Charles B. Griffith
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Charles Byron Griffith (September 23, 1930 – September 28, 2007) was an American screenwriter, actor and film director, son of Donna Dameral, radio star of ''Myrt and Marge'', along with Charles' grandmother,
Myrtle Vail Myrtle Vail (January 7, 1888 – September 18, 1978), sometimes credited as Myrtle Damerel, was an American vaudevillian, and radio and film actress and writer. She was a radio fixture from 1932 to 1946 thanks to the popular soap opera '' Myrt ...
, and was best known for writing
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
productions such as ''
A Bucket of Blood ''A Bucket of Blood'' is a 1959 American comedy horror film directed by Roger Corman. It starred Dick Miller and was set in West Coast beatnik culture of the late 1950s. The film, produced on a $50,000 budget, was shot in five days and shares ma ...
'' (1959), ''
The Little Shop of Horrors ''The Little Shop of Horrors'' is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about an inadequate florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The fi ...
'' (1960), and ''
Death Race 2000 ''Death Race 2000'' is a 1975 American science fiction action film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transco ...
'' (1975). He was credited with 29 movies, but is known to have written many more. He had also directed at least six films, acted in six films, was second unit director in six films, produced three films and was production manager of two films. During the late fifties and early sixties, Griffith created both redneck classics such as ''Eat My Dust'' and black comedies such as ''A Bucket of Blood'' and ''The Little Shop of Horrors''. He had a small role in ''
It Conquered the World ''It Conquered the World'' is an independently made 1956 American black-and-white science fiction film, produced and directed by Roger Corman, starring Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, Beverly Garland, and Sally Fraser. ''It Conquered the World'' ...
'', which he also wrote, as Dr. Pete Shelton. Griffith died on September 28, 2007, in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, aged 77, from undisclosed causes.
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
dedicated his film '' Deathproof'' to Griffith, whom he referred to as one of his main influences and called "the father of redneck cinema".


Biography


Early life

Griffith was born into a family of actors and performers: his mother, Donna Damerel, and grandmother,
Myrtle Vail Myrtle Vail (January 7, 1888 – September 18, 1978), sometimes credited as Myrtle Damerel, was an American vaudevillian, and radio and film actress and writer. She was a radio fixture from 1932 to 1946 thanks to the popular soap opera '' Myrt ...
, were actresses, his father was in vaudeville and his grandfather was a circus performer. His mother died in childbirth in 1941, and Griffith was raised by his grandmother and attended military school. He broke into the industry writing scripts for the radio serial, '' Myrt and Marge'', in which his mother and grandmother had appeared as actresses. He then worked on the TV adaptation on the serial which ended up not being filmed.


