Melvin Simon Productions

Melvin Simon Productions was a short-lived film production company of the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded by real estate magnate Melvin Simon.

History

Simon got into filmmaking in 1976 when he was having a social game of golf with producer Harry Saltzman who needed money for a film he wanted to make called ''The Micronauts''. Simon loaned him the rest of the money; the film was not made, but Saltzman repaid the loan by selling his house and Simon decided to get into filmmaking.

Simon totally financed ''The Chicken Chronicles'' which was distributed by AVCO Embassy and gave an early lead role to Steve Guttenberg.

The company's first major motion picture was ''Somebody Killed Her Husband'', Farrah Fawcett Majors' first film since leaving ''Charlie's Angels'', which he funded in mid 1977. The budget was $5 million.

Albert S. Ruddy secured finance for the $4.5 million ''Matilda'' from Simon and a British company, the Film Finance Group; Ruddy was to make two more movies for this partnership, including a film about the Rough Riders.

Melvin Simon's major movie was ''The Stunt Man'' for director Richard Rush. In November 1977 Milton Goldstein left Avco Embassy to become chief operating officer.

In February 1978 Simon signed a deal with Stanley Kramer to make ''The Runner Stumbles''. He invested $1.6 million in ''When You Coming Back Red Ryder?''

In June 1978 the ''Los Angeles Times'' called Simon "the hottest, most sought after source of filmmaking money in the business." He had three films about to be released, seven completed or being edited, and six either shooting or about to star.

"All my decisions are made on instinct," said Simon. "They tend to be neither logical or deductive but they work."Mel Simon--Film Financier Extraordinaire: Simon--Film Financier Extraordinaire Mel Simon
Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 11 June 1978: q1.

By this stage three films Simon was associated with had come out. ''The Chicken Chronicles'' was a flop. However Simon had a part interest in ''Rabbit Test'' and ''Manitou'' which were lucrative. ''Somebody Killed Her Husband'' was a box office disappointment but Simon made a profit of $2 million from pre-selling it. He also made a small profit from ''Matilda'' due to pre-selling it, although it flopped when released. ''When You Coming Back Red Ryder'' was a disappointment.

The next run of films were ''Dominique'', ''Tilt'', ''Love at First Bite'', ''Wolf Lake'', ''Cloud Dancer'', ''The Runner Stumbles'', ''The Stunt Man'' and two Canadian films, ''Blood and Guts'' and ''The Third Walker''. The company struggled to find distribution for several of these.

By April 1979 six films of Simon had been released and he had spent an estimated $25–30 million.FILM CLIPS: Mr. Simon Goes to Hollywood
SCHREGER, CHARLES. Los Angeles Times (2 Apr 1979: f9. They then financed ''My Bodyguard''.

''Tilt'' performed poorly. The company's first big hit was ''Love at First Bite'' which they financed for over $3 million and earned $30 million. It was sold to AIP and Simon was looking for an arrangement with a Hollywood major.

20th Century Fox

In September 1979 20th Century Fox agreed to pick up all Melvin Simon's movies made in 1979 and 1980 in a deal worth an estimated $10 million. Excluded from the deal were films made before 1979 - ''The Runner Stumbles'', ''Cloud Dancer'' and ''The Stunt Man''. Films that were covered included ''The Man with Bogart's Face'', ''Zorro the Gay Blade'', Fox Plans To Handle Simon Films: Distribution Pact Covers 1979-80 A Spoof of Zorro
By ALJEAN HARMETZ Special to The New York Times. 14 Sep 1979: D5.

Mel Simon films started flopping regularly at the box office: ''The Runner Stumbles'', ''Cloud Dancer''. However they had a huge hit with ''When a Stranger Calls''.

In April 1980 the company announced it would make ten films over the next two years to be distributed by Fox. These would include ''Zorro the Gay Blade'' and ''Escape'' which became '' UFOria''.

''The Stunt Man'' was eventually released by Fox to excellent reviews. However the majority of the films flopped, notably ''Zorro the Gay Blade'' and the company started to wind back its operations.

