|
Lou Rusoff
Lou Rusoff (August 3, 1911 – June 29, 1963) was a Canadian-born screenwriter and producer best known for his work with American International Pictures. He was brother-in-law to Sam Arkoff and was the screenwriter for many of Roger Corman's first films. He was the father of Ted Rusoff. Career Rusoff worked as a social worker and wrote for Canadian radio and television before moving to Hollywood in 1950. He wrote for a number of TV programs then started working for AIP and became their most prolific screenwriter, usually writing scripts to match a concept and poster that AIP had come up with. Arkoff later said: Often, he was working on five or six scripts simultaneously – not only his own but rewriting other people's screenplays when emergencies occurred and the original writers were unavailable. He also eventually produced some of the AIP movies he wrote... More than any other writer, Lou had a real appreciation for what we were trying to do. He understood how to keep costs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing films from 1955 until 1980, a year after its acquisition by Filmways in 1979. It was formed on April 2, 1954 as American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by former Realart Pictures Inc. sales manager James H. Nicholson and entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff and their first release was the 1953 UK documentary film ''Operation Malaya''. It was dedicated to releasing low-budget films packaged as double features, primarily of interest to the teenagers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The company eventually became a part of Orion Pictures, which in turn, became a division of MGM. On October 7, 2020, four decades after the original closure, MGM revived AIP as a label for acquired films for digital and theatrical releases, with MGM overseeing ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flesh And The Spur
''Flesh and the Spur'' is a 1956 Western film directed by Edward L. Cahn. The film stars John Agar as Lucius Random, Marla English as Wild Willow and Mike Connors (billed here as Touch Connors) as Stacy Tanner. The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with ''Naked Paradise''. The plot is about a young cowboy who searches for the killer of his twin brother. Plot Tanner is a desperate prisoner who escapes from jail and promptly murders an innocent farmer named Matthew Random. Stealing Random's horse and gun, the outlaw promptly makes his escape. Finding his twin brother murdered, Lucius Random (Agar) vows revenge and sets off to find the killer. Although he does not know the identity of the killer, Random knows that he is part of the nefarious "Checker Gang" and can be identified by the gun he stole from Matthew, which is one of a unique set of two that the brothers Matthew and Lucius owned between them. Cast *John Agar as Luke Random/Matthew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1963 Deaths
Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove River, Sydney, Australia. * January 2 – Vietnam War – Battle of Ap Bac: The Viet Cong win their first major victory. * January 9 – A total penumbral lunar eclipse is visible in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and is the 56th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 114. Gamma has a value of −1.01282. It occurs on the night between Wednesday, January 9 and Thursday, January 10, 1963. * January 13 – 1963 Togolese coup d'état: A military coup in Togo results in the installation of coup leader Emmanuel Bodjollé as president. * January 17 – A last quarter moon occurs between the penumbral lunar eclipse and the annular solar eclipse, only 12 hours, 29 minutes after apogee. * January 19 – Soviet spy Gheorghe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1911 Births
A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 moment magnitude strikes near Almaty in Russian Turkestan, killing 450 or more people. ** Siege of Sidney Street in London: Two Latvian anarchists die, after a seven-hour siege against a combined police and military force. Home Secretary Winston Churchill arrives to oversee events. * January 5 – Egypt's Zamalek SC is founded as a general sports and Association football club by Belgian lawyer George Merzbach as Qasr El Nile Club. * January 14 – Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition makes landfall, on the eastern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. * January 18 – Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS ''Pennsylvania'' stationed in San Francisco harbor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Bikini
''Operation Bikini'', also titled ''The Seafighter'', is a war film released in 1963 by American International Pictures. It was directed by Anthony Carras and starred Tab Hunter, Frankie Avalon and Scott Brady. The casting was aimed to capture a varied audience. While ''Operation Bikini'' was nominally a World War II war movie, it shared a number of cast members—Avalon, Jody McCrea and Eva Six—with American International's ''Beach Party'' (soon to become a franchise), and thrown into the mix were character actor Jim Backus, former screen heartthrob Tab Hunter and Gary Crosby (son of Bing). Avalon sings in two musical interludes, which were shot in color despite the fact that the rest of the film is black and white. Plot The film takes place aboard an American submarine in the Pacific during World War II. The sub's commander is ordered to stop to pick up an underwater demolition team led by Lt. Hayes whose mission is to locate and destroy an American submarine that had sunk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panic In The Year Zero
''Panic in Year Zero!'' (a.k.a. ''End of the World'') is a 1962 American black-and-white survival science fiction film from American International Pictures. It was produced by Arnold Houghland and Lou Rusoff, directed by Ray Milland, who also stars with Jean Hagen, Frankie Avalon, Mary Mitchel, and Joan Freeman. The original music score was composed by Les Baxter. The screenplay was written by John Morton and Jay Simms. The film was released by AIP in 1962 as a double feature with ''Tales of Terror''. Plot Harry Baldwin, his wife Ann, their son Rick, and daughter Karen leave suburban Los Angeles on a camping trip to the Sierra Nevada wilderness after sunrise. On the way, the Baldwins notice an unusually bright light behind them. Sporadic news reports broadcast on CONELRAD hint at the start of an atomic war, confirmed when the Baldwins see a large mushroom cloud rising over Los Angeles. The family attempt to return home and rescue Ann's mother. Harry soon realizes that the roads w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alakazam The Great