Meeting Roger Corman

Griffith began writing film scripts, which an actor friend of his,
Jonathan Haze Jonathan Haze (born Jack Schachter; April 1, 1929) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in Roger Corman films, especially the 1960 black comedy cult classic, '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', in which he ...
showed to
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
, who hired Griffith as a writer. He wrote two Westerns for Corman: ''Three Bright Banners'', based on the
Battle of Brownsville The Battle of Brownsville took place on November 2–6, 1863 during the American Civil War. It was a successful effort on behalf of the Union Army to disrupt Confederate blockade runners along the Gulf Coast in Texas. The Union assault precipit ...
, and ''Hangtown''. Neither was made, but Corman hired Griffith to do an uncredited rewrite on ''
It Conquered the World ''It Conquered the World'' is an independently made 1956 American black-and-white science fiction film, produced and directed by Roger Corman, starring Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, Beverly Garland, and Sally Fraser. ''It Conquered the World'' ...
'' (Griffith says he asked to take his name off). He received his debut credit with ''
Gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...
'' (1955), a Western about a female sheriff. He wrote the script with a partner,
Mark Hanna Marcus Alonzo Hanna (September 24, 1837 – February 15, 1904) was an American businessman and Republican politician who served as a United States Senator from Ohio as well as chairman of the Republican National Committee. A friend and p ...
, with whom he worked for the next few years, although Griffith later claimed that he did most of the writing while Hanna did the selling. "I got into the habit of writing very quickly without realising it and, because I was raised in a radio family, I didn't know that you were supposed to take a long time to write a film script", said Griffith. For the next six years Griffith was Corman's most regular screenwriter. He and Hanna wrote a science fiction film, '' Not of This Earth'' (1957) which proved popular. For
Edward L. Cahn Edward L. Cahn (February 12, 1899 – August 25, 1963) was an American film director. Early life and education Cahn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He went to work at Universal Pictures in 1917 while still a student at UCLA. Career ...
they did a Western, ''
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 ...
'' (1957) then went back to Corman for ''
The Undead The Undead is an American horror punk band formed in 1980 in New York City's East Village by Bobby Steele (vocals and guitar), Chris "Jack" Natz (bass) and Patrick Blanck (drums). They were one of the pioneers in the New York hardcore scene. ...
'' (1957), based on the
Bridey Murphy Bridey Murphy is a purported 19th-century Irishwoman whom U.S. housewife Virginia Tighe (April 27, 1923 – July 12, 1995) claimed to be in a past life. The case was investigated by researchers and concluded to be the result of cryptomnesia. Hypn ...
story. Griffith receives sole credit for ''
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 ...
'' (1957), directed by Corman, which Griffith says he had to rewrite over night when censors objected. Also for Corman he rewrote
Robert Wright Campbell Robert Wright Campbell (June 9, 1927–September 21, 2000), often credited as R. Wright Campbell or Robert Campbell, was an American screenwriter, author and occasional actor. He was the brother of actor William Campbell and brother in law o ...
's script for ''
Naked Paradise ''Naked Paradise'' (sometimes credited as ''Thunder Over Hawaii'') is a 1957 drama film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Richard Denning and Beverly Garland. Corman later asked Charles Griffith, who worked on the script, to reuse his screenplay ...
'' (1957). Griffith would re-use the structure for this script on several other occasions. He and Corman had their biggest hit to date with ''
Attack of the Crab Monsters Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * ''Attack No. 1'', comic an ...
'' (1957); Griffith was associate producer and had a small role. For Corman he adapted and expanded a TV play for ''
Rock All Night ''Rock All Night'' is a 1957 crime drama film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Distributed by American International Pictures, it is based on a 25-minute television episode of '' The Jane Wyman Show'' from 1955 called "The Little Guy." It s ...
'' (1957).


Columbia Films

Following his success with Corman,
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
signed Griffith to a contract as producer and director. Jonathan Haze later recalled:
Chuck had a friend who was a lawyer, Art Sherman, who had met Gordon Stolberg, then vice-president of Columbia Pictures. Art sold Stolberg on the idea that Chuck was the talent behind Roger Corman. At that point, Columbia was making a lot of
Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. E ...
movies and Art sold Columbia on the idea that Chuck could do better than Katzman, and cheaper. So, they gave him a two-picture deal.Had he come through and he had really done what he said he was going to do. Chuck would have had it really made. Both pictures ran over-budget and were not that hot. His casting was bad.
According to Charles Griffith
They told me to make a list of 100 titles to see if I could do it. Once I did that, they picked out two that would send me on a distant location in Hawaii because they knew I couldn't make a picture out of the promised budgets: $85,000/black and white and $90,000/color. I really don't want to get into the Columbia pictures because they thought I was putting them on. Roger thought I told them that I taught him everything he knew, whereas it was actually the other way around.
Griffith wrote and produced two films for Columbia in Hawaii, '' Ghost of the China Sea'' (1958) and ''
Forbidden Island ''Forbidden Island'' is a 1959 American adventure crime film directed by Charles B. Griffith starring Jon Hall. It was his debut as director, although he had directed second unit on ''Attack of the Crab Monsters''. A young Don Preston from the ...
'' (1958). The two films were meant to cost $150,000. ''Forbidden Island'' was meant to be filmed in ten days but Griffith went over schedule. According to ''Variety'' "Columbia noted that Griffith seemed to be having continuing production difficulties" and sent out one of its contract directors, Fred Sears, to direct the second movie ''Ghost of the China Seas''. Griffith later called the films "really terrible. It stopped me for twenty years from ever directing again. They were really rank. You see, I got chicken and started to write very safely within a formula to please the major studios, and of course, you can't do that."


