George Brendan Armitage (born March 2, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed the films ''
Miami Blues'' (1990) and ''
Grosse Pointe Blank'' (1997). He worked frequently with
Roger Corman.
Life and career
Armitage was born in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
. His mother was a writer who wanted to get into movies, so they moved to
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
in 1956, when Armitage was 13.
"What a culture shock", he reflected later. "I’m still reeling. In Connecticut there wasn’t a hot rod in sight. Out here it was people racing up and down the street, building their own cars—it was teenage paradise, the kids were running everything."
[Nick Pinkerton, "Interview with George Armitage"](_blank)
''Film Comment'' 28 April 2015 He attended
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
where he majored in economics and political science. While waiting for his real estate license to come through, Armitage entered the film industry in 1965 via the mail room at
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. He later said:
I have a very personal relationship to film. I've gone to films all the time since I was a kid. I thought I could have some fun trying to make them. I always thought I was pretty close to what people were thinking. There's lots of tricks to be played, things to be done in film. Film is so close to the way the mind works – the way the mind communicates with itself. Film is a dream, an emotional coda.
Armitage later recalled, "The counterculture movement had begun, and the people running Fox, especially in the television division, were these 30-ish hipsters, kind of jazz guys. Suddenly I was a person, being 20 or 21, who could explain to them what was going on, and I became very valuable on the lot."
He started writing screenplays in his spare time.
In 1966 Armitage became an associate producer on ''
Peyton Place'', "primarily to deal with the young kids on the show, to help them loop their lines."
Armitage recalls his period at Fox as an "incredible experience... I went from producer to producer all over the lot pitching ideas, I created series, I wrote a couple of things for television and, about that time, started writing screenplays.
Armitage worked as associate producer on ''
Judd for the Defense
''Judd, for the Defense'' is an American legal drama originally broadcast on the ABC network on Friday nights from September 8, 1967, to March 21, 1969.
Synopsis
The show stars Carl Betz, who had previously spent eight years in the role of Dr. Al ...
'' and created a TV series and tried to co-produce a TV movie but neither went beyond script stage.
Films
Armitage met Gene and Roger Corman at Fox while they were making ''
The St Valentine's Day Massacre'':
The commissary was a place called the "Gold Room" where the producers would go. They were all sort of mothballed, but they still had energy enough to snob the television people, who were making ''High Noon
''High Noon'' is a 1952 American Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in real time, centers on a town marshal whose sense of ...
'', ''Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'', ''Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
''. The movie producers would sit on the other side of the room from the TV people. This left the TV people with nobody else to snob, so they would snob Roger Corman... And that really pissed me off, because I was a fan of his. So I began to visit him on the set and the whole thing, and told him about the conflict that was going on, and he got a kick out of that.
Armitage left Fox in 1967 to focus on movies. He wrote a script called ''Carrot Butts'' about animated cartoon characters coming to life. This was sent to the Cormans, who liked it but could not get financing. However Armitage then wrote ''
Gas-s-s-s
''Gas-s-s-s'' (on-screen title: ''Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.'') is a 1970 post-apocalyptic black comedy film produced and released by American International Pictures.
It was producer Roger Corman's ...
'' for him.
''Gas-s-s-s'' impressed Corman enough to allow Armitage to write and direct ''
Private Duty Nurses
''Private Duty Nurses'' is a 1971 American film written and directed by George Armitage. It is a sequel to '' The Student Nurses'' (1970) for New World Pictures. Roger Corman says they got the idea for the title after being sent a letter of compla ...
''. Corman optioned an Armitage script, ''Coming Together''.
In 1972 Armitage wrote and directed ''
Hit Man
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...
recently acclaimed in John Cribbs' Obscure Genius series.
[John Cribbs, 'Obscure Genius: George Armitage'](_blank)
/ref>
In 1975 Armitage was quoted in an article as saying:
I try to follow the Hollywood sports – to see who's winning. It doesn't seem the best system to make films that are both interesting and commercial, but it's the only one that works, at least for me. I think there must be other ways but I can't think of them. It's all new to me, even after ten years. I would like to see more courage and imagination, of course. That's something to look for.
