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Aben Kandel
Aben Kandel (15 August 1897 – 28 January 1993) was an American screenwriter, novelist, and (earlier in life) boxer. He was screenwriter on such classic B movies as ''I Was A Teenage Werewolf'', Joan Crawford's final movie ''Trog'', and one of Leonard Nimoy's first starring vehicles, ''Kid Monk Baroni''. He is the father of poetess Lenore Kandel and screenwriter Stephen Kandel. Biography Born in Berlad, Romania, Kandel came to the United States as a child and was educated at New York University and its law school. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and later enlisted in the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey. He began writing novels in 1927 and wrote two hit plays ''Hot Money'' (1931) that was filmed as ''High Pressure'' (1932) and ''Hot Money'' (1936), and translated a German play ''Die Wunderbar'' by Geza Herczeg and Karl Farkas together with Irving Caesar where the pair added their own songs calling at ''The Wonder Bar'' that was acquired by Al Jolson and filmed in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
B Movies
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature (akin to B-sides for recorded music). However, the U.S. production of films intended as second features largely ceased by the end of the 1950s. With the emergence of commercial television at that time, film studio B movie production departments changed into television film production divisions. They created much of the same type of content in low budget films and series. The term ''B movie'' continues to be used in its broader sense to this day. In its post-Golden Age usage, B movies can range from lurid exploitation films to independent arthouse films. In either usage, most B movies represent a particular genre—the Western was a Golden Age B movie staple, while low-budget science-fiction and horror films became more popular in the 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sing And Like It
''Sing and Like It'' is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy film directed by William A. Seiter from a screenplay by Marion Dix and Laird Doyle, based on the unpublished short story ''So You Won't Sing, Eh?'' by Aben Kandel. The film stars ZaSu Pitts, Pert Kelton, and Edward Everett Horton. Plot summary Cast * ZaSu Pitts as Anne Snodgrass * Pert Kelton as Ruby * Edward Everett Horton as Adam Frick * Nat Pendleton as T. Fenny Syĺvester * Ned Sparks as Toots McGuire * John Qualen as Oswald * Matt McHugh as Junker * Stanley Fields as Butch * William H. Griffith as Webster, Frink's secretary * Roy D'Arcy as Mr. Gregory, The leading man * Joseph Sauers Joe Sawyer (born Joseph Sauers, August 29, 1906 – April 21, 1982) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1927 and 1962, and was sometimes billed under his birth name. Early life Sawyer was born August 29, 1 ... as Gunner References External links * * * * 1934 films 1934 comedy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berserk!
''Berserk!'' is a 1967 British horror-thriller film starring Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Diana Dors and Judy Geeson in a macabre mother-daughter tale about a circus plagued with murders. The screenplay was written by Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel, and the film directed by Jim O'Connolly. ''Berserk!'' marks Crawford's penultimate big-screen appearance. Plot Monica Rivers (Joan Crawford) and Dorando (Michael Gough) co-own a travelling English circus. Monica acts as ringmistress and Dorando her business manager. When tightrope walker Gaspar the Great is strangled when his tightrope breaks, it appears that his rope might have been purposely weakened and police initiate an investigation, discovering no perpetrator. Monica's unemotional reaction to the tragedy alarms Dorando. When she suggests Gaspar's death will be good publicity, he asks her to buy him out, which she is unable to do. Monica hires a new tightrope walker, Frank Hawkins (Ty Hardin). Not only is he handsome, but he is al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Zoo
''Black Zoo'' is a 1963 American horror film directed by Robert Gordon and starring Michael Gough, Jeanne Cooper, Rod Lauren, Virginia Grey, Jerome Cowan, and Elisha Cook, Jr. It was produced and co-written by Herman Cohen. It is a violent, gore-filled tale. Plot Michael Conrad is a private zookeeper who owns Conrad's Animal Kingdom. He leads a cult group who literally worship the animals he tends — especially the big cats: 3 lions, a lioness, a pair of cheetahs, a tiger, a cougar, and a black leopard; as well as a gorilla. Conrad plays organ music to the animals in his living room, and uses them to kill anyone who gets in his way. Conrad is married to Edna and forces his mute son Carl to assist him. Cast Production Herman Cohen had the idea for the film, and hired Aben Kandel to work with him on the script. Cohen had worked with Gough previously in ''Horrors of the Black Museum'' and ''Konga''. The animals were provided by Ralph Helfer, most notably Zamba, who pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Konga (film)
''Konga'' is a 1961 technicolour science fiction horror film directed by John Lemont and starring Michael Gough, Margo Johns and Austin Trevor. It was shot at Merton Park Studios and in Croydon for Anglo Amalgamated, then distributed in the United States by American International Pictures (AIP) as a double feature with '' Master of the World''. Anglo Amalgamated and AIP each provided half the funding for the US$500,000 film, with each studio receiving distribution rights in their respective hemispheres. ''Konga'' was the basis for a comic book series published by Charlton Comics and initially drawn by Steve Ditko (prior to Ditko's co-creation of Spider-Man) in the 1960s. The film epitomises the B-movie in terms of illogical plot and shortcut special effects, such as a man in a gorilla suit replacing special effects. Shots of screaming people looking upwards invoke the idea that they are looking up to Konga and it is not explained how the serum changes species as well as size (chim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Headless Ghost
''The Headless Ghost'' is a 1959 British comedy horror film, produced by Herman Cohen and directed by Peter Graham Scott. It stars Richard Lyon, Liliane Sottane, David Rose, and Clive Revill. The films tells of three young people who spend the night in a haunted English castle. With the help of a friendly ghost, they reunite the head of the Headless Ghost with its body, thus ending its 600 years of wandering about headless. The film was made specifically as the second feature for an American double bill with ''Horrors of the Black Museum'' (1959). Plot Three university students – Ingrid from Denmark (Liliane Sottane) and Americans Bill (Richard Lyon) and Ronnie (David Rose) – take a tour of Ambrose Castle in England. After learning that the castle is haunted, they decide to secretly spend the night inside in the hopes of seeing a ghost. During the night, the ghost of the 4th Earl of Ambrose (Clive Revill) appears and tells them that he and the other ghosts are being bothered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horrors Of The Black Museum
