American International Pictures
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Industry | Filmed entertainment |
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Fate | Acquired by Filmways |
Successor | Filmways |
Founded | April, 1954 |
Defunct | 1980 |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
Key people
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James H. Nicholson, Samuel Z. Arkoff |
![](/w/images/thumb/b/bd/RavenPoster.jpg/300px-RavenPoster.jpg)
American International Pictures (AIP) was a film production company formed in April 1954 from American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer. It was dedicated to releasing independently produced, low-budget films packaged as double features, primarily of interest to the teenagers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Nicholson and Arkoff formed ARC in 1954,[1] and their first release was The Fast and the Furious.
Contents
AIP personnel
Nicholson and Arkoff served as executive producers while Roger Corman and Alex Gordon were the principal film producers and, sometimes, directors. Writer Charles B. Griffith wrote many of the early films, along with Arkoff's brother-in-law, Lou Rusoff, who later produced many of the films he had written. Other writers included Ray Russell, Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. Floyd Crosby, A.S.C. famous for his camera work on a number of exotic documentaries and the Oscar winner, High Noon, was chief cinematographer. His innovative use of surreal color and odd lenses and angles gave AIP films a signature look. The early rubber monster suits and miniatures of Paul Blaisdell were used in AIP's science fiction films. The company also hired Les Baxter[2] and Ronald Stein to compose many of its film scores.
In the 1950s the company had a number of actors under contract, including John Ashley, Fay Spain and Steve Terrell.
Emphasis on teenagers
When many of ARC/AIP's first releases failed to earn a profit, Arkoff quizzed film exhibitors who told him of the value of the teenage market as adults were watching television.[3][4] AIP stopped making Westerns with Arkoff explaining: "To compete with television westerns you have to have color, big stars and $2,000,000".[5]:126
AIP was the first company to use focus groups,[6] polling American teenagers about what they would like to see and using their responses to determine titles, stars, and story content. AIP would question their exhibitors (who often provided 20% of AIP's financing[5]:35) what they thought of the success of a title, then would have a writer create a script for it.[5]:156 A sequence of tasks in a typical production involved creating a great title, getting an artist such as Albert Kallis who supervised all AIP artwork from 1955–73[7] to create a dynamic, eye-catching poster, then raising the cash, and finally writing and casting the film.
The ARKOFF formula
Samuel Z. Arkoff related his tried-and-true "ARKOFF formula" for producing a successful low-budget movie years later, during a 1980s talk show appearance. His ideals for a movie included:
- Action (exciting, entertaining drama)
- Revolution (novel or controversial themes and ideas)
- Killing (a modicum of violence)
- Oratory (notable dialogue and speeches)
- Fantasy (acted-out fantasies common to the audience)
- Fornication (sex appeal, for young adults)
Later the AIP publicity department devised a strategy called "The Peter Pan Syndrome":
a) a younger child will watch anything an older child will watch;
b) an older child will not watch anything a younger child will watch;
c) a girl will watch anything a boy will watch
d) a boy will not watch anything a girl will watch;
therefore-to catch your greatest audience you zero in on the 19-year old male.[8]
The films of the 1950s
Having recognized that other filmmakers were ignoring the lucrative teenage drive-in market, AIP focused on producing scores of low-budget, youth-oriented films released as double features. They exploited the emerging juvenile delinquent genre with movies like Daddy-O, High School Hellcats, Female Jungle, Reform School Girl, Runaway Daughters, and Girls in Prison.
Many of AIP's "wild youth" features also catered to the teenage obsession with cars and drag racing in films such as Hot Rod Gang, Hot Rod Girl (with Chuck Connors), Roadracers, Dragstrip Girl, and the 1959 horror-hybrid Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow – the sequel to 1958's Hot Rod Gang.
Movies centered around rock 'n roll music such as Shake, Rattle & Rock! and Rock All Night were another untapped area mined by AIP. But one of their most unique innovations was the creation of teen-themed horror films with eye-catching titles like: I Was a Teenage Werewolf (starring Michael Landon), I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, and Roger Corman's science fiction film Teenage Cave Man, with Robert Vaughn.
AIP also capitalized on the popularity of war films with releases such as 1958's Tank Battalion, starring Edward G. Robinson, Jr., backstopped by a bevy of female nurses and barmaids in case the combat scenes failed to interest moviegoers. Made as usual on a very tight budget, the costs of casting meant that the producer could only afford the rental of a single tank for the so-called 'Tank Battalion', and the action scenes were written with this limitation in mind, focusing primarily on the tank's crew and their love interests.
