The Woolner Brothers were an American film releasing company formed in 1955, made up of

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

(April 22, 1912 – July 21, 1985), Bernard (June 9, 1910 – February 21, 1977), and David Woolner.

History

After US Army service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Lawrence started a

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

drive-in theatre in 1948. His brother Bernard had previously opened the first drive-in theatre in Memphis. Like other drive-in owners, the Woolners advanced money to low-budget B picture producers to finance their product. Their first release was Roger Corman's '' Swamp Women'', followed by Corman's ''

Teenage Doll ''Teenage Doll'' is a 1957 film noir directed by Roger Corman, starring June Kenney and John Brinkley. It was financed by Lawrence Woolner, who had previously made ''Swamp Women'' with Corman. One writer called it Corman's "most impressive teen f ...

'', both released through Allied Artists. Bernard Woolner produced but financially successful '' Attack of the 50 Foot Woman'' in 1958. The company moved to California in the early 1960s. The Woolners directly financed films made in Italy, and though they released several of Mario Bava's films in America, Bava turned down a contract to make films directly for them in 1965. The pair produced a pair of

sword-and-sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget H ...

films featuring Reg Park as

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

, a film based on

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's ''

Five Weeks in a Balloon ''Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, A Journey of Discovery by Three Englishmen in Africa'' (french: Cinq semaines en ballon) is an adventure novel by Jules Verne, published in 1863. It is the first novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his ...

'' shot in Puerto Rico, a trio of

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

films, a pair of Eurospy films and two science fiction films and two hillbilly films filmed in the US. Woolner Brothers' final release was '' The Sin of Adam and Eve'' filmed in Mexico that was released in 1969. Lawrence later became a partner in Corman's

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...

in 1970 as President in charge of Sales and Distribution, but left with two other members of New World to join Kinney National Company, which would later become

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

, and form

Dimension Pictures Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and relea ...

in 1971.

Woolner Bros. releases

* '' Swamp Women'' (1956) * ''

'' (1957) * '' Attack of the 50 Foot Woman'' (1958) (produced by Bernard Woolner) * '' Hercules Conquers Atlantis/''Hercules and the Captive Women'' (1961) * ''

Hercules in the Haunted World ''Hercules in the Haunted World'' (Italian: ''Ercole al centro della terra'', lit. "Hercules at the Center of the Earth") is a 1961 Italian sword-and-sandal film directed by Mario Bava. British bodybuilder Reg Park plays Hercules while British a ...

'' (1961) * ''

Flight of the Lost Balloon ''Flight of the Lost Balloon'' is a 1961 film produced, written and directed by Nathan Juran and stars Mala Powers and Marshall Thompson. The film was inspired by Jules Verne's 1863 novel ''Five Weeks in a Balloon'' and beat the major Irwin Alle ...

'' (1962) * ''

Castle of Blood ''Castle of Blood'' ( it, Danza Macabra, links=no) is a 1964 horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti and Sergio Corbucci. The film stars Barbara Steele, Arturo Dominici and Georges Rivière. The film was initially commissioned to director Ser ...

'' (1964) * ''

Castle of the Living Dead ''Castle of the Living Dead'' ( it, Il Castello dei Morti Vivi, french: Le Chateau des Morts Vivants) is a 1964 horror film directed by Warren Kiefer. It was released in English under the title ''Crypt of Horror''. It was Kiefer's first film a ...

'' (1964) * '' Blood and Black Lace'' (1965) * ''

The Human Duplicators ''The Human Duplicators'' is a 1965 American science fiction film by Woolner Brothers Pictures Inc. Produced and directed by Hugo Grimaldi and Arthur C. Pierce (the latter uncredited as director), the film stars George Nader, Barbara Nichols, ...

'' (1965) * '' Mutiny in Outer Space'' (1965) * ''

The Las Vegas Hillbillys ''The Las Vegas Hillbillys'' is a 1966 American country music comedy film directed by Arthur C. Pierce and starring Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. The 1967 sequel film ''Hillbillys in a Haunted House'' soon followed with a similar cast. ...

'' (1966) * ''

Hillbillys in a Haunted House ''Hillbillys in a Haunted House'' is a 1967 American musical horror comedy film starring Ferlin Husky and Joi Lansing, and directed by Jean Yarbrough. The film is a sequel to '' The Las Vegas Hillbillys'' (1966), with Joi Lansing replacing Mamie ...

'' (1967) * '' Lightning Bolt'' (1967) * '' Red Dragon'' (1967) * '' The Sin of Adam and Eve'' (1969)

References

External links

Woolner Brothers
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Film production companies of the United States Film distributors of the United States Mass media companies established in 1955 American companies established in 1955 1955 establishments in Louisiana Mass media companies disestablished in 1969 1969 disestablishments in California {{US-film-company-stub