Bert Ira Gordon (born September 24, 1922) is an American

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

artist. He is best known for writing and directing

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

and horror B-movies such as '' King Dinosaur'' (1955), '' The Amazing Colossal Man'' (1957), ''

Earth vs. the Spider ''Earth vs. the Spider'' (a.k.a. ''The Spider'') is an independently made 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also provided the plot upon which the screenplay by George Wort ...

'' (1958), ''

Village of the Giants ''Village of the Giants'' is a 1965 American teensploitation comedy science fiction film produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon. Based loosely on H. G. Wells's 1904 book ''The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth'', it contains ...

'' (1965), and ''

Empire of the Ants "The Empire of the Ants" is a 1905 short story by H. G. Wells about the littleness of humanity and the tenuousness of the dominion ''Homo sapiens'' enjoys on Earth. A 1977 film, '' Empire of the Ants'', was loosely based on Wells' story. Plot ...

'' (1977). Most of Gordon's work is in the idiom of giant monster films, for which he used rear-projection to create the special effects. He was nicknamed "Mr. B.I.G." by

Forrest J Ackerman Forrest James Ackerman (November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008) was an American magazine editor; science fiction writer and literary agent; a founder of science fiction fandom; a leading expert on science fiction, horror, and fantasy films; a pr ...

, a reference to both his initials and his films' tendency to feature super-sized creatures.

Career

Gordon was born in 1922 in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

and began making home movies in

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...

after his aunt gave him a camera for his 13th birthday. He dropped out of college to join the Army Air Forces 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 opposing ...

. After the war, he married and he and his wife began making television commercials. He later edited British feature films to fit half-hour time slots and became a production assistant on ''

Racket Squad ''Racket Squad'' is an American TV crime drama series that aired from 1951 to 1953. The format was a narrated anthology drama, as each individual episode featured various ordinary citizens getting ensnared in a different confidence scheme. E ...

'' and camera man on '' Serpent Island'' (1954). In 1955, Gordon made his first feature, '' King Dinosaur'', followed by '' The Cyclops'' in 1957, which co-starred Lon Chaney Jr. and Gloria Talbot. In 1957, he began his prolific association with

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 fi ...

, beginning with '' The Amazing Colossal Man'' and its 1958 sequel, ''

War of the Colossal Beast ''War of the Colossal Beast'' (a.k.a. ''Revenge of the Colossal Man'' and ''The Colossal Beast'') is a 1958 black-and-white science fiction film, written, produced, and directed by Bert I. Gordon for his Carmel Productions, and starring Dean Park ...

''. AIP distributed some of his other late-50s opuses, such as ''

Earth vs the Spider ''Earth vs. the Spider'' (a.k.a. ''The Spider'') is an independently made 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also provided the plot upon which the screenplay by George Worthi ...

'', '' Beginning of the End'' (featuring

Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 ...

), and ''

Attack of the Puppet People ''Attack of the Puppet People'' (retitled ''Six Inches Tall'' for its U.K. release) is a 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars John Agar, John Hoyt and June Kenney. Gordon als ...

''. After filming '' Tormented'' (1960), he wrote, produced and directed ''

The Boy and the Pirates ''The Boy and the Pirates'' is a 1960 American adventure film directed by Bert I. Gordon, known as a master of giant monster films. It stars a popular child star Charles Herbert and Gordon's daughter Susan. The storyline concerns a boy and girl ...

'', starring active and popular child star of the time

Charles Herbert Charles Herbert Saperstein (December 23, 1948 – October 31, 2015), known as Charles Herbert, was an American child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Before reaching his teens, Herbert was renowned by a generation of moviegoers for an on-screen ...

and Gordon's own daughter, Susan Gordon (who died in 2011 from thyroid cancer). All three appeared together in the celebrity lineup at the 2006 Monster Bash, held June 23–25 at the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Airport Four Points. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a ''Midnite Movies'' double

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

set with the rarely seen ''The Boy and the Pirates'', and ''Crystalstone'' (1987), on June 27, 2006. Gordon holds a degree from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. In 2012, he hosted and moderated a screening of '' The Amazing Colossal Man'' in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas.

Personal life

Gordon was married from 1945 to 1979, for more than 30 years, to Flora Gordon (1925-2016), known as Flora Lang in the latter part of her professional career; the two divorced in 1979. They had three daughters: Susan (who predeceased her parents), Carol, and Patricia. Gordon had a fourth daughter, Christina, in 1988, with his second wife, Eva Marie Gordon.

Filmography

As director-producer. Source for credits, years and primary titles: Note: Source erroneously lists Gordon as co-screenwriter of '' The One and Only'', solely written by Steve Gordon.

Legacy

Of these titles, ''King Dinosaur'', ''The Amazing Colossal Man'', ''Earth Vs. The Spider'', ''War of the Colossal Beast'', ''The Magic Sword'', ''Tormented'', ''Beginning of the End'', and ''Village of the Giants'' were featured on the film-spoofing series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000''. Later, ''Attack of the Puppet People'' was featured on the spin-off to ''MST3K'', ''

Rifftrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

'', as was a redux of ''The Magic Sword''.Attack of the Puppet People, Rifftrax
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References

External links