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Harold P. “Harry” Archinal, the man widely considered to have practically invented the international film distribution business, was the only child of Harry Paul Archinal and Catherine L. Peters. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 3, 1928, he was, in a sense, “born” into the movie business. His father had worked for Samuel Goldwyn Productions for 39 years as company treasurer.

Having received a bachelor of arts from Wagner College, in Staten Island, New York, Harry was drafted into the Army in 1951 and served three years in the Signal Corps. He attained the rank of first lieutenant and served overseas in Japan and South Korea before leaving the Army in 1953.

Following his discharge, Harry started working for Disney in March 1954 as a clerk in the foreign department at the New York office of the Buena Vista Distribution Company, which was founded by Disney in 1953 to distribute its films. It was a part-time position that earned Harry $50 per week while he continued his graduate work for a master of arts in history, which he was eventually awarded from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

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