''Alakazam the Great'', known in Japan as , is a 1960 Japanese anime musical film, based on the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. It was one of the earliest anime films to be released in the United States. Osamu Tezuka was named as a director of the film by Toei Company. However, Tezuka later stated that the only time he was in the studio was to pose for publicity photos. His involvement in promoting the film, however, led to his interest in animation. Plot Alakazam is a young and brave monkey (a macaque) who has been encouraged by all the other monkeys to become their king. After attaining the throne, he becomes rude and dictatorial, and does not believe that human beings are greater than he is. Then he deceives/forces Merlin the magician to teach him magic (reluctantly on Merlin's part, who warns Alakazam that the powers he acquires now will bring him much unhappiness later). Alakazam becomes so arrogant that he abuses his magic powers, and chooses to go up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Sunday (1960 Film)
''Black Sunday'' ( it, La maschera del demonio, lit=The mask of the demon) is a 1960 Italian gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava in his official directorial debut, and starring Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominici and Enrico Oliveri. Loosely based on Nikolai Gogol's short story " Viy", the film takes place in Moldavia and tells the story of a witch who is put to death by her brother, only to return two centuries later to seek revenge upon his descendants. Having provided cinematography on ''Hercules'' (1958) and ''Hercules Unchained'' (1959) for the production company Galatea and helping finish two of their other films, ''Caltiki – The Immortal Monster'' (1959) and ''The Giant of Marathon'' (1959), Bava was permitted by the company's president, Lionello Santi, to make a film for foreign markets; he chose to make a horror film to capitalize on the recent success of Terence Fisher's version of ''Dracula'' (1958) for Hammer Film Produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow
''Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow'' is a 1959 AIP horror/comedy film. It was a sequel to their film ''Hot Rod Gang''. American International Pictures released the film in July 1959 as a double feature with ''Diary of a High School Bride''. The film spoofed the 1950s monster and drag racing films of AIP, and has been regarded as a forerunner of the 1960s ''Beach Party'' films. Spoofs like this film helped bring a close to AIP's 1950s low-budget horror film genre. This was the last monster movie that special effects technician Paul Blaisdell worked on. Plot After being evicted from their old clubhouse, members of a Los Angeles drag racing club move into an old deserted mansion and set up shop, making it their new headquarters. For the club's grand opening, they hold a Halloween masked ball and invite everyone to come dressed as their favorite monster. The festivities take an unexpected turn when one of the youths discovers an imposter among them: a real live monster (AIP's oft-reused ''She ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Submarine Seahawk
''Submarine Seahawk'' is a 1958 World War II film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and starring John Bentley and Brett Halsey. The film was originally released as a double feature with ''Paratroop Command''. The plot tells the story of a by-the-book officer (in his first command in the Pacific war) who is ordered to take his submarine on a reconnaissance mission to locate a fleet of Japanese fighting ships the Allies have lost track of. At first, the rest of the crew resent his distant manner and the way he keeps avoiding taking on the Japanese. Plot The plot tells the story of a by-the-book officer (in his first command in the Pacific war) who is ordered to take his submarine on a reconnaissance mission to locate a fleet of Japanese fighting ships the Allies have lost track of. At first, the rest of the crew resent his distant manner and the way he keeps avoiding taking on the Japanese. Cast * John Bentley as Lt. Cmdr. Paul Turner * Brett Halsey as Lt. (j.g.) David Shore * Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hot Rod Gang
''Hot Rod Gang'' is a 1958 drama film directed by Lew Landers and starring John Ashley. The working title was ''Hot Rod Rock'' with the film also released under the title ''Fury Unleashed''. American International Pictures released the film as a double feature with ''High School Hellcats''. The production includes performances by rock and roll musician Gene Vincent, and was the final theatrical feature directed by the incredibly prolific Landers, whose career dated to the mid-1930s. Plot John Abernathy III needs to lead a blameless life to inherit his father's estate, but he also engages in hot rod car racing. Cast * John Ashley as John Abernathy III * Jody Fair as Lois Cavendish * Steve Drexel as Mark * Scott Peters as Jack * Helen Spring as Abigail Abernathy * Lester Dorr as Dryden Philpott * Doodles Weaver as Wesley Cavendish * Dub Taylor as Al Berrywhiff * Gloria Grant as Tammy * Maureen Arthur as Marley * Dorothy Neumann as Anastasia Abernathy (as Dorothy Newman) * Russ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suicide Battalion
''Suicide Battalion'' is a 1958 World War II film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Mike Connors and John Ashley, who made the film while on leave from the United States Army. In 1968, it was remade for television by Larry Buchanan as '' Hell Raiders'', which was the film's original working title. American International Pictures originally released it as a double feature with '' Jet Attack''. Premise The story takes place during World War II in the Philippines. A group of American soldiers are recruited for a dangerous mission to destroy an enemy base and keep strategic documents out of the reach of the invading Imperial Japanese Army. Main cast * Mike Connors as Major Matt McCormack * John Ashley as Pvt. Tommy Novello * Jewell Lain as Elizabeth Ann Mason * Russ Bender as Sgt. Harry Donovan * Bing Russell as Lt. Chet Hall * Scott Peters as Pvt. Wally Zagorsky * Walter Maslow as Pvt. Marty Green * John McNamara as Colonel Craig * Clifford Kawada as Colonel Hiosho * Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