''Horrors of the Black Museum'' (1959) is a British-American horror film starring Michael Gough and directed by Arthur Crabtree. It was the first film in what film critic David Pirie dubbed Anglo-Amalgamated's "Sadian trilogy" (the other two being ''Circus of Horrors'' and ''Peeping Tom''), with an emphasis on sadism, cruelty and violence (with sexual undertones), in contrast to the supernatural horror of the Hammer films of the same era. Plot A package is delivered to Gail, a young blonde woman with a roommate named Peggy. Gail opens the package to find a pair of binoculars, but when she uses them to look out a window, she screams and collapses, dying. The binoculars are revealed to have two spikes emerging out of the eyepiece. Peggy is being interviewed by Superintendent Graham and Inspector Lodge when journalist and crime writer Edmond Bancroft enters the room. He wishes to see the binoculars for himself, and Graham remarks on their similarity to binoculars in Scotland Yard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
How To Make A Monster (1958 Film)
''How to Make a Monster'' is a 1958 American horror film drama, produced and written by Herman Cohen, directed by Herbert L. Strock, and starring Gary Conway, Robert H. Harris, Paul Brinegar, Morris Ankrum, Robert Shayne, and John Ashley. The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with '' Teenage Caveman''. The film is a follow-up to both ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' and ''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein.'' Like ''Teenage Frankenstein,'' a black-and-white film that switches to color in its final moments, ''How to Make a Monster'' was filmed in black-and-white and only the last reel (the fire scene finale) is in full color. Plot Pete Dumond, chief make-up artist for 25 years at American International Studios, will be laid off after the studio is purchased by NBN Associates. The new management from the East, Jeffrey Clayton and John Nixon, plan to make musicals and comedies instead of the horror pictures for which Pete has created his remarkable m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blood Of Dracula
''Blood of Dracula'' (U.K. title: ''Blood Is My Heritage'') is a 1957 American black-and-white horror film directed by Herbert L. Strock and starring Sandra Harrison, Louise Lewis and Gail Ganley. It was co-written by Aben Kandel and Herman Cohen (collectively credited as "Ralph Thornton"). Released by American International Pictures (AIP) in November 1957, it is one of two follow-up films to AIP's box office hit ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf''. The film was released theatrically in 1957 as a double feature with ''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein.''Gary A. Smith, ''The American International Pictures Video Guide'', McFarland 2009, p. 29 Plot Six weeks after the death of her mother, Nancy Perkins' father marries Doris and decides to enroll the 16-year-old smoker Nancy into a boarding school, the Sherwood School for Girls. After arriving in their 1957 Mercury they are greeted by the principal, Mrs. Thorndyke, who emphasizes to Nancy that the school is not a corrective institution but a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Was A Teenage Frankenstein
''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein'' (U.K. title: ''Teenage Frankenstein'') is a film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway, released by American International Pictures (AIP) in November 1957 as a double feature with '' Blood of Dracula''. It is the follow-up to AIP's box office hit ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf,'' released less than five months earlier. Both films later received a sequel in the fictional crossover '' How to Make a Monster,'' released in July 1958. The film stars Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates, Robert Burton, Gary Conway and George Lynn. Plot Professor Frankenstein, a guest lecturer from England, talks Dr. Karlton into becoming an unwilling accomplice in his secret plan to actually assemble a human being from the parts of different cadavers. After recovering a body from a catastrophic automobile wreck, Professor Frankenstein takes the body to his laboratory/morgue, where he keeps spare parts of human beings in various drawers. The professor also enlist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Was A Teenage Werewolf
''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' is a 1957 horror film starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager, Yvonne Lime and Whit Bissell. It was co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen and was one of the most successful films released by American International Pictures (AIP).Arkoff, pp. 61–75 It was originally released as a double feature with ''Invasion of the Saucer Men''. The release included the tagline, "We DARE You To See The Most Amazing Motion Pictures Of Our Time!" Plot Tony Rivers, a troubled teenager at Rockdale High, is known for losing his temper and overreacting. A campus fight between Tony and classmate Jimmy gets the attention of the local police, Det. Donovan in particular. Donovan breaks up the fight and advises Tony to talk with a "psychologist" that works at the local aircraft plant, Dr. Alfred Brandon, a practitioner of hypnotherapy. Tony declines, but his girlfriend Arlene, as well as his widowed father, show concern about his violent behavio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herman Cohen
Herman Cohen (August 27, 1925 – June 2, 2002) was an American producer of B-movies during the 1950s, and helped to popularize the teen horror movie genre with films like the cult classic ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf''. Career Born in Detroit, Michigan, Cohen began his career in show business as a gofer and later an usher at the Dexter Theater in Detroit, starting he was just 12. By 18, he was managing the Dexter. From there he went on to become assistant manager of the Fox Theatre (also in Detroit) — a theater featuring over 5,000 seats. After a tour of duty with the Marines, Cohen became sales manager for Columbia Pictures in the Detroit Area and moved to Hollywood to work for the publicity department of Columbia in the 1940s. In the 1950s he started producing films, first working as assistant (and later associate) producer for Jack Broder and Realart Pictures on such films as ''Bride of the Gorilla'', ''Battles of Chief Pontiac'' (featuring Lon Chaney, Jr.), ''Bela Lugos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