Science fiction and horror films, many directed by Roger Corman and written by Lou Rusoff, were a staple at AIP with titles like It Conquered the World (with Peter Graves and Lee Van Cleef), The She Creature, and War of the Colossal Beast.
AIP's 1960s output
Based in rented office space at the Chaplin Studios, during the early 1960s AIP concentrated on horror films inspired by the Poe cycle. In 1962 Arkoff said AIP were in a position similar to Columbia Pictures just before they made Submarine and Dirigible:
Before that they were on poverty row. Our better position will enable us to obtain more important writers, perhaps more important producers as well. We're a privately owned company at the moment but perhaps within two or three years we will become a public company.[9]
Beginning with 1963's Beach Party, AIP created a new genre of beach party films featuring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. The original idea and the first script were Lou Rusoff's. The highly successful and often imitated series ended in 1966 with the 7th film, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Many actors from the beach films also appeared in AIP's spy-spoofs such as Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) and car racing sagas like Fireball 500 (1966) and Thunder Alley. During this time AIP also produced or distributed most of Roger Corman's famous horror B movies, including such films as X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes, The Raven, and The Terror.
In 1966, the studio released The Wild Angels starring Peter Fonda, based loosely on the real-life exploits of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. This film ushered in AIP's most successful year and kicked off a subgenre of motorcycle gang films that lasted almost ten years and included Devil's Angels, The Glory Stompers with Dennis Hopper and The Born Losers—the film that introduced the Billy Jack character.
In 1968 AIP launched a $22 million film program.[10] The psychedelic and hippie scenes of the late '60s were also exploited with films like The Trip, also with Peter Fonda, Riot on Sunset Strip, Wild in the Streets, Maryjane, Gas-s-s-s, and Psych-Out with Jack Nicholson. These "social protest" films were also highly successful. Horror movies also enjoyed a revival of popularity in the late 60s.[11]
American International International
In the United Kingdom, AIP struck up a film making parntership with Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy's Anglo-Amalgamated.
On a trip to Italy, Arkoff met Fulvio Lucisano, an Italian screenwriter and producer who eventually headed Italian International Film,[12] which co-produced 25 films in Italy for AIP.[13] The "International" in American International Pictures presumably lived up to its name. Due to importing completed productions from other foreign countries being cheaper and more simpilistic than producing their own in-house studio films in America, AIP had released many giallo, sword and sandal (or "peplum)", Eurospy and Macaroni Combat war films featuring many American stars and Italian stars such as the comedy team of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia. However, AIP released no spaghetti westerns, perhaps recalling their failure of Westerns in the 1950s. Many of these films were edited, rewritten with different English dialogue, usually by Arkoff's nephew Ted Rusoff, and sometimes rescored by Les Baxter.
AIP through Henry G. Saperstein is well known for being the major U.S. distributor for Toho's Godzilla and Daiei's Gamera (kaiju) movies of the '60s and '70s. AIP also distributed other Japanese science fiction movies like Frankenstein Conquers the World, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet, and the South Korean production Yonggary, Monster from the Deep as well as two Japanese animated features from Toei Animation, Alakazam the Great and Jack and the Witch. AIP also released a pair of Japanese spy thrillers redubbed as a comedy co-written by Woody Allen called What's Up Tiger Lily?.[14]
The studio also released edited and English-dubbed versions of several Eastern Bloc science fiction films, that had the dialogue rewritten for the American market and in some cases had additional scenes filmed with American and British actors. These include the Soviet film Planeta Bur (Planet of Storms) which was released by AIP in two different English-dubbed versions, as Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women and the highly regarded 1963 Czech science fiction film Ikarie XB-1, which was retitled Voyage to the End of the Universe.
