Phil Karlson
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Phil Karlson
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, RoviFilmography:
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Phil Karlson
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The Untouchables: The Scarface Mob Buy this Movie |
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Phil Karlson
Phil Karlson (July 2, 1908, Chicago, Illinois – December 12, 1985, Los Angeles, California[1]) was a film director known for his no-nonsense film noirs. Karlson directed 99 River Street,[2] Kansas City Confidential[3] and Hell's Island[4] all with actor John Payne[2][3][4] in the early 1950s. Other films include Rocky (1948), The Texas Rangers (1951 film) (1951), The Phenix City Story (1955), 5 Against the House (1955) and The Young Doctors (1961).[5]
Phil Karlson was the son of popular Irish actress Lillian O'Brien.[6]
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.[1] After working a variety of jobs in the business, including assistant director on a number of Abbott and Costello films,[1] he made his directorial debut in 1944.[7] He directed Marilyn Monroe's first film, 1948's Ladies of the Chorus,[8] and worked on a number of low-budget projects for Monogram Pictures and Eagle-Lion Films before finally hitting his stride in the early 1950s, when he turned out a string of tough, gritty, realistic and violent crime thrillers.[7]
In the 1960s his career went into decline, and he was reduced to working on such substandard fare as Kid Galahad (1962) with Elvis Presley and two Matt Helm spy films starring Dean Martin, including The Wrecking Crew (1969) co-starring Sharon Tate and Elke Sommer. He hit the big time again in 1973, however, with Walking Tall, the fact-based story of a crusading sheriff in the most corrupt county in Tennessee. It was a major domestic and international hit. It also made him a fortune, thanks to the fact that he owned a large percentage of it.
Partial filmography
- A Wave, a WAC and a Marine (1944)
- Lorna Doone (1951)
- The Phenix City Story (1955)
- Kid Galahad (1962)
- The Silencers (1966)
References
- ^ a b c "Phil Karlson - Cine 365". www.cine365.com. http://www.cine365.com/687311-biografia-phil-karlson.html. Retrieved 2009-07-08.[dead link]
- ^ a b "99 River Street (1953)". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045465/. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ a b "Kansas City Confidential (1952)". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044789/. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ a b "Hell's Island (1955)". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048160/. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ "Phil Karlson - Filmography as director". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0439597/#director. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ "Phil Karlson". www.tcm.com. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=98727&apid=124625. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ a b "Phil Karlson - Biography". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0439597/bio. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ "Ladies of the Chorus (1949)". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041571/. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
External links
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Mentioned in
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A Wave, a Wac and a Marine
(1944 Comedy Film)
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