Reuniting with Corman

Griffith returned to Corman and wrote two script for him made in
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
, '' Beast from Haunted Cave'' (1958), '' Ski Troop Attack'' (1959). He says for ''Beast from Haunted Cave'' he reused the structure he developed for ''
Naked Paradise ''Naked Paradise'' (sometimes credited as ''Thunder Over Hawaii'') is a 1957 drama film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Richard Denning and Beverly Garland. Corman later asked Charles Griffith, who worked on the script, to reuse his screenplay ...
'' (1957).


''Little Shop of Horrors''

After the North Dakota movies he persuaded Corman to make a black comedy and wrote ''A Bucket of Blood''. He later re-used the structure of this for his most famous script, ''
The Little Shop of Horrors ''The Little Shop of Horrors'' is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about an inadequate florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The fi ...
'' (1960). "That's the most precious thing you can find is a new structure", he said later. Griffith was paid just $800 for his work, which included voicing Audrey Jr. Roger Corman went up to bigger budgeted pictures when he made '' House of Usher'' (1960), shot in color and considerably more prestigious than the Corman-Griffith collaborations. Corman chose
Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...
to write the scripts rather than Griffith, who said:
He
orman Orman may refer to: People * Aldona Orman (born 1968), Polish actress * Alen Orman (born 1978), Austrian football player * Charles Orman (1859–1927), British cricketer and soldier * Fikret Orman (born 1967), Turkish businessman *Greg Orman ( ...
said that Matheson had a reputation. They were going to go with color and CinemaScope. It was irritating because I saw that he was making a value judgement based on how much people were making and he was the one making policy. He said that no screenwriter who gets less than fifty thousand a script was any good.
However Corman continued to use Griffith on other projects: a third black comedy, ''
Creature from the Haunted Sea ''Creature from the Haunted Sea'' is a 1961 horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a parody of spy, gangster, and monster movies (mostly ''Creature from the Black Lagoon''), concerning a secre ...
'' (1961) – which used the ''Naked Paradise'' structure – and ''
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...
'' (1962), a sword-and-sandal movie shot in Greece.


Years overseas

In 1960 Griffith produced an Arab-Israeli war film with regular collaborator
Mel Welles Mel Welles (February 17, 1924 – August 19, 2005) was an American film actor and director. His best-remembered role may be that of hapless flower shop owner Gravis Mushnick in the 1960 low-budget Roger Corman dark comedy, ''The Little Shop of ...
but they were picketed by unions and had to shut down. Griffith and Melles sued the union and settled out of court. Griffith moved to Israel to finish the movie but was unable to. He wound up living there for two years, writing a couple of films before Corman rehired him to work on the crew of ''
The Young Racers ''The Young Racers'' is a 1963 sports drama film directed by Roger Corman and starring Mark Damon, William Campbell, Luana Anders and Patrick Magee. It is based on the Formula One races in Europe. Plot Joe Machin ( William Campbell), an Am ...
'' (1963). Griffith spent the next few years in Europe. He did some second unit work on Corman's ''
The Secret Invasion ''The Secret Invasion'' is a 1964 American war film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes, Henry Silva, Mia Massini and William Campbell. Appearing three years before ''The Dirty Dozen'' (196 ...
'' (1964) and co-wrote ''
The She Beast ''The She Beast'' is a 1966 horror film written and directed by Michael Reeves in his directorial debut. The film stars Barbara Steele, John Karlsen and Ian Ogilvy. Plot The film starts in Transylvania with an alcoholic, Count Von Helsing, r ...
'' (1966), the debut feature for director
Michael Reeves Michael Reeves (17 October 1943 – 11 February 1969) was an English film director and screenwriter. He is best remembered for the 1968 film ''Witchfinder General'' (known in the US as ''Conqueror Worm''). A few months after the film's rel ...
. "I was lazy", he admitted later. "Instead of trying to write an A-picture and sell it on the market, I'd just go back and get another assignment from Roger."


