PRIVATE LIVES : A Trip Down Celluloid Lane : Video companies are finding gold in old movies, mining their vaults to satisfy viewers who want to acquire treasured classics. But the list of what’s <i> not</i> available is a big part of the story.

Old is gold for video companies. Because movie buffs are collecting vintage flicks on tape in a big way, video companies are mining their vaults for celluloid nuggets.

MPI Home Video scored a big hit with this fall’s release of the 1953 John Wayne Western “Hondo.” Paramount Home Video has just released the 1934 Frank Capra comedy “Broadway Bill” and the 1950 remake “Riding High.”

MCA/Universal Home Video recently brought out the 1946 Bing Crosby-Fred Astaire musical “Blue Skies,” the 1937 Marlene Dietrich movie “Angel” and a collection of “Francis the Talking Mule” and Abbott & Costello comedies. Several companies are featuring lush gift sets of classics for the holidays.

But plenty of classic films still are not available on video, including the 1950 musical “Annie Get Your Gun,” the 1965 “Othello,” starring Laurence Olivier, and the 1943 Gary Cooper-Ingrid Bergman romance “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”

The older films obviously were made before there was such a thing as home video, so there often are legalities to hurdle.

“That’s something that people don’t understand,” says Corie Hazen, manager of marketing services for FoxVideo. “That’s why a lot of the really strong movies aren’t released--for various reasons that could range from music clearance issues to other legal issues.”

Those issues, says Hollace Brown, senior vice president, advertising and sales, for Paramount Home Video, “take quite frankly a while to research--it is quite an arduous process.”

Other times, there are holdups until a film can be restored to its original glory.

“We’ve been very careful in restoring all of our films, making sure all the footage is there, making sure it’s the best quality,” says Glenn Ross, senior vice president of marketing for Republic Entertainment Inc.

“If for some reason we can’t get ahold of high-quality elements, we don’t release it,” Hazen says. “We try to add value features on all of the classic films and include behind-the-scenes footage and theatrical trailers and Movietone News whenever possible.”

Says George Feltenstein, senior vice president and general manager of MGM/UA Home Video: “We put a great deal of care into how we transfer every thing. I’m proud of what we have been able to accomplish. . . . So many of the omissions that were gaping holes in our cinematic history a decade ago are just a couple of cracks now.”

Companies look for star power when choosing movies for release: Actors who have lost their luster and films that did poorly at the box office are less likely to be chosen for video release. Some video companies shy away from black-and-white films.

“We research titles in terms of what’s appealing on a timely basis,” Hazen says. “If a director is having a resurgence in a certain year or there’s an anniversary of a star or a director, we will consider one of those titles for release.”

‘W hat we are in the business of is publishing,” explains Ben Feingold, president of Columbia/TriStar Home Video. Columbia’s vintage films on tape include “It Happened One Night,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “From Here to Eternity,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “The Guns of Navarone.”

“These films have enduring value,” he says.

MGM/UA Home Video was one of the first companies to tap into the vintage video market when it seriously began releasing old movies in 1987. Among its classic bestsellers are “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone With the Wind,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Student Prince.”

But with so many films now in release, the company has decreased the annual number of “new” old films from 100 to roughly 20 to 30.

“We’ve released so many titles already,” Feltenstein explains. “Over 1,000 titles are available from what I consider the ‘classic’ portion of the library.”

Although plenty of movies are still available from the company’s rich library of MGM and pre-1949 Warner Bros. films, he says, “it’s just that there are many titles that would not be economically feasible for us to release. They are so obscure. There are just not enough people who would be interested.”

MGM/UA “really kind of created the marketplace for classic films as a collectible medium,” Feltenstein says. “One of the reasons we did it was out of necessity, because we’ve had such a cavalcade of different owners and managements that we haven’t had a consistent flow of new rental product. The other (reason) is that we are the keepers of the world’s greatest film library. We have an obligation to make those films available.”

Republic Home Video was also an early pioneer. “Republic has a library of 1,400 classic features,” Ross says. “Beyond that, we have another approximately 5,000 titles that Republic acquired.”

Each month, he says, “we probably put out as many as six classic titles. Some of it is product that we have re-released in the marketplace because we’ve found extra footage or we have created a collector’s edition or anniversary edition. We’re looking for ways to add value and find a new audience.”

Ross believes that the rise in the market is due to the fact that films are more affordable (they generally sell for less than $20) and are more readily available. “There were not a lot of stores that offered videocassettes for sale,” he explains. “Now there are more places to buy them.”

Says Paramount’s Brown: “You’ve a big group of consumers out there who like the notion of buying movies and collecting them. They just don’t do it for children. It has extended to people who have their emotional favorites.”

Paramount can tap into its library of all Paramount silent movies and features made after 1948. (MCA/Universal owns all pre-1949 Paramount films.)

FoxVideo is a newcomer in the field of old movies. The company didn’t pursue that market until it moved from New York to Los Angeles three years ago. Fox-Video’s Studio Classics line releases a classic film the first Wednesday of each month. Titles released in recent years include “Anna and the King of Siam,” “Laura,” “Jane Eyre,” “A Letter to Three Wives” and “I Was a Male War Bride.” Fox’s Hollywood’s Golden Age lines feature collections of films featuring such studio stars as Tyrone Power, Alice Faye and Sonja Henie.

Video companies are well aware of consumer demands and requests for movies.

“Consumer mail and consumer requests are what drew our attention to the fact that we ought to be mining our catalogues,” Hazen says. “The Studio Classics line was born out of that demand.”

FoxVideo has also given fans a voice with its FoxVideo Movie Club, which was founded nearly three years ago. The 300,000 members of the free club are given the opportunity to cast their votes on what movies they want to see on video.

“It’s a way to give consumers a voice and a direct line to the studio,” she says. “The voting is very successful.”

Witness the impending release of “Anastasia,” the 1956 drama that won Ingrid Bergman her second Oscar. “It is one of the most highly requested films in our history,” Hazen says. “For a number of reasons we were unable to release it, but we are releasing it in 1995.”*

Missing in Action

Ten movies you probably didn’t know are unavailable on video:

“Annie Get Your Gun” (1950). Starring Betty Hutton and Howard Keel.

“The Big Carnival” (1951). With Kirk Douglas; directed by Billy Wilder.

“The Blue Dahlia” (1946). Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.

“Call Me Madam” (1953). Ethel Merman and Donald O’Connor.

“The Detective Story” (1951). Starring Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker; directed by William Wyler.

“The Killers” (1946). Burt Lancaster’s first film.

“The Major and the Minor” (1942). With Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland; Billy Wilder’s directorial debut.

“Othello” (1965). Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith.

“Porgy and Bess” (1959). Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge.

“The Sun Also Rises” (1957). Tyrone Power and Ava Gardner.