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Frank Claudius (1927); Emperor of the Planet of Rotting Fish (1934)
I am starting a new thread about these titles because I received an unsatisfactory answer to my inquiry regarding Frank Claudius, and I suspect that I will get one for the other film as well, as the same problem applies to both titles. (See https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/data-issues-policy-discussions/there-was-no-internet-in-1927/6a5d4f44d032a48cd1551f95 for the original thread.)
The films in question are:
Frank Claudius (1927): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt39316665/releaseinfo/
Emperor of the Planet of Rotting Fish (1934): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt39378035/releaseinfo/
(Incidentally, the title for Emperor is miscapitalized, but that's hardly the main problem. I'm referring to it with standard capitalization here.)
As you will see from the Release Date page for each film, Frank Claudius is listed as being first released in 1927 in the UK on the Internet. Other release dates for this film include the USA and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1963, both also on the Internet, and New Zealand in 1980, also on the Internet.
Emperor is listed as being first released in the USA in 1934 on the Internet, and then in Nigeria in 1963, also on the Internet.
Hopefully everyone here is already aware that there were not even any computers as we know them in 1927 or 1934, much less was there an Internet at the time. The predecessor network to the Internet did not exist until the late 1960s (i.e. after 1963), nor was it possible to distribute movies on the Internet in 1980. Hence, all the release dates mentioned above must be fake.
I submitted requests to delete both films on the grounds that they have fake data. If these are real films which have been listed with fake release dates for some reason, they can be re-submitted with correct data. Of course, if these films were actually made since the year 2000 (and if they were ever made, I assume that it was since that year), the submitter would normally be expected to provide a Miscellaneous Link for each film. Currently each film has just one external link listed -- in each case, it's a YouTube link which says "This video isn't available anymore." No other evidence has been provided of these films' existence.
I received a response from IMDb to my request to delete Frank Claudius. Here's what it said:
Hello there,
Thank you for your message.
Our aim is to be the most complete and reliable source of movie information on the web. Therefore, in order to continue offering our users an accurate and trustworthy service, it is our policy not to alter or delete any correct and factual information or credits from our records.
In line with this policy, we are unable to delete this title because it exists and was made available to the public, as indicated by the release date shown here:
https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt39316665/details
However, if you believe that any of the information associated with the title is incorrect, we encourage you to submit a correction along with supporting evidence so that our editors can review and verify the requested changes.
To update a release date on a title, please refer to our Help guide, which provides step-by-step instructions:
https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/titles/release-dates/GVUUDEPJNAW6G35P?ref_=helpcs_c#howtosubmit
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Best regards,
IMDb.com
Is IMDb seriously trying to tell me that the release details at https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt39316665/details which say that Frank Claudius was released on the Internet on January 5, 1927 prove that the film was released and is available to the public? (Non-IMDbPro users: The information on that page is substantially the same as what appears at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt39316665/releaseinfo/ .)
Or, more likely, did nobody at IMDb actually read my message and think about what it said? Did they just push it off to be dealt with by the automatic response software?



Ozzy
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3 hours ago
Hi gromit82,
Thank you so much for raising this issue with us again, we really appreciate your dedication to IMDb here.
I have seen to the removal of these two titles from the database, based on the information you have correctly highlighted here. The titles should appear as deleted from the site shortly. We're also taking further steps to prevent the contribution of clearly ineligible release dates, to ensure submissions such as these can't be listed on IMDb going forward.
Lastly, I apologize for the response you've received and copied in above. This is being escalated to the relevant team for review and staff retraining purposes.
Thanks again!
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