Return to Hollywood

He returned to Los Angeles and wrote ''
The Wild Angels ''The Wild Angels'' is a 1966 American outlaw biker film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Made on location in Southern California, ''The Wild Angels'' was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles an ...
'' (1966) for Corman, the first "biker" movie (although
Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...
claims to have rewritten it). It was enormously successful at the box office. Griffith wrote a follow up, '' Devil's Angels'' (1967), produced by Corman and directed by Daniel Haller. He did some uncredited rewrites of '' Barbarella'' (1968) His best known credit from this time as ''
Death Race 2000 ''Death Race 2000'' is a 1975 American science fiction action film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transco ...
'' which Griffith was called in to rewrite for producer Corman and director Paul Bartel. Griffith:
Corman tried to make it serious. He was enraged with me for trying to make it funny, but he took me to see the cars and they were all goofy looking with decal eyes and rubber teeth. I said, 'You can't be serious,' and he tells me, 'Chuck, this is a hard-hitting serious picture!' Obviously, Bartel didn't think so either.
He wrote ''
The Swinging Barmaids ''The Swinging Barmaids'' is a 1975 American exploitation film about a serial killer who targets cocktail waitresses. The film was directed by Gus Trikonis, and stars Bruce Watson, Laura Hippe, William Smith, and Dyanne Thorne. Plot After murde ...
'' (1975), had a small role in ''
Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
'' (1976), then wrote and directed the car chase movie, ''
Eat My Dust! ''Eat My Dust!'' is a 1976 action film from New World Pictures starring Ron Howard. Plot When the clean-cut but rebellious son of a small-town sheriff steals the race car of a professional driver, the sheriff forms a motorized posse to recover th ...
'' (1976), a massive hit for 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 19 ...
. Less successful was ''
Up from the Depths ''Up From the Depths'' is a 1979 horror film directed by Charles B. Griffith and starring Sam Bottoms, Susanne Reed, Virgil Frye, Kedric Wolfe, and Charles Howerton. The film, along with many other natural horror films at the time of its releas ...
'' (1979) shot in the Philippines for Corman, which Griffith directed. For the Cannon Group he wrote and directed the comedy, ''
Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype ''Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype'' is a 1980 American comedy-drama horror romance film directed by Charles B. Griffith, starring Oliver Reed and Sunny Johnson. Plot The film is a reversal of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' ...
'' (1980) with Oliver Reed. He directed another car chase film for Corman, ''
Smokey Bites the Dust ''Smokey Bites the Dust'' is a 1981 car chase film from New World Pictures directed by Charles B. Griffith. Despite the title, the film is not connected to the ''Smokey and the Bandit'' series. Plot The stock plot deals with Roscoe Wilton (Jimmy ...
'' (1981).


Later years

From the 1980s onwards Griffith concentrated on writing books and traveling as opposed to writing screenplays. In 1982 a stage adaptation of '' Little Shop of Horrors'' premiered and went on to enjoy great success, with many productions all over the world. The producers secured the rights from Roger Corman but Griffith was originally not part of the arrangement. Griffith, sued the makers of the musical, and wound up being granted "one-fourth of one percent" of the takings as a royalty. "It has kept me going since 1983" said Griffith in the late 1990s – although in 1999 he was claiming the deal had lapsed. His last credit was directing for Corman, ''
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II ''Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II'' is a 1989 American sword and sorcery film written and directed by Charles B. Griffith and starring David Carradine, Mel Welles and Lana Clarkson. It was Griffith's last feature film credit and is a sequel to the ...
'' (1989).