The company had a huge hit with ''Porky's'' which it co financed with a Canadian company. In April 1982 Simon announced he would make films in partnership with Alan Landsburg

However, there were several more flop movies and Simon decided to leave the industry. "I did about 25 movies and I got out of it, thank God - it didn't cost me any money ultimately," Simon told a paper in 2002.

''Filmink'' magazine later wrote "Simon’s legacy as a movie financier is actually very good – he just lacked a library of past titles to provide him with a diversified cash flow to ride out the bad times (every independent suffers from this problem)."

Films

Distributed by Avco Embassy

*''The Chicken Chronicles'' (1977) - star debut of Steve Guttenberg
*''Rabbit Test'' (1978) - star debut of Billy Crystal, directed by Joan Rivers - budget $1 millionBaumoel, Lois (April 17, 1978). "Joan Rivers Says Teamwork Helped 'Rabbit Test' Meet Tight Schedule". ''BoxOffice''. SE8.
*''The Manitou'' (1978) - starring Tony Curtis

Distributed by Warner Bros

*''Tilt'' (1979) - cost $3 million

Canadian Films

*'' Blood & Guts'' (1978)
*''The Third Walker'' (1978)
*''Dominique'' (1978)

Distributed by AIP

*''Matilda'' (1978) - put up half the film's budget of $5 million made a profit of $450,000 from presales
*''Love at First Bite'' (1979) - starring George Hamilton - cost $3 million, earned $44 million''B'' is for Low Budget and Big Box Office Bucks, So Sam Arkoff is Proud to Be Called Hollywood's ''King of the B Pictures''.
''People Magazine''. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
*''Seven'' (1979) - directed by Andy Sidaris - budget $2 million

Distributed by Columbia

*''Somebody Killed Her Husband'' (1978) - starring Farrah Fawcett Majors - distributed by Columbia - cost $5 million but they made a profit of $2 million by pre-selling the filmSPOTLIGHT: MOVIE MOGUL MELVIN SIMON: HIS 'LOVE AT FIRST BITE' IS A HIT
By HOLLIS ALPERT. New York Times 6 May 1979: 133
*''When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?'' (1979) - cost $1.7 million'Red Ryder,' Deep in the Gut of Texas: 'Red Ryder': At Work in the Gut of Texas
Christon, Lawrence. Los Angeles Times 21 May 1978: n48.
*'' When a Stranger Calls'' (1979) - cost $1.5 million, gross $20 million - distributed by Columbia

Distributed by 20th Century Fox

*''The Runner Stumbles'' (1979) - directed by Stanley Kramer - cost $2.5 millionMOVIES: STANLEY KRAMER--GUESS WHO'S COME TO SEATTLE?
Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 18 Nov 1979: l33.
*''Scavenger Hunt'' (1979) - budget $7 million
*''The Man with Bogart's Face'' (1980) - budget $4 million sold to Fox for $2 millionby Tom Buckley; George Segal sheds light on light comedy.
New York Times 15 Aug 1980: C.6.
*''The Stunt Man'' (1980) - cost $3.5 million
*''My Bodyguard'' (1980) - cost $3 million
*''Zorro, The Gay Blade'' (1981) - cost $12.6 million, gross $5 million
*''Chu Chu and the Philly Flash'' (1981) - cost $7 million, gross $220,000
*''Porky's'' (1981) - cost $4 million, gross $130 millionWE'RE TALKING GROSS, TACKY AND DUMB Brown, Peter H. Los Angeles Times 20 Jan 1985: 6.
*'' Porky's II: The Next Day'' (1983) - cost $7 million, gross $55 million
*''Porky's Revenge!'' (1985) - cost $8 million, gross $20 million

No Theatrical

*''Wolf Lake'' (1980) - directed by Burt Kennedy

Distributed by Blossom

*''Cloud Dancer'' (1980) - starring David Carradine

Distributed by Universal

*'' UFOria'' (filmed 1981, released 1985)

References

{{reflist

Film production companies of the United States