The Rialto Report recently facilitated the purchase of one of the most important film collections in adult film history – the Mitchell Brothers Film Group library – by Distribpix Inc. & Vinegar Syndrome. We are please to present the press release below.
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Press Release, September 20, 2025
MELUSINE WELCOMES THE MITCHELL BROTHERS FILM GROUP
Bridgeport,Connecticut – Distribpix Inc. & Vinegar Syndrome, under the Melusine umbrella, are incredibly pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Mitchell Brothers catalog, including their iconic 1972 film, BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR, starring Marilyn Chambers.
Between 1969 and 1989, Jim and Artie Mitchell produced and directed more than 200 short and feature films, often created in collaboration with the other members of their Cinema 7 film collective. Their body of work encompasses some of the 1970s most celebrated erotic blockbusters, including RESURRECTION OF EVE (1973), SODOM & GOMORRAH (1975), and AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FLEA (1976), while their landmark 1972 production BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR broke down walls of censorship as few films either before or after have achieved.
A near instant commercial and critical hit, notable for its transgressive attitudes towards sexual liberation as well as its exceptional visual effect work, GREEN DOOR launched its star Marilyn Chambers into international fame. Following the success of the film, Chambers would quickly become one of the most recognizable and influential sex symbols of the 1970s and beyond.
Throughout their careers, The Mitchell Bros advocated tirelessly against censorship and in defense of free speech and artistic expression, fighting countless battles in both local and federal courts and winning victories which have helped safeguard the First Amendment rights of all Americans. Meanwhile, out of their San Francisco based O’Farrell Theatre, they launched an erotic film empire, including operating a movie theatre chain, helping to bring theatrical films to home video, and creating often controversial live shows. In the 1980s they continued pushing boundaries in the face of the AIDS crisis by promoting Safe-Sex practices and creating the very first hardcore Safe-Sex feature film, BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR – THE SEQUEL (1986), along with the educational short MISSY’S GUIDE TO SAFE SEX (1987).
The acquisition by Distribpix & Vinegar Syndrome of the Mitchell Brothers Film Group catalog was facilitated by Ashley West, whose website and podcast, The Rialto Report, has become the preeminent source for the oral and cultural history of American sexploitation and hardcore cinema from the earliest days of nudies through to the VHS boom of the 1980s. Speaking of the significance of The Mitchell Bros, West said, “We are delighted to have assisted in bringing the Mitchell Brothers Film Group catalog into the Distribpix Inc. and Vinegar Syndrome group. This group of films is arguably the most important west coast collection of its kind, and much of it has never been seen since its original release. There is no better company to oversee the project of curating and reissuing this historically significant collection, and thus properly revealing much of the exciting, untold story of the early adult film industry.”
Owner of Distribpix, Steven Morowitz, echoed this enthusiasm saying “The Mitchell Bros were a cornerstone in the creation of adult cinema and have rightfully been celebrated as amongst the most important figures in genre’s history. It brings me immense pride to continue distribution of their impressive filmography through the joint efforts of Distribpix & Vinegar Syndrome, thus connecting the historic legacies of adult cinema on both the West and East coasts. Without Ashley, this acquisition would never have happened and I am extremely grateful for all of his hard work and dedication to the preservation of classic adult film history. I cannot think of another person who has done more to record and save the stories of this industry.”
Co-founder of Vinegar Syndrome, Joe Rubin, added: “It’s been a dream come true to acquire the rights of The Mitchell Brothers Film Group in partnership with Distribpix, and even more exciting to bring their film elements into our archive. Their work represents the critical bridge between the underground and experimental film worlds to commercial hardcore features. Always rebellious and never afraid to push the bluenoses’ buttons, as artists as well as activists, this collection is a crown jewel with amazing discoveries still being made as we explore its contents.”
Distribpix & Vinegar Syndrome will be reintroducing the Mitchell Bros. Catalog on home video starting in November, with the 4K UHD and Blu-ray debut of BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR. This deluxe, three-disc edition will present a new 4K restoration of the feature, as well as extensive new and archival extras.
Contributing extensively to the release is Jared Stearns, author of the recently published PURE: The Sexual Revolution of Marilyn Chambers, a comprehensive biography of Chambers as well as her role in the success of The Mitchell Bros. Jared’s expertise on Chambers, The Mitchell’s, and San Francisco will be featured in several video and audio pieces on this initial release as well as all subsequent Mitchell releases featuring Chambers.
About Distribpix & Vinegar Syndrome:
Distribpix, Inc was formed in 1965 by Arthur Morowitz & Howard Farber and quickly became one of the most significant producers and distributors of New York based sexploitation and hardcore features. The company is now operated by Arthur’s son Steven Morowitz.
Vinegar Syndrome was founded in 2012 by Ryan Emerson & Joe Rubin as a means of finding and restoring rare, overlooked, and often lost genre cinema on home video. They have since restored and released over 700 films.
About Melusine:
In the summer of 2023, Distribpix & Vinegar Syndrome formed Melusine, as a sister entity to Vinegar Syndrome and to focus specifically on restored home video editions of erotic films, including its flagship Melusine line, as well as the brands Quality X, Peekarama, Distribpix, Command Cinema, and most recently, Pink Line. In November, Mitchell Brothers Film Group will join Melusine’s roster of brands.
About the Film Archive:
Distribpix & Vinegar Syndrome collectively control the largest holding of American erotic theatrical feature films, with the rights to over 650 titles produced between the 1960s and early 90s contained in their combined libraries. They also oversee the world’s largest film archive specifically devoted to genre and cult cinema, which houses film elements for more than 2000 different feature films as well as thousands of shorts, amounting to over 40,000 individual cans of film, thus ranking it as the largest non-studio and non-institutional archival film holding in The United States.
