the background at the top above the golden frame of a globe and more of the background at the bottom below Atlas. Also, the logo zooms out further than usual.
FX/SFX: The camera pulling back.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo. Though on some films, such as Dentist on the Job, an alternate fanfare (which was used for the next logo) is heard. Again, sometimes it is silent or has the opening theme of any given film. On PAL prints of Anglo-Amalgamated films (mainly the UK VHS ones), the music is high pitched.
Availability: Seen on the films of the period, like Carry On Cleo. It also appears in Dentist on the Job, and the 2001/2004 Columbia TriStar DVDs of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (in which the first few minutes of Dentist is played as a gag).
Editor's Note: None.
4th Logo (1964)[]
Nicknames: "Atlas IV", "Atlas Drawing"
Logo: We see two boxes against a light blue background. The black box has a white drawing of Atlas carrying a globe frame. In between the two boxes were the words "AN ANGLO AMALGAMATED PRESENTATION". The bottom yellow box contains nothing.
Variant: On 4:3 full screen prints, the logo is in 1.37:1 academy ratio.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: An abridged version of the fanfare from the previous logo.
Availability: Extremely rare. The only known film to carry the logo was Nothing But the Best.
Editor's Note: None.
5th Logo (1967?-1970)[]
Nicknames: "Atlas V", "Atlas Drawing II"
Logo: Similar to the previous logo, only it was on a light yellow background, the boxes were shrunk to fit into the rectangle, the Atlas rectangle is light blue, and it was larger on the black box. The text instead reads between the two boxes: "ANGLO AMALGAMATED FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD". The bottom box is colored orange. The light blue text "NAT COHEN PRESENTS" later zooms in on the right of the Atlas drawing.
Variant: On 4:3 full screen prints of films, the logo is in 1.37:1 academy ratio
Later Variant: On later films, the text reads next to the Atlas drawing instead, "NAT COHEN PRESENTS FOR", thus making the text read "NAT COHEN PRESENTS FOR ANGLO AMALGAMATED FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD"
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The same alternate fanfare from the previous logo.
Music/Sounds Variant: On UK prints of Shalako, it uses the last half of the ABC Pictures International fanfare (with the first half being heard on the Palomar Pictures logo). This is likely due to a sloppy plaster job.
Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on the Optimum UK DVD of Shalako, and an Australian TV airing of The Vengence of Fu Manchu, among other movies of the era.
Editor's Note: None.
6th Logo (1970)[]
Nicknames: "Atlas VI","Atlas Drawing III"
Logo: After the 1st EMI Films logo animates, we zoom into the blue rectangle, bringing forth the same Atlas drawing from the previous logo only colored in yellow rather than blue zooming up. The text "NAT COHEN PRESENTS FOR" and "ANGLO-AMALGAMATED FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD" appears below the Atlas drawing followed by the byline "A MEMBER OF THE EMI GROUP" with "EMI" in its logo form rather than having the text.
Variant: On 4:3 full screen prints of films, the logo is in 1.37:1 academy ratio.
FX/SFX: The zoom in of the Atlas drawing.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Extremely rare. Can be seen on films of the era like All the Way Up.
Editor's Note: None.