Died: Aug 25, 1975 in West Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Director
Active: '40s-'60s
Major Genres: Drama, Crime
Career Highlights: The Untouchables: The Scarface Mob, The Phenix City Story, Mask of the Avenger
First Major Screen Credit: Scandal Sheet (1931)
Biography
The son of popular Irish actress Lillian O'Brien (who later proved her versatility by becoming a leading light in America's Yiddish theatre), Phil Karlson studied painting at Chicago's Art Institute. He went on to study law at California's Loyola Marymount college (at his father's behest) before attaining his first movie job as a University Studios prop man. He worked his way up the cinematic chain as a cutter, editor and short-subjects director. He graduated to feature-film directing at the Columbia Pictures "B" unit, then turned out several low-budget thrillers at Monogram; he also helmed Marilyn Monroe's first starring picture, 1949's Ladies of the Chorus. By virtue of such economical tension exercises as 99 River Street (1949), Tight Spot (1955), and the superb The Phenix City Story (1955), Karlson was embraced by the cognoscenti as a master purveyor of the "film noir" genre. In 1959, he directed the two-part pilot for the Untouchables TV series, which was later released theatrically as The Scarface Mob (1962). The "auteur" side of Karlson took a back seat to commercialism with his handling of the Dean Martin "Matt Helm" spy spoofs of the 1960s. In 1974, Phil Karlson regained his cult following with the action-packed surprise hit Walking Tall (1974), which made Karlson a millionaire many times over thanks to his farsighted financial investment in the project. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Karlson got into the film industry working as a prop man while a law student.[1] After working a number of film jobs, including being an assistant director for a number of Abbott and Costello films,[1] Karlson directed his first film in 1944[7] and in 1948 directed the first film starring Marilyn Monroe, Ladies of the Chorus.[8] 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.[7] In the 1960s the quality of his directed films declined, which included working on Kid Galahad (1962) with Elvis Presley and two Dean MartinMatt Helm spy films. 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.