Amazing. You’re work on preservation of this important artwork is unparalleled. Much respect. Thank you.
Oh my, goodness!
This is terrific news! I cannot wait for the re-release of the Grafenberg Spot!
You do such a good job of covering The Golden Era. Have you guys ever thought about delving into the 90’s and 2000’s era of adult?
Thanks Gene – greatly appreciate your words.
Our interest in primarily in the creation of a new business, the characteristics of the very first participants, and how the world reacted to it. Once it became a corporate business, it loses our interest.
Never say never though…
I understand, thanks for the reply.
Omg Ashley,thank you so every much for your hard work in seeing to it that the Mitchell brothers legacy will be preserved and even expanded upon. I have always been an admirer of their legendary work in XXX films and of their groundbreaking partnership with Marilyn. I always wondered what would happen to the archival material from Cinema 7 that the family possessed after the brothers tragic end. I eagerly await the rereleases with the aforementioned bonus materials. Additionally I thank you and Jared Stearns for all of the articles and materials related to Marilyn and Chuck. The coverage and preservation of these formative icons of the adult industry is greatly appreciated by myself and countless others.
My only small complaint about VS/Mesuline, is that they tend to release items in very limited runs. Many times I’ve gone looking for a DVD, only to find it’s out-of-print and only available at prohibitive cost on the used collector market – if at all. Also, it’s great that multi-disc deluxe editions are available for those who can afford them right away, but it would be very nice if the movies were also issued (maybe later?) in a single disc “budget” edition. With digital media, there’s really no reason for items to go out-of-print unless one is trying to create scarcity for monetary reasons. In all though, this is very good news indeed!
VS does have some issues, but the availability of their DVDs is because they weren’t selling and they stopped regularly releasing them in October 2018 with The Bride’s Initiation. The only other DVD release was attempted in March 2020 when they tried to relaunch the Peekarama line with Frankie & Johnny Were Lovers / The Mislayed Genie and Carnal Highways / Carnal Olympics. Sales were dismal on those as well. VS had to blow out their stock over several years at rock bottom prices. Businesses can’t afford to sit on stock that barely moves, so they can’t keep them in print forever. It’s unfortunate that you may have discovered them late, but we can’t blame VS that their almost decade-old DVDs aren’t available.
The price of their deluxe editions is harder to defend. But they are certainly a beautiful product when you hold them in your hands. A lot of care and effort goes into them. And most of their releases can be purchased in a standard edition which will save you a few dollars, but I don’t think they’ve re-released any multi-disc sets cut down to one disc. Most of them include more than one film, not just extras, so the single disc editions would likely be missing a film.
Wonderful news! I’d love to see “Let Me Tell ‘Ya ‘Bout Black Chicks” (1985) restored to it’s original glory. James Braswell
Ashley, the work the Rialto Report does is outstanding and in my opinion critically important to not just the history of adult cinema but cinema as a whole.
Please, Please, Please tell me this means a remastered BluRay of Behind The Green Door.
Yup! Coming in November!!!
“Distribpix & Vinegar Syndrome will be reintroducing the Mitchell Brothers catalog on home video starting in November 2025, with the 4K UHD and Blu-ray debut of BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR. This deluxe, three-disc edition will present a new 4K restoration of the feature, as well as extensive new and archival extras. Contributing extensively to the release is Jared Stearns, author of the recently published PURE: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers, a comprehensive biography of Chambers as well as her role in the success of the Mitchell Brothers. Jared’s expertise on Chambers, the Mitchells, and San Francisco will be featured in several video and audio pieces on this initial release as well as subsequent Mitchell releases featuring Chambers.”
This is great to learn. Would love for Melusine and its partners to do 4K uncut releases of such films as Seven Into Snowy, candy stripers, Insatiable, Damiano’s Odyssey and The Satisfyers of Alpha Blue, amongst others.
Thank you as always for sharing this great news regarding the partnership and a continued dedication to the Golden Era.
P.S. still enjoy thinking about my live call with Steven Horowitz 10-12 years ago when the Metzger films were getting the Golden treatment.
Brilliant guys I’m looking forward to seeing it or obtaining a copy very soon as it historically shows American pop culture in heights of 70s and 80s especially when I watched it on European pay tv from Scandinavian filmnet thanks!
Awesome Article Keep Up Good Work
Mighty Congrats on aquiring the Mitchell Brothers film catalog,for that is truly awesome news to hear.
I am praying for (and looking forward to) an eventual re-release of the “Ultracore” (or “Ultra Core”) series of short films that were released by the Mitchell Brothers in approximately 1974. A number of these shorts were packaged into a single film for theatrical release and some of the imagery has been burned into my mind ever since.
Wonderful news! I loved all the Mitchell Brothers’ work. For whatever reason I’d think if a film had the Mitchell Brothers’ associated with it – it’s bound to be good! Thank you for your work to preserve these great films.
I’m in complete agreement with Fred… The ULTRA CORE series was SMOKING HOT.
Not really x-rated films at all, just well produced documentary footage that precisely captured the wild and crazy live shows which were taking place at the Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre.
You are not alone Fred. The images are brilliantly burned into the minds of so many.
I think this is great news, although bear in mind that anything with Traci Lords in it will still have to be cut.
I look forward to the rest of this great venture. Film preservation is important. Good luck!