Appraisal

Jonathan Haze later praised Griffith:
He was very creative. He wrote really funny dialogue, and he was fast—really fast... He would write a screenplay in a couple of weeks. Chuck was very good and very good for that time in film history. He was an innovator. He thought up those really funny, really squirrelly ideas—like the plant that eats people.
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
was once asked what writers he admired; he listed
Robert Towne Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz;'' Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' by Peter Biskind page 30, 1999 Bloomsbury edition November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He started with writing films for Roger ...
, Elmore Leonard and Griffith. "Griffith's scripts were very imaginative and often quirky and kind of subversive, and when you look at any list of Roger Corman's early pictures, those were the ones that put Corman on the map", said Tom Weaver.
Tim Lucas Tim Lucas (born May 30, 1956) is a film critic, biographer, novelist, screenwriter, blogger, and publisher and editor of the video review magazine ''Video Watchdog''. Biography and early career Lucas, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, was the only ...
later praised Griffith's writing as:
Irreverent, acerbic, edgy, well-read, flippant, disdainful of the hoi polloi yet also generous, transcendent. Griffith was an unpolished gem of a screenwriter, a beatnik/stoner/outsider who smuggled those crazed and (then) highly individual sensibilities into the mainstream via Corman's commercial cinema. He was the sort of writer who could answer cinema's cry of "Feed me!" by dashing off a non-conformist vampire script like NOT OF THIS EARTH and make room in it for Dick Miller to shine as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman, or to introduce a character like Jack Nicholson's masochistic dental patient into the midst of the two-day mayhem of THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS; who could write a whole movie like ROCK ALL NIGHT that more or less took place in a single room; who had the audacity to write the dialogue for THE UNDEAD and ATLAS and A BUCKET OF BLOOD that ran the gamut from mock-Shakespearean to quasi-Homeric to Beat poetic. Chuck Griffith, man! Who else would have dared? Sometimes his quirky cantos got rewritten, but it was impossible to subvert their essentially subversive character. His zany script for Corman's Puerto Rican lark CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA is the reason why it's the closest thing to a Thomas Pynchon novel ever to appear on the screen... and Griffith pulled it off years before the first edition of V. hit bookstore shelves.
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
later praised him as:
A good friend and the funniest, fastest and most inventive writer I ever worked with. His offbeat humor was undoubtedly a big part of the reason a few of my early films, such as A Bucket of Blood (1959) and The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), acquired "cult classic" status. We had a lot of fun working together to come up with these stories.


Personal life

Griffith died of a heart attack in 2007. He was survived by a wife Marmory James, a daughter, Jessica Griffith, and four grandchildren. His daughter emigrated to Australia and Griffith spent some time there in the late 1990s.