The Corman-Poe cycle
In the early 1960s, AIP gained some kudos by combining Roger Corman, Vincent Price and the stories of Edgar Allan Poe into a series of visually impressive horror films,[editorializing] with scripts by Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Ray Russell, R. Wright Campbell and Robert Towne. This series of movies made AIP an American counterpart to the British studio Hammer Films and its famous Hammer Horror line featuring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
The original idea, usually credited[who?] to Corman and Lou Rusoff, was to take Poe's story "The Fall of the House of Usher", which had both a high name-recognition value and the merit of being in the public domain, and thus royalty-free, and expand it into a feature film. Corman convinced the studio to give him a larger budget than the typical AIP film so he could film the movie in widescreen and color, and use it to create lavish sets as well.[15] The success of House of Usher led AIP to finance further films based on Poe's stories. The sets and special effects were often reused in subsequent movies (for example, the burning roof of the Usher mansion reappears in most of the other films as stock footage) making the series quite cost-effective. All the films in the series were directed by Roger Corman, and they all starred Price except The Premature Burial, which featured Ray Milland in the lead. It was originally produced for another studio, but AIP acquired the rights to it.[16]
As the series progressed, Corman made attempts to change the formula. Later films added more humor to the stories, especially The Raven, which takes Poe's poem as an inspiration and develops it into an all-out farce starring Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre; Karloff had starred in a 1935 film with the same title. Corman also adapted H. P. Lovecraft's short novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward in an attempt to get away from Poe, but AIP changed the title to that of an obscure Poe poem, The Haunted Palace, and marketed it as yet another movie in the series. The penultimate film in the series, The Masque of the Red Death, was filmed in England with an unusually long schedule for Corman and AIP. The film, inspired by Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, looks much more opulent than the rest of the series.[editorializing] Many critics[who?] agree that this film is the best in the "Poe Cycle."
Although Corman and Lou Rusoff are generally credited with coming up with the idea for the Poe series, in an interview on the Anchor Bay DVD of Mario Bava's Black Sabbath, Mark Damon claims that he first suggested the idea to Corman. Damon also says that Corman let him direct The Pit and the Pendulum uncredited. Corman's commentary for Pit mentions nothing of this and all existing production stills of the film show Corman directing.
List of Corman-Poe films
Of eight films, seven feature stories that are actually based on the works of Poe.
- House of Usher (1960) (based on the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher")
- The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) (based on the short story of the same name)
- The Premature Burial (1962) (based on the short story of the same name)
- Tales of Terror (1962) (based on the short stories "Morella", "The Black Cat", "The Cask of Amontillado", and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar")
- The Raven (1963) (based on the poem of the same name)
- The Haunted Palace (1963) (based on H.P. Lovecraft's novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, using the title from Poe's 1839 poem)
- The Masque of the Red Death (1964) (based on the short story of the same name with another Poe short story, "Hop-Frog", used as a sub-plot.)
- The Tomb of Ligeia (1965) (based on the short story "Ligeia")
Occasionally, Corman's 1963 film The Terror (produced immediately after The Raven) is recognized as being part of the Corman-Poe cycle, although the film's story and title are not based on any literary work.
AIP-TV
In 1964, AIP became one of the last film studios to start its own television production company, American International Productions Television (a.k.a. American International Television or AIP-TV).[17] AIP-TV at first released many of their 1950s films to American television stations, then filmed unsuccessful television pilots for Beach Party and Sergeant Deadhead. The company then made several colour horror/science fiction television movies by Larry Buchanan that were remakes of black-and-white AIP films, and sold packages of many dubbed European, Japanese, and Mexican films produced by K. Gordon Murray and foreign-made live-action and animated TV series (including Prince Planet). The best known animated series AIP-TV distributed was Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt.
In order to allay the fears of cinema owners who feared current releases would soon end up being shown on television, AIP issued a statement retroactive to 1963 that the company would not release any of their films to television until five years after cinema release unless the film had not made back its original negative costs.[18] AIP-TV also filmed specials of promotion of AIP films such as The Wild Weird World of Dr. Goldfoot (1965, ABC) and An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1972, syndication), both with Vincent Price.
In 1978, AIP-TV distributed the pop music series Twiggy's Jukebox. For several years around this time, AIP-TV also distributed several British TV series, including The Avengers, to U.S. stations.
AIP Records
AIP started their own record label, American International Records in 1959[19] to release tunes used in their movies. There were a number of soundtrack albums as well.[20]
AIP Records was once distributed by MGM Records,[21] the record label owned by AIP's successor-in-interest MGM.
