Oddity Archive: Episode 208 - The Ballad of Raymond Rohauer

[@BusterKeatonWatz]

The assertion elsewhere in this thread that Buster Keaton sued Raymond Rohauer needs to be clarified. In 1962 Rohauer was sued by Leopold Friedman, a former employee of Keaton's producer Joseph Schenck. Friedman by this time was the trustee of Buster Keaton Productions, Inc., and responsible for ensuring that the aging shareholders received renumeration for screenings of the Schenck-Keaton silents. When remakes were proposed by other studios on these properties, it was Friedman who would negotiate the terms (although no remakes proceeded past the planning stage during Friedman & Rohauer's lifetimes. It was not until THE BACHELOR in 1999 that one of the Keaton independent films, SEVEN CHANCES, was officially remade, and badly at that). In the early 1960s Rohauer frequently ran a dupe print of THE NAVIGATOR (1924) at his Coronet Theater and was sued for damages by Friedman, acting on behalf of Buster Keaton Productions. Keaton himself was never a shareholder of the corporation that bore his name. Friedman won the case but in an even stranger twist of fate, Rohauer persuaded him to join forces to re-release all of Buster's independent silent films. Rohauer had to use his own resources to seek funding for new prints and preservation copies, Friedman in turn allowing Rohauer to proceed with public screenings, with annual percentage statements and a share of the profits going to BK Productions. Years later I worked for Rohauer. He told me that he purposely staged a showdown with Friedman to prove that the original copyrights and renewals were legitimate, and therefore he claimed sole control over screenings and licensing rights. Rohauer always knew how to spin a yarn so that he came out on top, even if it was a fabrication of his own imagination. Friedman was in his seventies when he partnered with Rohauer, and he proved to be a thorn in Rohauer's side for almost another 20 years, challenging profit statements and complaining that the films could be exploited similar to Hal Roach's extensive film library. Rohauer was horrified at the idea that the Keaton films could be sold on the 8 & 16mm home movie market. I was with Rohauer when he learned of Friedman's death in VARIETY's obituaries. I never saw Rohauer looking happier than on that day.

[@GenoCuddy]

Ahh Rohauer, he was an asshole....who preserved so much film history that was all but forgotten and neglected at the time. A mixed bag individual to say the least. An excellent overview.

[@MVerdoux]

As someone who personally knew and worked for Paul Killiam - THE BIRTH OF A NATION court case was one he told me he was exceeding proud (as well as the outcome - which ended up releasing the film into the public domain) even though it cost him lots of money. Paul was a Harvard educated lawyer and glored in such bouts - especially with Rohauer. In yet another sense, Killiam had the last laugh - in that he intercepted and copied Rohauer's illicit print of THE GOLD RUSH between rental bookings - and subsequently presented his own version based on it as the maiden kickoff for THE SILENT YEARS series on PBS in 1970.

[@brianhebert6152]

Daily reminder that the title cards for "Raymond Rohauer's The Sneeze" declare Rohauer the owner of a human body function.

[@negirno]

Buster Keaton smoked in his garage stuffed with flammable stuff, with his own movies among them? He sure lived dangerously...

[@patrickrwallace]

All the movies were actually cinéma vérité style documentaries...

[@jdsbreufl]

Keaton was a chain-smoker so yes, he did live life dangerously.

[@busterkeatonvk]

@@jdsbreufl just wow! Could you tell me more about that? Keaton, as I always thought, didn't have rights on his movies at all, so why he was initiating legal proceedings against Rohauer? In what year?

[@busterkeatonvk]

@@jdsbreufl I assume, this is all right, but the story is not about Rohauer and Buster, but about Rohauer and Leopold Friedman, the remaining copyright holder of Keaton's films (distributed by MGM at least). Keaton himself, as crazy as it sounds, was never a shareholder in Buster Keaton Productions and never owned the rights to his own films. The rights to the Navigator belonged to MGM, in 1952 they renewed them, and in March 1960, Friedman, as a representative of MGM, sued Rohauer for showing the Navigator in the Coronet. At the time, Rohauer and Buster had formed the new Buster Keaton Productions (in 1958), and were trying to get the film rights. Rohauer lost the trial to Friedman after a series of appeals in the spring of 1962, and in October 1962 Buster Keaton Productions was closed. After that Rohauer somehow agreed and began to cooperate with Friedman. Rohauer really always told tales about his relationship with Friedman, of course, without mentioning the trial that was at the beginning of their acquaintance. casetext.com/case/rohauer-v-friedman

[@larrylaffer3246]

A film preservationist and a shrewd businessman? Yep sounds like a true American Dream story right there.

[@redcomet_622]

In the 80s there was one company who participated in Raymond Rouhauer syndrome. They were called Film Ventures international, this company was originally a different company that took over FVI but they kept the name. What they did was buy movies under the guise that they would be showing a clip of them in another movie. Thus, the price of the movie rights price drops. Then what they would do is re edit the film with a new title that would feature clips from another film. Then they would show the film they bought in its entirety with a few edits. And finally they would claim a new copyright because of the new opening and ending titles. Their re edits were only shown on MST3K and they were never released on VHS.

[@GenoCuddy]

Just to be clear, the company you are referring to was the second iteration of FVI. By that time, it was a shell company owned by a television distributor. For all intents and purposes, the REAL FVI shut down in 1984 after the release and subsequent failure at the box office, of the 1984 horror film MUTANT with Wings Hauser. It was after the release of that film that FVI founder Edward L. Montoro pilfered $1 million from the company and vanished without a trace, never to be heard from again. The remaining executives at FVI quickly sold the near-bankrupt film production and distribution firm to an outfit named INI Entertainment Group, whom used the familiarity of the FVI name to sell films to television and home video and yes their methods for doing so was dubious to say the least.

[@redcomet_622]

@@GenoCuddy Pretty much all of their known edits went to MST3K as they were not put out on VHS.

[@GenoCuddy]

@@redcomet_622 How are you aware of this?

[@redcomet_622]

@@GenoCuddy Mainly due to various fourm postings about the FVI edits on MST3K. There isnt a tape of Pod People besides the MST episode and the same goes for the other ones. There is tapes of Master Ninja including 3 thru 7. But those seem to be edits from Trans World rather than FVI

[@RodgersA51]

Reminds me of the guy who would go door to door in the southeast buying prewar blues 78s from un knowing black communities. Saved a lot of music, but not the best in ethics.

[@jamesslick4790]

As a serious old school Blues fan, That always filled me with mixed emotions. 😐

[@OddityArchive]

Makes me think of a story I used to hear about the band Canned Heat--they'd supposedly go around to record collector shows, buy up rare blues records and destroy all but one or two of each title to intentionally make them more rare.

[@jamesslick4790]

@@OddityArchive Wow! If true, That's freakin' awfull! 😣

[@RodgersA51]

@@OddityArchive it finally came to me, Joe Bussard, that's the guy I was thinking of. EDIT also Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie is who actually went door to door digging through trunks and cellars truly saving lost music.

[@raymondcabana1122]

P.S. I neglected to mention that Raymond Rohauer is listed on the main credits of "The Argyle Secrets", an entertaining mystery from 1948 starring William Gargan which has surfaced after decades of being virtually lost, its plot, however, pretty much a rehash of "The Maltese Falcon". (My nice 16mm print resulted from combining two old original copies.) Rohauer supposedly served as an assistant to the producer - whatever that entailed! - Ray C.

[@mightyfilm]

Ah, people who make minor alterations to public domain projects so they can turn around and sue the hell out of anyone who displays the original as that now constitutes as ownership.

[@raymondcabana1122]

Dear Ed, I found your piece on Raymond Rohauer well researched and presented. I believe my initial awareness of the man was when he had "Alibi" (United Artists; 1929) offered in the catalog of a large film-rental company. This was a number of years ago, and at that time only one of Roland West's three talkies, all originally released by United Artists, was generally available, this being his last feature, "Corsair" (1931), then in TV release; "Alibi" and "The Bat Whispers" (1930) were virtually "lost". I used to correspond with Chester Morris, who starred in the three West-directed features (West held his contract) and have in my 16mm film collection "Alibi" and "The Bat Whispers" (I had "Corsair" but sold it, which I now regret). The former is the UCLA restoration, and I confess, I've never even screened it; the latter was struck in 1938 by Atlantic Pictures, this from the still-missing domestic 35mm nitrate negative (UCLA had to resort to the European negative, the picture having been shot no less than three separate times, the third being the 65mm widescreen version, also preserved by that archive). "Alibi", when aired on TCM, is of excellent quality save for a slight jump-cut in the early scene wherein the Chester Morris character exits prison; I admit to not knowing the source of this print while having viewed one years ago that contained the brief missing footage! I can't speak to the quality of the Rohauer copy. Raymond Rohauer had a bad reputation among film collectors. He would acquire the literary rights to a work a film was based on, then, by extension, assert his ownership of the film as well. I recall his doing this with "The Old Dark House" (Universal; 1932), it having been out of circulation for years; but the quality of the resulting print was said to be very poor! To his credit, Rohauer had a knack for unearthing extremely rare motion pictures, but what he did with them tended to be less than praiseworthy! I've only known one man who spoke well of Raymond Rohauer, a film producer who actually had the man's portrait on the desk of his New York City office! He was a good friend of mine, as too his brother, also a producer, who located, and had preserved, a couple hundred Fox silent and early-talkie features that had been, for all intents and purposes, lost! (These were released in two packages of 100 titles each known as The Golden Century pictures but, as far as I know, have rarely been rented aside from the airing of individual titles!) This New York producer was supposedly gay, as was also said of Rohauer, which might explain the favorable opinion of the man. Congratulations, Ed, on a job done well! Cordially, Ray Cabana, Jr.

[@aiberlane3390]

If he lived in a different time I'm sure he would have worked for Sony, happily copyright striking KZbin videos where someone is humming a copyrighted song in the background, or where a copyrighted song is playing in the store the KZbinr briefly walks by.

[@michaelfisher9722]

Might we say that he was a rotten guy, but the happy side effect of his life is that movies that might have been lost were instead preserved?

[@ChrisKewl]

Some great stories, I really appreciated the backstory. Good job Ben!

[@jamesslick4790]

Great episode. Getting the backstory on how old or obscure material had been passed down to exist today is fascinating and is needed for context. 👍👍

[@MinoTheShow]

This helped me realize I saw a Rohauer dupe of Metropolis (with live score) once - had all the MoMa markings and was very far away from where it should have been if it were the real deal

[@TheVeryBlondeOne]

A comment to add in the discourse: I was researching Rohauer one day, and somewhere, the businessman Charles S. Cohen, through his Cohen Film Collection website, claims Raymond Rohauer claimed to be the "successor of Paramount short film library" e.g. Burns and Allen, WC Fields, Cab Calloway, though it makes no mention of the Max Fleischer cartoons and other assets, which has since been released in home videos and lists Republic Pictures as the rightful claimant, rather. My initial thought was that Rohauer bought the rights when the live-action short films were not viable for TV compared to cartoons, and kept it for a good while, but his actions of claiming copyright, as depicted in the video made me reconsider that thought. I love the Rohauer parody; without proper context, I never would have guessed it was one.

[@imrustyokay]

Surprisingly this is relevant to what's going on today with the whole Senator Thom Tillis copyright bill that he's trying to nail to the Budget Bill... and not disclosing the text too..and has publically accepted money from the big music corporations...it never ends, does it?

[@aiberlane3390]

Ugh, Tillis. I voted against him, but apparently it didn't do much good.

[@tommynesbitt4837]

If Tillis's opponent wasn't just a Coca-Cola cowboy, we wouldn't have this problem, but

[@josephsuarez9183]

I could watch more stories of the life and times of lesser known people. With the insight and stories and all that it's interesting.

[@raymondcabana1122]

It seems I should've been addressing a Ben rather than an Ed (don't even recall where I got that credit!). Sorry--BEN! I also have a subject on KZbin: "THE LINE-UP" [1929]--LOST CRIME TALKIE". It's believed to be the only known copy of this early-talkie crime short; the identity of the villain represents "a first", this in film; not fiction, where the ploy dates as far back as the late eighteen hundreds!/Cordially, Ray Cabana, Jr.

[@OddityArchive]

I figured you were trying to address Ed Watz further down the comments.

[@RickinBaltimore]

That intro, was this a hidden Oddity Archive...After Dark?

[@kevink973]

I'm surprised Rohauer never claimed he had Lillian Gish deported. Plus, I had no idea he dropped a dime on Everson. That's some pretty low stuff there.

[@lascheque]

Man, that "The End" card on the box shocked me for a moment. I thought you would announce the end of OA (I wasn't familar with the Rohauer name, so any context was beyond me).

[@soundminedd]

Quite a ballad❤❤❤

[@sawbonesquad4876]

KZbin's DMCA system would love this guy....

[@GeoNeilUK]

Wey, ye knaa what it is right? I didm the drnkin' game vwi' Raymopnd Rohauser or whatever ye caal him... aye, chim, his name and am aaal oot o' whisky, but, ye knaa what it is Ben... you're my best pal, seriously, I love yee, mate!

[@UNOwen1]

+Oddity Archive; a slight mispronounciation - and of A VERY well-known boulevard (a street); it's 'La See-ehn-eh-GAH', NOT 'La see-uh-neh-guh' (3:46). There's a track I've heard, I think it's La Cienega Just Smiled by Ryan Adams (NO; I'm NOT a fan of his). As I've said elsewhere, in other comments, I'm a huge fan of OA. Sometimes, I can get lost in therm - both the humour, and the educational aspects (yeah, they're both their) in each. I thank you - for the many hours I've personally enjoyed watching these episodes. As for the...despicable Mr Rohauser, the very funny David Shepard 'gift'-version is hysterical - simply for its verbosity (kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6q9qZZ4mNiVhNE). Though it's in no way similar to, it reminds me of the infamous short, Bambi Meets Godzilla, in that film, the viewer gets this opening shot of Bambi, and then endless opening credits roll on for a couple of minutes - all the while, Bambi'sv seem just munching on the grass. Finally, as the last credit leaves, all of the sudden, a giant for comes out of nowhere, and crushes Bambi, and then the words, 'The End'. Both exhibit dark humour in their own ways.

[@5roundsrapid263]

So basically, the ‘50s version of Something Weird Video?

[@this_is_angel74]

Thanks for fascinating episode. He was the OG troll

[@blainemason8218]

This was really interesting. Thanks!

[@Flofutz]

I think GOG learned from Rohauer. Sucking money out of something long gone.

[@3991justin]

Great research Ben!

[@SeanDamonGreene]

The comment about the end about Rohauer dying of either a heart-attack or the AIDS virus was rather off-putting and suspicious, otherwise, a very interesting and intriguing video.

[@OddityArchive]

Just being honest-and given that I couldn’t find anything conclusive for either cause of death, I opted to mention both. No judgment intended.

[@5roundsrapid263]

Back then, a lot of people who died of AIDS didn’t want it to be known.

[@jamesslick4790]

How is it "suspicious"? It's part of what's known. Not mentioning it would be incomplete history.

[@javiervidaurre6325]

Very well done historically, good writing/script, I learned much. Do you write books? Was it actor James Mason that bought Keaton's previous home and found the films stored under the main staircase of the house? Cut the first 3 minute intro montage cardboard sequence and the last minute. The cardboard box and hiding distracts from the topic at hand and I start thinking, who is this weirdo? :

[@Aeduo]

Yeah, Buffalo, NY person through and through haha.

[@TheSchmuck2]

Your opening wasn't snarky. It was an overt invocation of sexual assault and horrifying for anyone of any gender who has experienced such. I implore you reconsider making such poor jokes.

[@OddityArchive]

Well, that’s one of the more extreme examples of extrapolation I’ve seen in awhile-going from context (a concept) to assault (an action) in one step. I hope that was a joke that just went over my head, otherwise, I’d recommend an extended sabbatical from social media and an extra dose of fresh air. EDIT: Fixed typo.

[@TheSchmuck2]

@@ViewpointProd intersex isn't a gender. You have a lot to learn.

[@TheSchmuck2]

@@OddityArchive such a disappointing, unempathetic response. I hope you're never victimized in such a way.

[@Aquatarkus96]

EDIT: I don't think he was invoking sexual assault, that's a rather extreme thing to jump to don't you think? "having X shoved down your throat" is a well used figure of speech. I always associated it more with forced feeding than any sexual connotation. Forced feeding is done for the benefit of the person being fed, Ben is in a way "force feeding" context to the audience for our benefit, so we know the background of the story he is telling. I think you're reading too much into things. Like Ben already said, you should get some fresh air and time away form the screen my fellow human :)

[@OddityArchive]

@The Schmuck2 I feel like you're fishing for a specific response from me and I haven't given it.