Filmography

*''
It Conquered the World ''It Conquered the World'' is an independently made 1956 American black-and-white science fiction film, produced and directed by Roger Corman, starring Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, Beverly Garland, and Sally Fraser. ''It Conquered the World'' ...
'' (1956) – also actor *''
Gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...
'' (1956) – with
Mark Hanna Marcus Alonzo Hanna (September 24, 1837 – February 15, 1904) was an American businessman and Republican politician who served as a United States Senator from Ohio as well as chairman of the Republican National Committee. A friend and p ...
*'' Not of This Earth'' (1956) – with Mark Hanna – also actor *''
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 ...
'' (1956) – with Mark Hanna *''
The Undead The Undead is an American horror punk band formed in 1980 in New York City's East Village by Bobby Steele (vocals and guitar), Chris "Jack" Natz (bass) and Patrick Blanck (drums). They were one of the pioneers in the New York hardcore scene. ...
'' (1956) – with Mark Hanna *''
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 ...
'' (1956) *''
Naked Paradise ''Naked Paradise'' (sometimes credited as ''Thunder Over Hawaii'') is a 1957 drama film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Richard Denning and Beverly Garland. Corman later asked Charles Griffith, who worked on the script, to reuse his screenplay ...
'' (1956) *''
Attack of the Crab Monsters Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * ''Attack No. 1'', comic an ...
'' (1957) – also actor, underwater sequences *''
Rock All Night ''Rock All Night'' is a 1957 crime drama film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Distributed by American International Pictures, it is based on a 25-minute television episode of '' The Jane Wyman Show'' from 1955 called "The Little Guy." It s ...
'' (1957) *'' Ghost of the China Sea'' (1958) – also produced *''
Forbidden Island ''Forbidden Island'' is a 1959 American adventure crime film directed by Charles B. Griffith starring Jon Hall. It was his debut as director, although he had directed second unit on ''Attack of the Crab Monsters''. A young Don Preston from the ...
'' (1959) – also produced, directed *'' Beast from Haunted Cave'' (1958) *'' Ski Troop Attack'' (1959) *''
A Bucket of Blood ''A Bucket of Blood'' is a 1959 American comedy horror film directed by Roger Corman. It starred Dick Miller and was set in West Coast beatnik culture of the late 1950s. The film, produced on a $50,000 budget, was shot in five days and shares ma ...
'' (1959) *''
The Little Shop of Horrors ''The Little Shop of Horrors'' is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about an inadequate florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The fi ...
'' (1960) – also actor, 2nd unit *''The Troubled Giants'' *''
Creature from the Haunted Sea ''Creature from the Haunted Sea'' is a 1961 horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a parody of spy, gangster, and monster movies (mostly ''Creature from the Black Lagoon''), concerning a secre ...
'' (1961) *''
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...
'' (1962) – also actor, 2nd unit *''The Paratroopers'' (1962) *''Frontier Ahead'' (1963) *''
The Young Racers ''The Young Racers'' is a 1963 sports drama film directed by Roger Corman and starring Mark Damon, William Campbell, Luana Anders and Patrick Magee. It is based on the Formula One races in Europe. Plot Joe Machin ( William Campbell), an Am ...
'' (1963) – 2nd unit only *''
The Secret Invasion ''The Secret Invasion'' is a 1964 American war film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes, Henry Silva, Mia Massini and William Campbell. Appearing three years before ''The Dirty Dozen'' (196 ...
'' (1964) – 2nd unit only *''
The She Beast ''The She Beast'' is a 1966 horror film written and directed by Michael Reeves in his directorial debut. The film stars Barbara Steele, John Karlsen and Ian Ogilvy. Plot The film starts in Transylvania with an alcoholic, Count Von Helsing, r ...
'' (1965) – also 2nd unit *''
The Wild Angels ''The Wild Angels'' is a 1966 American outlaw biker film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Made on location in Southern California, ''The Wild Angels'' was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles an ...
'' (1966) *'' Devil's Angels'' (1966) *'' Barbarella'' (1968) *''
Death Race 2000 ''Death Race 2000'' is a 1975 American science fiction action film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transco ...
'' (1975) – also actor, 2nd unit *''
The Swinging Barmaids ''The Swinging Barmaids'' is a 1975 American exploitation film about a serial killer who targets cocktail waitresses. The film was directed by Gus Trikonis, and stars Bruce Watson, Laura Hippe, William Smith, and Dyanne Thorne. Plot After murde ...
'' (1975) *''
Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
'' (1976) – actor only *''
Eat My Dust! ''Eat My Dust!'' is a 1976 action film from New World Pictures starring Ron Howard. Plot When the clean-cut but rebellious son of a small-town sheriff steals the race car of a professional driver, the sheriff forms a motorized posse to recover th ...
'' (1976) – also directed *''
Up from the Depths ''Up From the Depths'' is a 1979 horror film directed by Charles B. Griffith and starring Sam Bottoms, Susanne Reed, Virgil Frye, Kedric Wolfe, and Charles Howerton. The film, along with many other natural horror films at the time of its releas ...
'' (1979) – also directed *''
Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype ''Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype'' is a 1980 American comedy-drama horror romance film directed by Charles B. Griffith, starring Oliver Reed and Sunny Johnson. Plot The film is a reversal of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' ...
'' (1980) – also directed *''
Smokey Bites the Dust ''Smokey Bites the Dust'' is a 1981 car chase film from New World Pictures directed by Charles B. Griffith. Despite the title, the film is not connected to the ''Smokey and the Bandit'' series. Plot The stock plot deals with Roscoe Wilton (Jimmy ...
'' (1981) – also directed, actor *''
Eating Raoul ''Eating Raoul'' is a 1982 American black comedy film written, directed by and starring Paul Bartel with Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Ed Begley Jr., Buck Henry, and Susan Saiger. It is about a prudish married couple (Bartel and Woronov) who r ...
'' (1982) – actor only *''
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II ''Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II'' is a 1989 American sword and sorcery film written and directed by Charles B. Griffith and starring David Carradine, Mel Welles and Lana Clarkson. It was Griffith's last feature film credit and is a sequel to the ...
'' (1989) – also directed


