Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Phil Karlson

 
Director: Phil Karlson
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jul 02, 1908 in Chicago, Illinois
  • 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
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Phil Karlson
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Phil Karlson

Phil Karlson (July 2, 1908 - December 12, 1985[1]) was a Chicago-born film director known for his no-nonsense film noir. 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 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 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 Martin Matt 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.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Phil Karlson - Cine 365". www.cine365.com. http://www.cine365.com/687311-biografia-phil-karlson.html. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  2. ^ a b "99 River Street (1953)". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045465/. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  3. ^ a b "Kansas City Confidential (1952)". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044789/. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  4. ^ a b "Hell's Island (1955)". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048160/. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  5. ^ "Phil Karlson - Filmography as director". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0439597/#director. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  6. ^ "Phil Karlson". www.tcm.com. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=98727&apid=124625. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  7. ^ a b "Phil Karlson - Biography". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0439597/bio. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  8. ^ "Ladies of the Chorus (1949)". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041571/. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Learn More
Framed (1975 Drama Film)
Mask of the Avenger (1951 Adventure Film)
The Big Cat (1949 Drama Film)

What is phil kids? Read answer...
Who is Punxatani Phil? Read answer...
Is phil flacid? Read answer...

Help us answer these
Where can you find spark notes for The devil in the shape of a woman by Carrol Karlson?
How population in phil?
Phil dalhausser?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Director. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Phil Karlson".  Read more