Curtis Harrington | |
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| Born | Gene Curtis Harrington (1926-09-17)September 17, 1926 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | May 6, 2007(2007-05-06) (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles |
Gene Curtis Harrington (September 17, 1926 – May 6, 2007) was an American film and television director whose work includedexperimental films andhorror films.[1] He is considered one of the forerunners ofNew Queer Cinema.[2]
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Harrington was born on September 17, 1926, in Los Angeles, the son of Isabel (Dorum) and Raymond Stephen Harrington,[3] and grew up inBeaumont, California. His first cinematic endeavors were amateur films he made while still a teenager.[4] He attendedOccidental College and theUniversity of Southern California, then graduated from theUniversity of California, Los Angeles, with a degree in film studies.[1]
At age 16, in 1942, he directed and co-starred in a (9 minute) short version ofEdgar Allan Poe'sThe Fall of the House of Usher. He began his career as a film critic, writing a book onJosef von Sternberg in 1948. He directed severalavant-garde short films in the 1940s and 1950s, includingFragment of Seeking,Picnic, andThe Wormwood Star (a film study of the artwork ofMarjorie Cameron which was filmed at the home of multi-millionaire art collectorEdward James). Cameron also co-starred in his subsequent filmNight Tide (1961) withDennis Hopper. Harrington worked withKenneth Anger, serving as a cinematographer on Anger'sPuce Moment and acting inInauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954) (he played Cesare, the somnambulist). Harrington had links toThelema shared with his close associates Kenneth Anger andMarjorie Cameron who frequently acted in his films.[5]
Harrington was the driving force in rediscovering the originalJames Whale version ofThe Old Dark House (1932,Universal Pictures). Although the rights to the original story had been sold toColumbia Pictures fora remake, he persuadedGeorge Eastman House to preserve it. On theKino International DVD, there is a filmed interview of Harrington's explaining why and how this came about (the contract stipulated that they were allowed to save the film only, not release it, essentially to prove that there was no profit motive). Harrington was an advisor onBill Condon'sGods and Monsters (1998), about the last days of director James Whale, and Harrington had known Whale at the end of his life. Harrington also has a cameo in the film.Roger Corman assigned Harrington to direct two American films which used footage from Russian science fiction films,Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) andQueen of Blood (1966). Harrington directedGames (1967),Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971) withShelley Winters,What's the Matter with Helen? (1971) with Winters andDebbie Reynolds, andKiller Bees (1974) withGloria Swanson in one of her later roles. Harrington made two television movies based on screenplays byRobert Bloch:The Cat Creature (1973) andThe Dead Don't Die (1975).
Harrington had a cameo inOrson Welles's unfinishedThe Other Side of the Wind (1970–1976). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Harrington directed episodes of television series such asBaretta,Dynasty,Wonder Woman,The Twilight Zone andCharlie's Angels.
Harrington's final film, the shortUsher, is a remake ofFall of the House of Usher, an unreleased film he did while in high school. He cast Nikolas andZeena Schreck in his updated version ofEdgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". Financing of the film was partly accomplished through the Shrecks' brokering of the sale of Harrington's signed copy of Crowley'sThe Book of Thoth.[6]
TheAcademy Film Archive has preserved several of Curtis Harrington's films, includingNight Tide,On the Edge, andPicnic.[7]
Harrington was homosexual. He wrote in his autobiography that he had his first sexual experience with another male (a football player) in high school.[8]
Curtis Harrington died on May 6, 2007, aged 80, of complications from a stroke he suffered two years earlier.[1] His remains are interred in the Cathedral Mausoleum at theHollywood Forever Cemetery.[9]
House of Harrington, a short documentary about the director's life, was released in 2008. It was directed byJeffrey Schwarz and Tyler Hubby and filmed several years before Harrington's death. It includes footage of his high school filmFall of the House of Usher.
Harrington's memoirNice Guys Don't Work in Hollywood was published in 2013 byDrag City.[10]
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