Later years
In 1969 AIP went public to raise extra capital, issuing 300,000 shares.[22][23]
In 1970 they entered into an agreement with Commonwealth United Productions to issue their films.[24] In 1971 they released 31 films, their greatest number to date, and were seen as one of the most stable companies in Hollywood.[25] Despite their exploitation roots they did not concentrate on X or R rated filmmaking during this period.[26]
Resignation of Nicholson
In 1972 James H. Nicholson resigned from AIP to set up his own production company working out of 20th Century Fox, called Academy Pictures Corporation; its first and only release was The Legend of Hell House.[27][28] AIP bought out over 100,000 of Nicholson's shares.[29] He died shortly after of a brain tumor.[30]
Arkoff alone
Arkoff continued on at AIP as president until the end of the decade. Heads of production during the 1970s included Larry Gordon[31] and Jere Henshaw.
By the early 1970s AIP felt the horror movie cycle was in decline, and so switched to other genres, such as kung fu and gangsters.[32] Notably they produced some of that decade's blaxploitation films like Blacula, and Foxy Brown. In a throwback to the old "studio days", the company is credited with making Pam Grier a household name, as the majority of her early '70s films were made under contract to American International.
In the mid to late 1970s, AIP began to produce more mainstream films such as Bunny O'Hare, Cooley High, The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday, The Amityville Horror, Love at First Bite, Meteor, Force 10 from Navarone, Shout at the Devil, The Island of Dr. Moreau and C.H.O.M.P.S.[33] The increased spending on these projects, though they did make some money, contributed to the company's downfall. In the meantime, the studio imported and released its final foreign film, an Australian film, Mad Max, dubbed into American English.
James Nicholson's first wife Sylvia was still a major shareholder of the company. She sued AIP for mismanagement but this was resolved in 1978 when AIP bought out her shares.[34]
Merger with Filmways
By the late 1970s costs of making movies continued to rise, AIP's tactic of moving into bigger budgeted quality pictures was not paying off at the box office, and Arkoff began to think of merging the company. "We've been the Woolworths of the movie business but Woolworths is being out priced," said Arkoff.[35] Talks began with Filmways Incorporated. Negotiations stalled for a while[36] but resumed a number of months later.[37] In 1979 AIP was sold to Filmways, Inc. for $30 million and became a subsidiary production unit thereof renamed Filmways Pictures in 1980.[38][39]
Arkoff was unhappy with the direction of the company and resigned to set up his own production company, receiving a pay out worth $1.4 million.[40][41]
AIP-TV was absorbed as the wholly owned program syndication arm of Filmways Television. Filmways was later bought by Orion Pictures Company in 1982 and Filmways was later renamed to Orion Pictures Corporation, but retained the distribution arm. This allowed Orion to establish its own distribution after utilizing Warner Bros. for distribution which still has distribution rights to Orion films Warner distributed. Today, a majority of the AIP library is owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's subsidiary Orion Pictures Corporation. The American International name is still a registered trademark owned by MGM's Orion Pictures unit.[42][43]
List of American International Pictures films
1950s
1960s
- Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966)
- Zontar, The Thing from Venus (1966)
- Curse of the Swamp Creature (1966)
- What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
- The Wild Angels (1966)
- Queen of Blood (1966)
- Blood Bath (1966)
- Fireball 500 (1966)
- Trunk to Cairo (1966)
- The Eye Creatures (1966)
- War of the Monsters (1966)
- Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)
- The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)
- Return of the Giant Monsters (1967)
- Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967)
- Yonggary, Monster from the Deep (1967)
- The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967)
- Jack and the Witch (1967)
- Mars Needs Women (1967)
- Thunder Alley (1967)
