Editing Get Carter (section)

===Theatrical===
[[File:Get Carter bus advertisement.jpg|thumb|right|A London [[AEC Routemaster]] bus bearing promotional posters for ''Get Carter''.]]
The world premiere for ''Get Carter'' was held in Los Angeles on 3 February 1971.<ref name=AFI/> The film finally opened for general release across the UK on 10 March 1971 and in the US on 18 March, where it was rated [[X rating#United States|'X']] for violence and female nudity, meaning it was for adults only.<ref name=Erickson>{{cite news |last=Erickson |first=Hal |title=Get Carter- Trailer |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/92874/Get-Carter/overview# |access-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522065112/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/92874/Get-Carter/overview |archive-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=dead |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was later reclassified as [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|'R']], meaning children under the age of 17 had to be accompanied by an adult.<ref name=AFI/> A censored version was released in West Germany on 6 August 1971, with a running time nine minutes shorter than the original. Michael Klinger was involved in promotion of the film in the UK, using the experience from his background as a distributor to conduct a strong advertising campaign. [[Teaser poster]]s for the film appeared on the front of buses across London, featuring the tagline "Caine is Carter".<ref name=Klinger/>

The original [[Film poster#United Kingdom|British quad poster]] with artwork by [[Arnaldo Putzu]], in common with many film posters, has aspects or images that differ from the finished screen version. Carter is depicted wearing a gaudy floral jacket, as opposed to the dark raincoat and mohair suit he wears in the film. Asked in 2006, Putzu could not remember his artistic rationale for painting the floral jacket, but said he was painting a lot of flowers in designs at that time.<ref name="Branaghan-2007">{{cite web |last=Branaghan |first=Sim |title=Transcript of 'British Film Posters' podcast, Talk given in August 2007 at the Walker Art Gallery |url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/podcasts/transcripts/british_film_posters.asp |work=Liverpool Museums British Film Posters |publisher=National Museums Liverpool |access-date=27 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008035228/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/podcasts/transcripts/british_film_posters.asp |archive-date=8 October 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Chibnall describes the [[flower power]] imagery as "what seems like a desperate and misguided attempt to suggest the hipness of a genre which had largely fallen out of favour".<ref>Chibnall, p. 90</ref> However, movie poster expert Sim Branaghan liked its eccentricity, calling it was "that kind of quirkiness you wouldn't get these days".<ref name="Branaghan-2007"/> [[Jonny Trunk]] of [[Trunk Records]]—a long-time aficionado of the film and its history—has observed that the floral pattern of Carter's jacket is taken from the distinctive pillow and matching sheet design from the bed in the scene where Britt Ekland writhes naked whilst on the phone to Jack. The poster also places Carter's shotgun in Eric's hands, and features a grappling man and woman who seem to belong to a different film.<ref>Chibnall, p. 133, footnote 1</ref> Promotional shots and poster artwork exist from the film showing Carter holding a [[pump-action shotgun]]; in the finished film, the only shotgun used by Carter is a double-barrelled shotgun, which Carter finds on top of his brother Frank's wardrobe.

MGM sold distribution rights to the film in the U.S. to its future subsidiary [[United Artists]], which promoted it poorly, amidst worries the cockney dialogue in the opening scene would be unintelligible to U.S. audiences. The film's release was delayed while parts of the film were redubbed, with no great improvement.<ref name="BFI-06-11-1999"/> In the process of redubbing the opening, the version of the film with the original dialogue was lost. For years the version shown on British television was the redubbed American cut.<ref name="BFI-06-11-1999">{{cite news |title=Entertainment Get Carter: Original and best |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/365620.stm |url-status=live |publisher=BBC News |date=11 June 1999 |access-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040607215937/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/365620.stm |archive-date=7 June 2004 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> UA placed the film on the declining [[Drive-in theater|drive-in movie circuit]],<ref name="Mayer-2003"/> where it played at the bottom of a [[Double feature|double bill]] with ''[[Dirty Dingus Magee]]'', a [[Star vehicle|vehicle]] for [[Frank Sinatra]].<ref name="Kornbluth-2005">{{cite web |last=Kornbluth |first=Jesse |title=Get Carter directed by Mike Hodges |url=http://headbutler.com/movies/drama/get-carter|work=Head Butler, 2005|publisher=Head Butler, Inc.|access-date=16 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129220533/http://headbutler.com/movies/drama/get-carter|archive-date=29 November 2010|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Monahan|first=William|title=Top 5 British Crime and Suspense Films from the '60s and '70s|journal=Slate|date=11 November 2011|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/11/11/william_monahan_picks_his_favorite_british_crime_films.html|access-date=16 March 2012|author-link=William Monahan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318113129/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/11/11/william_monahan_picks_his_favorite_british_crime_films.html|archive-date=18 March 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Michael Klinger complained in 1974 to president of UA [[Eric Pleskow]] about the lacklustre promotion of ''Carter'', and tried to get him to relinquish the U.S. rights to the film so that Klinger could find a better distributor.<ref name="uwe-klinger">{{cite web|last=Klinger|first=Michael|title=Promotion problems in America for 'Get Carter' and 'Pulp'|url=http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/docs1/getcarter.pdf|work=The Michael Klinger Papers: DocumentsThe University of West England website|publisher=uwe.ac.uk|access-date=20 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908205337/http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/docs1/getcarter.pdf|archive-date=8 September 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The film did not encounter many censorship problems, although the scene where Carter knifes Albert Swift caused concern for the censor [[John Trevelyan (censor)|John Trevelyan]].<ref>Chibnall, 2003, p. 76</ref> In South Africa the censor cut out Britt Ekland's phone sex scene, shortening her already brief role; her name was still left on the poster, leaving filmgoers to wonder why she was advertised as appearing.<ref name="Chibnall, p. 61">Chibnall, p. 61</ref>

A resurgence of critical and public interest in the film in the 1990s led to the [[British Film Institute]] (BFI) releasing a new print of the film in 1999. It worked with Hodges to restore the film, with Hodges sourcing another set of negatives of the original opening, which were found in the archives of the BBC. The team then [[Film splicer|spliced]] the beginning segment onto a high-quality print of the film.<ref name="BFI-06-11-1999"/> The reissue premiered at the [[National Film Theatre]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Film |first=Total |title=Get Carter BFI reissue review |url=http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/get-carter |work=Total Film 1999 |publisher=Future Publishing, Ltd. |access-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317022826/http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/get-carter |archive-date=17 March 2011 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and went on general release on 11 June 1999, showing at the [[Tyneside Cinema]] in Newcastle.<ref name="BFI-06-11-1999"/>

On 16 March 2022, the BFI announced that they would be partnering with [[Warner Bros.]] and [[Warner Bros. Home Entertainment]] for a re-release of the film at the [[BFI Southbank]] as part of their retrospective program ''Return of the Outsider: The Films of Mike Hodges'', which ran from May 1 to May 31 and included various in-person events such as "Mike Hodges in Conversation" on May 3; this was followed by a wide release in British and Irish cinemas on 27 May. This release utilised a new 4K restoration of the film's original camera negative, which was approved by Hodges.<ref name="2022 rerelease">{{cite web |title=BFI brings Get Carter back to big and small screens |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/get-carter-re-release-michael-caine |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=5 May 2022 |date=16 May 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>