Phil Karlson
Directing
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Phil Karlson (July 2, 1908, Chicago, Illinois – December 12, 1985, Los Angeles, California) was a film director known for his no-nonsense film noirs. Karlson directed 99 River Street, Kansas City Confidential and Hell's Island all with actor John Payne in the early 1950s. Other films include Rocky (1948), The Phenix City Story (1955), 5 Against the House (1955) and The Young Doctors (1961). Phil Karlson was the son of popular Irish actress Lillian O'Brien. He studied painting at Chicago's Art Institute, and law, at his father's request, at Loyola Marymount University in California. Karlson got into the film industry working as a prop man while a law student. After working a number of film jobs, including being an assistant director for a number of Abbott and Costello films, Karlson directed his first film in 1944 and in 1948 directed the first film starring Marilyn Monroe, Ladies of the Chorus. He worked on a number of low-budget projects for Monogram Pictures and Eagle-Lion Films before making his mark in 1950. It was then that he was known for directing tough, realistic and sometimes violent gritty crime films. In the 1960s the quality of his directed films declined, which included working on Kid Galahad (1962) with Elvis Presley and two Dean Martin Matt Helm spy films, including The Wrecking Crew (1969) co-starring Sharon Tate and Elke Sommer. He had his biggest success in 1973 when he directed the hit film, Walking Tall. The film made the director a rich man many times over, thanks to the fact that he owned a huge part of the movie. Description above from the Wikipedia article Phil Karlson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960. Two of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Lux Video Theatre
Ex-wrestler and Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser walks tall and carries a big stick as he tussles with county-wide corruption and moonshining thugs.
Walking Tall
A lonely boy becomes good friends with Ben, a rat. This rat is also the leader of a pack of vicious killer rats, killing lots of people.
Ben
When Count Contini attempts to destroy the world's economy by masterminding the theft of $1 billion in U.S. gold, ICE chief MacDonald summons secret agent Matt Helm to stop him.
The Wrecking Crew
The owner of a coal mining operation, falsely imprisoned for fratricide, takes a drug to make him invisible, despite its side effect: gradual madness.
The Invisible Man Returns
During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers escape from a Union prison and head for the Mexican border. Along the way, they kill a Union courier bearing the news that the war is over. Keeping the message a secret, the captain has his men go on and they soon find themselves in a battle with the Union search party who also is unaware of the war's end.
A Time for Killing
Matt Helm is called out of retirement to stop the evil Big O organization who plan to explode an atomic bomb over Alamagordo, NM, and start WW III.
The Silencers
After completing his military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter—and takes him under his wing.
Kid Galahad
A strange animal attack turns a botanist into a bloodthirsty monster.
Werewolf of London
Banished from various U.S. protectorates in the Pacific, a saloon entertainer uses her femme-fatale charms to woo politicians, navy personnel, gangsters, riff-raff, judges and a ship's doctor in order to achieve her aims.
Seven Sinners
Joe Don Baker plays a gambler who is framed for a crime he did not commit. A corrupt legal system leads him into a plea bargain and four years behind bars. By the time he gets out of prison, he's determined to put together the pieces of his frame-up and dole out the justice he was denied to those responsible.
Framed
A former model, serving time in prison, becomes a key witness in a trial against a notorious gangster. She is put under protective watch by the District Attorney in a posh hotel, but the crime kingpin makes attempts to get to her.
Tight Spot
An ex-convict sets out to uncover who framed him for an armored car robbery.
Kansas City Confidential
In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.
The Flame of New Orleans
A choirmaster addicted to opium and obsessed with a beautiful young woman will stop at nothing to possess her.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
A tabloid editor assigns a young reporter to solve a murder the editor committed himself.
Scandal Sheet
An American commando who's the sole survivor of a parachute jump into WWII-era Italy leads a group of children in a campaign of sabotage against the Nazis.
Hornets' Nest
A powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.