- In the Year 2889 (1967)
- Devil's Angels (1967)
- The Trip (1967)
- The Born Losers (1967)
- Riot on Sunset Strip (1967)
- Creature of Destruction (1967)
- Wild in the Streets (1968)
- The Glory Stompers (1968)
- Destroy All Monsters (1968)
- Destroy All Planets (1968)
- The Mini-Skirt Mob (1968)
- The Savage Seven (1968)
- Maryjane (1968)
- Psych-Out (1968)
- Killers Three (1968)
- Three in the Attic (1968)
- Spirits of the Dead (1968)
- Witchfinder General (1968)
- Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)
- The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots (1969)
- Attack of the Monsters (1969)
- Hell's Belles (1969)
- God Forgives... I Don't! (1969)
- The Oblong Box (1969)
- 'It's Alive!' (1969)
- Horror House (1969)
- Venus in Furs (1969)
- Angel, Angel, Down We Go (1969)
- De Sade (1969)
- The Honeymoon Killers (1969)
- Hell's Angels '69 (1969)
- The Day the Hot Line Got Hot (1969)
1970s
- The Savage Wild (1970)
- Strawberries Need Rain (1970)
- Scream and Scream Again (1970)
- Pacific Vibrations (1970)
- Twinky (1970)
- The Dunwich Horror (1970)
- es (1970)
- Dracula Versus Frankenstein (1970)
- Bloody Mama (1970)
- Secrets of Sex (1970)
- Dorian Gray (1970)
- Wuthering Heights (1970)
- Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)
- A Bullet for Pretty Boy (1970)
- Cry of the Banshee (1970)
- Yog, Monster from Space (1970)
- Gamera vs. Monster X (1970)
- The Vampire Lovers (1970)
- Angel Unchained (1970)
- The Devil's Widow (1970)
Release Date | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
February 17, 1971 | Gas-s-s-s | |
March 17, 1971 | Blood and Lace | |
April 22, 1971 | The Hard Ride | |
April 28, 1971 | The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant | |
May 18, 1971 | The Abominable Dr. Phibes | |
August 20, 1971 | Swedish Fly Girls | |
September 29, 1971 | Chrome and Hot Leather | |
October 6, 1971 | Murders in the Rue Morgue | |
October 13, 1971 | A Lizard in a Woman's Skin | |
October 18, 1971 | Bunny O'Hare | |
October 27, 1971 | Some of My Best Friends Are... | |
October 1971 | 1,000 Convicts and a Woman | |
December 22, 1971 | Kidnapped | |
January 19, 1972 | Together | |
February 2, 1972 | The Return of Count Yorga | |
February 1972 | Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster | |
March 10, 1972 | Frogs | |
March 15, 1972 | Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? | |
April 1972 | Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde | |
May 17, 1972 | Blood from the Mummy's Tomb | |
May 1972 | Pickup on 101 | |
Wild in the Sky | ||
June 14, 1972 | Boxcar Bertha | |
July 19, 1972 | The Thing with Two Heads | |
July 21, 1972 | F.T.A. | |
July 1972 | Dr. Phibes Rises Again | |
August 16, 1972 | Slaughter | |
August 25, 1972 | Blacula | |
August 1972 | Deathmaster | |
The Sandpit Generals | ||
October 10, 1972 | Baron Blood | |
November 10, 1972 | Unholy Rollers | |
November 22, 1972 | Prison Girls | |
January 17, 1973 | The Dirt Gang | |
January 19, 1973 | Black Mama White Mama | |
January 1973 | Manson | |
February 7, 1973 | Black Caesar | |
March 27, 1973 | Sisters | |
April 1973 | Cannibal Girls | |
May 4, 1973 | Deep Thrust | |
June 13, 1973 | Coffy | |
June 27, 1973 | Scream, Blacula, Scream | |
June 1973 | Little Cigars | |
July 20, 1973 | Dillinger | |
August 8, 1973 | Heavy Traffic | |
August 31, 1973 | Slaughter's Big Rip-Off | |
September 1973 | Death Line | |
October 31, 1973 | The Italian Connection | |
October 1973 | The Screaming Tiger | |
November 21, 1973 | Battle of the Amazons | |
December 1973 | Hell Up in Harlem | |
January 30, 1974 | The Bat People | |
February 13, 1974 | Bamboo Gods and Iron Men | |
February 1974 | Secret Life of a Schoolgirl Wife | |
March 6, 1974 | Deranged | |
March 20, 1974 | Sugar Hill | |
April 5, 1974 | Foxy Brown | |
May 15, 1974 | Truck Stop Women | |
May 22, 1974 | Madhouse | |
June 5, 1974 | Thriller: A Cruel Picture | |
Dirty O'Neil | ||
June 26, 1974 | The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat | |
Truck Turner | ||
July 17, 1974 | Golden Needles | |
July 1974 | Savage Sisters | |
August 8, 1974 | Macon County Line | |
August 18, 1974 | Act of Vengeance | |
October 1974 | Hangup | |
November 22, 1974 | Sunday in the Country | |
December 25, 1974 | Abby | |
1975 | Vampira | |