Unmade screenplays

*''Three Bright Banners'' – a Western about the Confederate incursion into Mexico at Brownsville, written for
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
– Griffith's first screenplay *''Hang Town'' – a Western written for
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
– Griffith's second screenplay *''Devil on Horseback'' (1955) – a Western written for
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
about bandit
Juan Cortina Juan Nepomuceno Cortina Goseacochea (May 16, 1824 – October 30, 1894), also known by his nicknames Cheno Cortina, the Red Robber of the Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Robin Hood, was a Mexican rancher, politician, military leader, outlaw a ...
– meant to star
Montgomery Clift Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to ''The New York Times''. He is best remembered ...
and
Pedro Armendáriz Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings (May 9, 1912 – June 18, 1963) was a Mexican film actor who made films in both Mexico and the United States. With Dolores del Río and María Félix, he was one of the best-known Latin American movie stars ...
*''The Nth Man'' (1957) – adaptation of a novel about a giant man; Griffith wrote the first draft then left the project which was written by
Mark Hanna Marcus Alonzo Hanna (September 24, 1837 – February 15, 1904) was an American businessman and Republican politician who served as a United States Senator from Ohio as well as chairman of the Republican National Committee. A friend and p ...
and
Bert I. Gordon Bert Ira Gordon (born September 24, 1922) is an American filmmaker and visual effects artist. He is best known for writing and directing science fiction and horror B-movies such as ''King Dinosaur'' (1955), ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' (1957), '' ...
as ''
The Amazing Colossal Man ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' (also known as ''The Colossal Man'') is a 1957 American black-and-white science fiction film from American International Pictures. Produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, it stars Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William ...
'' (1957) *''Flash, Son of Hitler'' *''Mind Out of Time'' *''Part Time Mother'' – script for
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
's Filmgroup, based on a story by Mitchell Healy, about a working widowed mother *''The Gold Bug'' (1964) – from the novel by
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
, written for
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
to star
Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
, Basil Rathbone and
Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
*''The Trip'' (1966) – the first two drafts of the script not used in the final film *''Hit the High Road'' (1970) – a comedy drama to be produced by Tamara Assayev and directed by Jimmy Murakami, about two teenage girls *''The Mouldering Mistress of Wier'' *''Who Stole Irving?'' – based on a play by Menahem Golan and meant to star Groucho Marx *''Roger the Rager'' – comedy about
road rage Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by motorists. These behaviors include rude and verbal insults, yelling, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted at other drivers, pedestrians or cyclists in an effort to intimi ...
*''Two on the Isle'' – a comedy *''Out of this World'' – described by Griffith as "a very large scale science fiction film" *''The Real McCoy'' *''Oy Vey, My Son Is Gay'' – described by Griffith as "the Jewish '' La Cage aux Folles'', written for Cannon.


References


Interviews

*''Scary Monsters'' Magazine, April 2008, no.66 "Charles Griffith's Last Interview" Part 1. by Lawrence Fultz Jr. *''Scary Monsters'' Magazine, June 2008, no.67 "Charles Griffith's Last Interview" Part 2. by Lawrence Fultz Jr. *''Video Watchdog'' Magazine, July 2008, no. 141, "Here Lies a Man Who Was Not of This Earth: A Eulogy for Charles B. Griffith" by Justin Humphreys


External links

*
RIP Charles B. Griffith at AMCTV

Charles B Griffith's Official WebsiteAudio interview with Griffith shortly before his death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Charles B. 1930 births 2007 deaths Male actors from Chicago American male film actors American male screenwriters Male actors from San Diego Film directors from California Writers from San Diego Screenwriters from Illinois Screenwriters from California 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters