Connection
Orion Classics
If you like this company, let us know!
Foundation date 1 january 1983
Orion Classics was the division of Orion Pictures, headed by Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, and Marcie Bloom, that acquired independent and foreign films for North American distribution, in addition to producing some arthouse films of its own. It was launched in 1983 when Barker, Bernard and Donna Gigliotti moved from UA Classics, a United Artists specialty division.
Among its most notable films were Babette's Feast, Pedro Almodóvar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train and Richard Linklater's Slacker.
In late 1991, when Orion Pictures was in serious financial trouble, Barker, Bernard, and Bloom left Orion Classics, taking the rights to the highly anticipated Merchant Ivory Productions adaptation of Howards End with them; at the invite of former Orion president Mike Medavoy, who was now relocated at TriStar Pictures, the three set up Sony Pictures Classics, with Howards End as the company's first release.
In the mid-1990s, Metromedia acquired Orion, and merged the classics division into the Samuel Goldwyn Company. Both Orion and SGC were sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1997, with the latter's function of producing and/or distributing independent films being assumed by MGM's United Artists division.
Best films
Filmography of Orion Classics (28 films)
Production
Add to a movie list
Privates on Parade (1983)
, 1h40Directed by Michael Blakemore
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War, Comedy, Musical
Themes Military humor in film, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Films based on plays, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors John Cleese, David Bamber, Michael Elphick, Bruce Payne, John Standing, Nicola Pagett
Distribution
One Man's Hero (1999)
, 2h6Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Historical, Western
Actors Tom Berenger, Joaquim de Almeida, Mark Moses, Daniela Romo, Patrick Bergin, James Gammon
The story centers around Sgt. John Riley and 16 men of his U.S. Army battalion who (against military law) are whipped for "desertion" only because they had traveled (permission denied) to the Mexican side of the border to fulfill their religious obligation to attend Mass, and because they are thought to be "Papists" whose loyalty is ipso facto suspect in the eyes of their Protestant commanders. Sgt. Riley, with regard for the safety and well-being of his men, releases them at gun-point from the lash. He escorts them across the border to Mexico to hopefully find at Vera Cruz a ship back to Ireland, only to be violently captured by the revolutionary Juan Cortina as enemies of Mexico. Riley, wounded in his thigh, is nursed by Cortina's woman Marta. As Cortina considers what to eventually do with Riley and his men, news arrives that the U.S. and Mexico are now at war, and if they are captured they could be hanged. Because of this, the Irish deserters are presented with the choice of joining and fighting on the side of the Mexican revolutionaries under Cortina, or be executed by him as enemies of his country.
Jeffrey (1995)
, 1h32Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Films based on plays, LGBT-related films, HIV/AIDS in film, LGBT-related film
Actors Steven Weber, Michael T. Weiss, Patrick Stewart, Bryan Batt, Sigourney Weaver, Kathy Najimy
The story takes place in Manhattan during the height of the AIDS epidemic and revolves around the title character (Steven Weber), a gay man who has sworn off sex because of it. Almost immediately thereafter he meets Steve (Michael T. Weiss), a hunky, charming HIV positive man. He then experiences an emotional conflict as he must face his fear in order to accept love, often breaking the fourth wall to do so.
Bar Girls (1994)
, 1h35Origin USA
Genres Comedy-drama, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Films based on plays, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Camila Griggs
Nostradamus (1994)
, 1h59Directed by Roger Christian
Origin France
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical
Themes Films about writers
Actors Tchéky Karyo, F. Murray Abraham, Rutger Hauer, Amanda Plummer, Julia Ormond, Assumpta Serna
Physicien et astrologue, Nostradamus a de nombreuses visions de l'avenir. Il doit faire face à l'Inquisition et va à l'encontre des théories scientifiques de son époque. Mais il parvient à enrayer une épidémie de peste et parvient à entrer à la cour du roi Charles IX.
Boxing Helena (1993)
, 1h47Directed by Jennifer Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Crime, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities, Erotic thriller films
Actors Sherilyn Fenn, Julian Sands, Bill Paxton, Kurtwood Smith, Art Garfunkel, Ted Manson
Nick Cavanaugh (Julian Sands) is a lonely Atlanta surgeon obsessed with a woman named Helena (Sherilyn Fenn). After she suffers a high grade tibial fracture in a hit-and-run motor vehicle accident in front of his home, he kidnaps and treats her in his house surreptitiously, amputating both of her legs above the knee.
Rain Without Thunder (1993)
, 1h25Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction
Themes Pregnancy films, Films about sexuality, Films set in the future, Documentary films about politics, Political films, Dystopian films
Actors Betty Buckley, Carolyn McCormick, Jeff Daniels, Robert Earl Jones, Linda Hunt, Iona Morris
Note: This plot summary is a linear account of the Goldrings' story. The film itself does not reveal all plot details in order.