February 1975 | it | |
March 26, 1975 | Sheba, Baby | |
March 1975 | House of Whipcord | |
War Goddess | ||
The Wild Party | ||
April 25, 1975 | The Reincarnation of Peter Proud | |
May 21, 1975 | Cornbread, Earl and Me | |
The Wild McCullochs | ||
May 1975 | What Have You Done to Solange? | |
June 11, 1975 | Murph the Surf | |
June 25, 1975 | Cooley High | |
July 2, 1975 | Bucktown | |
July 31, 1975 | Hennessy | |
August 13, 1975 | The Land That Time Forgot | |
September 3, 1975 | Return to Macon County | |
September 28, 1975 | Walking Tall Part 2 | |
December 17, 1975 | Six Pack Annie | |
December 25, 1975 | Friday Foster | |
January 14, 1976 | Killer Force | |
March 1976 | Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw | |
One Summer Love | ||
April 21, 1976 | Crime and Passion | |
May 1976 | Annie | |
June 18, 1976 | The Food of the Gods | |
June 23, 1976 | The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday | |
I Don't Want to Be Born | ||
July 9, 1976 | A Small Town in Texas | |
July 30, 1976 | Squirm | |
July 1976 | At the Earth's Core | |
Special Delivery | ||
August 13, 1976 | Futureworld | |
August 25, 1976 | J.D.'s Revenge | |
September 17, 1976 | Street People | |
October 7, 1976 | A Matter of Time | |
October 8, 1976 | Scorchy | |
November 24, 1976 | Shout at the Devil | |
December 24, 1976 | The Monkey Hustle | |
The Town That Dreaded Sundown | ||
December 1976 | Escape from Angola | |
January 23, 1977 | The Day That Shook the World | |
February 2, 1977 | Chatterbox | |
February 11, 1977 | Shadows in an Empty Room | |
March 4, 1977 | Death Weekend | |
April 1, 1977 | Breaker! Breaker! | |
June 15, 1977 | Tentacles | |
June 29, 1977 | Empire of the Ants | |
July 6, 1977 | The People That Time Forgot | |
July 13, 1977 | The Island of Dr. Moreau | |
August 10, 1977 | The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane | |
August 17, 1977 | Joyride | |
August 31, 1977 | Walking Tall: Final Chapter | |
October 14, 1977 | Rolling Thunder | |
December 28, 1977 | Grayeagle | |
December 1977 | The Incredible Melting Man | |
The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover | ||
February 1978 | Record City | |
March 1978 | Last Cannibal World | |
April 19, 1978 | Holocaust 2000 | |
May 13, 1978 | Jennifer | |
May 24, 1978 | Youngblood | |
May 26, 1978 | Here Come the Tigers | |
High-Ballin' | ||
May 1978 | Our Winning Season | |
June 6, 1978 | Cracking Up | |
June 22, 1978 | Matilda | |
June 1978 | Who Can Kill a Child? | |
July 14, 1978 | Mean Dog Blues | |
October 5, 1978 | The Norsemen | |
December 8, 1978 | Force 10 from Navarone | |
April 18, 1979 | The Evictors | |
April 27, 1979 | Love at First Bite | |
June 1, 1979 | Sunnyside | |
July 27, 1979 | The Amityville Horror | |
September 14, 1979 | California Dreaming | |
September 1979 | Seven | |
October 5, 1979 | Something Short of Paradise | |
October 19, 1979 | Meteor | |
November 1979 | Jaguar Lives! | |
December 21, 1979 | C.H.O.M.P.S. |
1980s
Release Date | Title |
---|---|
February 15, 1980 | Mad Max |
March 14, 1980 | Defiance |
March 14, 1980 | The Visitor |
March 28, 1980 | Nothing Personal |
May 1, 1980 | Gorp |
July 11, 1980 | How to Beat the High Co$t of Living |
Unmade Films
The following films were announced for production by AIP but never made:
- adaptation of She by H. Rider Haggard - to be made in 1958 in Australia by Roger Corman[44]
- Even and the Dragon to be directed by Stanley Shpetner (1958)[45]
- Take Me to Your Leader - a part-animated feature (1958)[46]
- Aladdin and the Giant produced by Herman Cohen (1959)[47]
- In the Year 2889 from the novel by Jules Verne (1959)[48]
- The Talking Dog - a comedy (1959)[48]
- When the Sleeper Wakes from the novel by H.G. Wells (1960–62)[49] - Vincent Price was announced as a star in 1965[50]
- a colour remake of Metropolis (1961)[51]
- Genghis Khan (1960s) - a Roadshow production to be directed by Jacques Tourneur with a $4.5 million budget[52]
- The Great Deluge - story of Noah's Ark[53]
- War of the Planets (1962) - a $2 million science fiction epic starring Vincent Price and Boris Karloff based on a script by Harlan Ellison[54]
- Off on a Comet (1962) a filming of Jules Verne's novel advertised in comic books[55]
- Stratofin (1962) based on Jules Verne's Master of the World[56]