In 1976 he directed ''Vigilante Force
''Vigilante Force'' is a 1976 American action film directed by George Armitage and starring Kris Kristofferson and Jan-Michael Vincent. The plot concerns a Vietnam War veteran and his buddies, who are hired by his brother and others in a small Ca ...
''. The picture was not a large success and Armitage's career then became bogged down in "development hell", apart from the movie ''Hot Rod''. Armitage spend the 1980s mostly writing screenplays which were never made.
In 1990 Armitage wrote and directed the film '' Miami Blues''. In 1997 Armitage directed the film '' Grosse Pointe Blank'' starring John Cusack and Minnie Driver.
Selected filmography
Director
* '' The Big Bounce'' (2004)
* '' Grosse Pointe Blank'' (1997)
* '' Miami Blues'' (1990)
* ''Hot Rod
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
'' (1979) (TV)
* ''Vigilante Force
''Vigilante Force'' is a 1976 American action film directed by George Armitage and starring Kris Kristofferson and Jan-Michael Vincent. The plot concerns a Vietnam War veteran and his buddies, who are hired by his brother and others in a small Ca ...
'' (1976)
* ''Hit Man
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...
'' (1972)
* ''Private Duty Nurses
''Private Duty Nurses'' is a 1971 American film written and directed by George Armitage. It is a sequel to '' The Student Nurses'' (1970) for New World Pictures. Roger Corman says they got the idea for the title after being sent a letter of compla ...
'' (1971)
Screenwriter
* ''The Late Shift The Late Shift or Late Shift may refer to:
* ''The Late Shift'' (book), a 1994 book about 1990s conflict regarding ''The Tonight Show''
** ''The Late Shift'' (film), a 1996 HBO film based on the book
*''Comedy Inc: The Late Shift'', a 2005–2007 s ...
'' (1996) (TV)
* ''Miami Blues'' (1990)
* ''The Last of the Finest
''The Last of the Finest'', also released as ''Blue Heat'', is a 1990 American crime action film directed by John Mackenzie and starring Brian Dennehy, Joe Pantoliano, Jeff Fahey, and Bill Paxton
Plot
The film opens at Canyon Park where narcotic ...
'' (1990)
* ''Hot Rod'' (1979) (TV)
* ''Vigilante Force'' (1976)
* ''Darktown Strutters
''Darktown Strutters'' is a 1975 blaxploitation musical comedy film from New World Pictures. Despite having mixed reviews at the time it has gained cult status over the years with praise from film director Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino called it " ...
'' (1975)
* ''Hit Man'' (1972)
* ''Night Call Nurses
''Night Call Nurses'' is a 1972 American sex comedy film directed by Jonathan Kaplan. It is the third in Roger Corman's "nurses" cycle of films, starting with ''The Student Nurses'' (1970).
Plot
Three young nurses work in a psych ward at a hospit ...
'' (1972)
* ''Private Duty Nurses'' (1971)
* ''Gas-s-s-s
''Gas-s-s-s'' (on-screen title: ''Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.'') is a 1970 post-apocalyptic black comedy film produced and released by American International Pictures.
It was producer Roger Corman's ...
'' (1971)
Producer
* ''The Big Bounce'' (2004)
* ''Private Duty Nurses'' (1971)
* ''Gas-s-s-s'' (1971)
Actor
* '' Caged Heat'' (1974) – Driver
* '' Von Richthofen and Brown'' (1971) – Wolff
* ''Gas-s-s-s'' (1970) – Billy The Kid
Unmade screenplays
*''Carrott Butts'' (late 1960s) – pitched to Roger Corman
*''Coming Together'' (1970) for Roger Corman
*''Trophy'' (1970s) – story of two police departments who end up in a shooting war
*''Pochantonas Revenge'' (1975) – about a miracle staged by a stunt man and special effects person to raise a small town's spirit
*''Tantruma'' (1975) for producer Paul Lazarus – about a man looking for a woman from his past
References
External links
*
Career profile on Armitage
at Film Comment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armitage, George
1942 births
American film directors
American male screenwriters
American film producers
American male film actors
Living people
Male actors from Connecticut
University of California, Los Angeles alumni