Slacker (1991)
, 1h40Directed by Richard Linklater
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Films about anarchism, Politique, Political films
Actors Richard Linklater, Abra Moore, Athiná-Rachél Tsangári, Lee Daniel, Robert Jacks, Tommy Pallotta
Slacker is a uniquely structured and seemingly plotless film, following a single day in the life of an ensemble of mostly under-40 bohemians and misfits in Austin, Texas. The film follows various characters and scenes, never staying with one character or conversation for more than a few minutes before picking up someone else in the scene and following them. The characters include Linklater as a talkative taxi passenger, a UFO buff who insists the U.S. has been on the moon since the 1950s, a JFK conspiracy theorist, an elderly anarchist who befriends a man trying to rob his house, a serial television set collector, and a hipster woman trying to sell a Madonna pap smear. The woman selling the pap smear appears on the film poster, and was played by Butthole Surfers drummer Teresa Taylor. Most of the characters grapple with feelings of social exclusion or political marginalization, which are recurring themes in their conversations. They discuss social class, terrorism, joblessness, and government control of the media.
The Adjuster (1991)
, 1h42Directed by Atom Egoyan
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Elias Koteas, Arsinée Khanjian, Maury Chaykin, Gabrielle Rose, David Hemblen, Jennifer Dale
The Adjuster tells the story of an insurance adjuster who becomes intimate with his clients. The adjuster initially appears to want to help his clients but as the movie unfolds it is clear that the situation is more complex. He seems to be somehow a victim of his own situation.
, 2hDirected by John Bailey
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Documentary
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Lily Tomlin
A Woman's Tale (1991)
, 1h33Directed by Paul Cox
Genres Drama, Comedy
Actors Sheila Florance, Gosia Dobrowolska, Norman Kaye, Chris Haywood
Martha (Florance) is an elderly woman living alone in her flat and dying of cancer. Her love of life leads to an ambivalence about her age; her unique moral code leads to her playing cupid for her friend and nurse Anna (Dobrowolska) and Anna’s married lover (Gray); her worrisome son (Haywood) wants her to move into a home; her neighbour Billy (Kaye) has dementia.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
, 2h15Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Origin France
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Historical, Romance
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, Vincent Pérez, Jacques Weber, Roland Bertin, Philippe Morier-Genoud
Cyrano de Bergerac (Gérard Depardieu) is a Parisian poet and swashbuckler with a large nose of which he is self-conscious, but pretends to be proud of. He is madly in love with his "friendly cousin" (they were not actually related as cousins), the beautiful Roxane (Anne Brochet); however, he does not believe she will requite his love because he considers himself physically unattractive, because of his over large nose. Soon, he finds that Roxane has become infatuated with Christian de Neuvillette (Vincent Pérez), a dashing new recruit to the Cadets de Gascogne, the military unit in which Cyrano is serving. Christian however, despite his good looks, is tongue-tied when speaking with women. Seeing an opportunity to vicariously declare his love for Roxane, he decides to aid Christian, who does not know how to court a woman and gain her love.
Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1989)
, 1h40Directed by Dominique Deruddere
Origin Belgique
Genres Drama
Themes Films about immigration
Actors Joe Mantegna, Faye Dunaway, Burt Young, Ornella Muti, Michael Bacall, Alex Vincent
The film follows the Bandini family as they struggle through hard times in 1920s Colorado. Unemployed and broke, Svevo Bandini (Joe Mantegna) tries to come up with the money his family needs to make it through the winter, while putting up with his difficult mother-in-law (Renata Vanni), his nervous wife (Ornella Muti), and his two young boys.
Mystery Train (1989)
, 1h53Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Crime
Themes Radio, Transport films, Rail transport films
Actors Yūki Kudō, Masatoshi Nagase, Cinqué Lee, Nicoletta Braschi, Elizabeth Bracco, Rick Aviles
The film consists of three stories that take place on the same night in downtown Memphis. The three stories are linked together by the Arcade Hotel, a run-down flophouse presided over by the night clerk (Screamin' Jay Hawkins) and bellboy (Cinqué Lee), where the principal characters in each story spend a part of the night. Every room in the hotel is adorned with a portrait of Elvis Presley.
Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)
, 1h18Directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Origin Finlande
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Transport films, Musical films, Road movies
Actors Matti Pellonpää, Kari Väänänen, Jim Jarmusch, Sakari Kuosmanen, Mato Valtonen
The Leningrad Cowboys, a band with foot-long quiff hairstyles and long Winklepicker shoes to match, are seeking success in Siberia, but nobody seems to like their music, except for the mute village idiot, Igor (Kari Väänänen). Thwarted by a lack of local commercial potential, they are encouraged to move to America, for people will "buy anything" there. They depart for New York, bringing with them a band member who had frozen the previous night while practicing outside.