- It's Alive (1963) with Peter Lorre, Harvey Lembeck and Elsa Lanchester[57]
- Something in the Walls (1963)[58]
- The Magnificent Leonardi with Ray Milland (1963)[58]
- Sins of Babylon (1963)[58]
- Rumble (1963) with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon from a book by Harlan Ellison about New York gangs[57]
- The Graveside Story (1964) - with Price, Karloff, Lorre and Elsa Lanchester[59]
- The Gold Bug (1964) with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Elsa Lanchester[59]
- The Chase (circa 1965) - a silent film comedy starring Buster Keaton[60]
- Malibu Madness (1965)[50]
- The Haunted Palace (1965)[50]
- Seven Footprints to Satan (1965)[50]
- The Jet Set or Jet Set Party (1964) - with Frankie Avalon, Funicello and directed by William Asher[61]
- Malibu Madness (1965)[62]
- Robin Hood Jones (1966) - musical about Robin Hood starring Price, Avalon, Funicello and Susan Hart directed by William Asher[63]
- Cruise Party (1966) - with Avalon and Dwayne Hickman[63][64]
- The Girl in the Glass Bikini (1966) - science fiction comedy with Avalon, Funicello and Aron Kincaid to be directed by William Asher[65]
- The Girl in the Glass Castle (1966) - a $1 million musical comedy[66]
- The Hatfields and the McCoys (1966) musical with Avalon and Funicello[67]
- It based on Richard Matheson story "Being" (1967)[66]
- The Golem (1967)[66]
Financial earnings
- 1970 - $22.7 million[68]
- 1971 - $21.4 million[69]
- 1972 - $24 million
- 1973 - $24.5 million[70] - profit $744,000[71]
- 1974 - $32.5 million - profit of $931,400[32]
- 1975 - $48.2 million[72]
- 1978 - $51.2 million - profit $1.8 million[73]
Notes
- ↑ Johnson, John Cheap Tricks and Class Acts, 1996, McFarland, p.265
- ↑ http://www.artistinterviews.eu/?page_id=54&parent_id=22
- ↑ Shocker Pioneers Tell How to Make Monsters: Want to Make a Monster? Experts Tell How It's Done Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 21 Sep 1958: E1.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
- ↑ Bean, Robin and Austen, David U.S.A. Confidential p.215 Films and Filming November 1968 quoted in p.157 Doherty, Thomas Teenagers and Teenpics Unwin-Hyman 1988
- ↑ Who Needs High Salaried Stars? Horrors! Film Makers Find Audiences Prefer Action Alpert, Don. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 15 July 1962: A8.
- ↑ AIP Reveals Its 1968 Film Program Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 13 Jan 1968: b7.
- ↑ Bye, Bye, Beach Bunnies: Bye, Bye, Beach Bunnies By VINCENT CANBY. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 02 Mar 1969: D1
- ↑ Italian International Film at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ p.96 + p.214 Arkoff, Sam & Trubo, Richard Flying Through Hollywood by the Seat of My Pants 1990 Carol Publishing
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Corman, Roger How I Made 100 Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime 1998 DaCapo Press
- ↑ Corman, Roger & Jerome, Jim How I Made Over a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime 1998 DaCapo Press
- ↑ American-International Television (AIP-TV) [us]
- ↑ Heffernan, Kevin Ghouls Gimmicks and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 2004, Duke University Press, p.167
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ American International Pictures Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 03 June 1969: 29
- ↑ American International Pictures Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 10 July 1969: 27
- ↑ American International Pictures Enters Film Accord Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 10 Apr 1970: 22.
- ↑ 30 FEATURES SET: AIP ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR BUSIEST FILM YEAR Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 28 Jan 1971: g11.
- ↑ X-Rated Movies: On the Downswing? The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973) [Washington, D.C] 31 Mar 1971: B4
- ↑ Nicholson to Quit American International Pictures Post Wall Street Journal (1923–Current file) [New York, N.Y] 17 January 1972: 18.
- ↑ Nicholson Plans Own Film Firm Los Angeles Times (1923–Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif.] 22 January 1972: b6
- ↑ California Film Maker Buys Own Stock From Ex-Officer Wall Street Journal (1923–Current file) [New York, N.Y] 19 September 1972: 43.
- ↑ J.H. Nicholson, Film Maker, Dies of Cancer. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif.] 11 December 1972: 26
- ↑ LARRY GORDON ROLLS HIS DICE Taylor, Clarke. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 08 Oct 1978: n35
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 The dime-store way to make movies-and money By Aljean Harmetz. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 04 Aug 1974: 202.
- ↑ Policy Shift Set by American International Pictures Inc. Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 25 May 1972: 7.
- ↑ American International Pictures Buys Shares From Sylvia Nicholson Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 19 Apr 1978: 36.
- ↑ Filmways Inc. Signs Accord in Principle For Movie Maker Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 10 Oct 1978: 48
- ↑ merican International Pictures, Filmways Inc. Terminate Merger Plan By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter. Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 11 Dec 1978: 20.
- ↑ May Revive Merger Talks With Filmways, AIP Says Jones, John A. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 12 Feb 1979: d12.
- ↑ Filmways Says Assets Were Overstated For American International Pictures Inc. By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter. Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 03 Dec 1979: 8.
- ↑ AIP BITES DUST AS FILMWAYS RENAMES STUDIO Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 13 Mar 1980: f3.
- ↑ President of Filmways' American International Pictures Resigns Post Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 06 Dec 1979: 30.
- ↑ Filmways Inc. Pays Ex-Aide $1.4 Million Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 08 July 1980: 8
- ↑ http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=4010:i6p96l.3.5
- ↑ How Accountants Helped Orion Pictures Launch Its Financial Comeback Welles, Chris. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 15 May 1983: f1.
- ↑ Smith p 97
- ↑ Smith p98
- ↑ Smith p99
- ↑ Smith p 114
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 Smith p 118
- ↑ Smith p 159
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 Smith p 249
- ↑ Smith p 161
- ↑ Smith p 188, 230
- ↑ Smith p 188
- ↑ Smith p 192
- ↑ First Kiss January 1962 Charlton Comics
- ↑ pp.219-220 Palmer, Randy Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker: A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist McFarland, 1 Jan 1997
- ↑ 57.0 57.1 Grand Guignol Set at Vine St. Cabaret: Huston 'Sells' Kipling Yarn; Sinatra, AIP Think Young Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 12 July 1963: D11.
- ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 Smith p 208
- ↑ 59.0 59.1 AIP Millions for Poe, Beach Parties: 'Flowers' Oscar Hopeful; Burton Buys, May Direct Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 02 Jan 1964: C11.
- ↑ Hollywood To Make A Big Silent Film." Times [London, England] 3 Mar. 1965: 15. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 15 June 2014.
- ↑ Howard Hughes, Aide Part Company Dorothy Kilgallen:. The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973) [Washington, D.C] 11 June 1964: E22.
- ↑ Smith p 262
- ↑ 63.0 63.1 Smith p 289
- ↑ American Film Executive On Study Visit South China Morning Post & the Hongkong Telegraph 15 Sep 1965: 7.
- ↑ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Spiegel to Film 'Swimmer' Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 19 Mar 1965: D13.
- ↑ 66.0 66.1 66.2 American International Expanding Operations Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 04 May 1966: e13.
- ↑ Smith p 315
- ↑ American International Pictures' Profit Steady: Company Says Results for Third Fiscal Quarter Were About the Same as for Year-Ago Period Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 12 Oct 1971: 37.
- ↑ American International Pictures Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 09 May 1973: 19.
- ↑ Horror or Horrid Films, AIP Quickies Score at Box Office: FILMS Getze, John. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 20 Feb 1974: d10. Turn on hit highlighting for speaking browsers
- ↑ Stockholder Meeting Briefs Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 26 June 1973: 35
- ↑ American International Will Be 'Happy' if Net Matches Fiscal 1975's Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 27 Oct 1975: 18.
- ↑ AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL EPIC: CHINESE BOOK U.S. FILM 'FUTUREWORLD' Bry, Barbara. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 05 Jan 1979: d16.
References
- Mark Thomas McGee, Fast and Furious: The Story of American International Pictures (McFarland & Company, 1995) ISBN 0-7864-0137-0.
- Gary A. Smith, American International Pictures: The Golden Years, Bear Manor Media 2013
External links
- Articles with minor POV problems from October 2015
- All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases
- Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from October 2015
- Interlanguage link template link number
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- American International Pictures films
- Defunct American film studios
- Film distributors of the United States
- Companies established in 1954
- Companies disestablished in 1980