Phil Karlson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Philip N. Karlstein (1908-07-02)July 2, 1908 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | December 12, 1982(1982-12-12) (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | School of the Art Institute of Chicago Loyola Marymount University |
| Occupation | Film director |
Phil Karlson (bornPhilip N. Karlstein; July 2, 1908 – December 12, 1982) was an American film director. Later noted as afilm noir specialist, Karlson directed99 River Street,Kansas City Confidential andHell's Island, all with actorJohn Payne, in the early 1950s.[1]
Other films includeThe Texas Rangers (1951),The Phenix City Story (1955),5 Against the House (1955),Gunman's Walk (1958),The Young Doctors (1961) andWalking Tall (1973).
Karlson was the son of Irish actress Lillian O'Brien.[2] His father wasJewish.[3]
He attended Marshall High School and studied painting at Chicago'sArt Institute. He tried to make a living as a song and dance man but was unsuccessful. Then he studied law, at his father's request, atLoyola Marymount University in California. He took a part-time job atUniversal Pictures "washing toilets and dishes and whatever the hell they gave me" according to Karlson.[4] He also sold some gags toBuster Keaton. Eventually he decided to pursue a career in film, quitting college a year before graduation.[5]
Karlson got a job at Universal Pictures, doing a variety of jobs.
He worked as assistant director onDestry Rides Again (1932) andMy Pal, the King withTom Mix;The Countess of Monte Cristo (1934) andCheating Cheaters (1934) withFay Wray;I Like It That Way (1934);Romance in the Rain (1934); andStrange Wives (1934), directed byRichard Thorpe.
He worked onThe Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) withClaude Rains;Princess O'Hara (1935);Alias Mary Dow (1935), forKurt Neumann;Werewolf of London (1935);Sing Me a Love Song (1935);She Gets Her Man (1935);The Affair of Susan (1935);Love Before Breakfast (1936), with directorWalter Lang;The Girl on the Front Page (1936); andTop of the Town (1937).
Karlson said thatSam Goldwyn put him under contract intending to use him as a director, but Karlson wound up spending nine months idle. He asked for a release of his contract and got it.[4] He joined a company of Maurice Kosloff.[6]
He went back to Universal where he worked as an assistant onThe Black Doll (1938);The Case of the Missing Blonde (1938);The Last Express (1938);His Exciting Night (1938),The Last Warning (1938),Newsboys' Home (1938), andSociety Smugglers (1939), directed by Joe May.
His credits became more distinguished:Rio (1939), withBasil Rathbone, directed byJohn Brahm;The Invisible Man Returns (1940) andThe House of the Seven Gables for May;I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby (1940), a musical;You're Not So Tough (1940), for May;Margie (1940),Seven Sinners (1940), withJohn Wayne andMarlene Dietrich for directorTay Garnett;Where Did You Get That Girl? (1941), forArthur Lubin; andThe Flame of New Orleans (1941), with Dietrich forRené Clair.
Karlson didIn the Navy (1941) withAbbott and Costello for Lubin, and he became friendly withLou Costello, often pitching him gags.[4] He worked onIt Started with Eve (1941) forHenry Koster with the studio's other big star,Deanna Durbin.
Karlson quit Universal in 1940 to enlist in theU.S. Army Air Forces. In 1943, he was injured in a plane crash ending his career as a flight instructor.[5]
Karlson, still using his real name of Philip Karlstein, took a job atMonogram Pictures, as an assistant director. He was contacted byLou Costello, who wanted to produce a film and offered Karlstein the job of directing it. The resulting movie wasA Wave, a WAC and a Marine (1944), starring comedianHenny Youngman.[5] Karlson called it "probably the worst picture ever made... a nothing picture, but I was lucky because it was for Monogram and they didn't understand how bad it was, because they had never made anything that was any good."[4] However, Karlson did like his second film as director,G. I. Honeymoon (1945), withGale Storm, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Music.
Karlson made Monogram's low-budget productions look much more expensive by being creative with the staging. He used light and shadow to add mood to ordinary dialogue scenes, and employed careful camera angles to maximize the size of the limited sets. Karlson's resourcefulness made him Monogram's choice to launch a new series (The Bowery Boys,The Shadow) or invigorate an existing one (Charlie Chan). An excellent example is Karlson's Charlie Chan mysteryThe Shanghai Cobra (1945) in which the director, given a small exterior set, established afilm noir atmosphere by shooting the scene at night during a rainstorm. Karlson was well aware of Monogram's budgetary limitations: "They knew what they were doing, because there was a certain class of picture they were going to make and they weren't going to make anything any different."[4]
Slightly more distinguished wasWife Wanted (1946) which starred and was produced byKay Francis. Both she and Karlson disliked the original script so they rewrote it together. It turned out to be Francis's last movie.[5] He followed it withKilroy Was Here (1947), co-starring former child actorsJackie Cooper andJackie Coogan.
Karlson received acclaim forBlack Gold (1947), a story of the plight of theAmerican Indian, based around the true story of the racehorseBlack Gold. It was an early lead forAnthony Quinn and the first film released by Monogram's new, higher-budget division,Allied Artists. Karlson took a year to make that film because he wanted seasonal shots; he says he directed four films while also makingBlack Gold.[4]
Karlson then madeLouisiana (1947) with governorJimmie Davis.[7] He followed this withRocky (1948) withRoddy McDowall.
Karlson went over toColumbia Pictures where he directed two Westerns,Above All Laws (1947) andFury (1948). He then madeLadies of the Chorus (1948), withMarilyn Monroe in her first substantial role.
British production companyEagle-Lion Films hired Karlson to directThe Big Cat (1949), which he later described as his answer toThe Grapes of Wrath (1940).[4] While at Eagle-Lion Karlson also didDown Memory Lane (1949) withSteve Allen, shot in two days.[5]
Karlson teamed with producerEdward Small forThe Iroquois Trail (1950) withGeorge Montgomery, based onThe Last of the Mohicans. Small liked Karlson's work and used him onLorna Doone (1951), an adaptation of thefamous novel withRichard Greene, andThe Texas Rangers (1951), a Western with Montgomery.[8]
These films were distributed by Columbia, who used Karlson forMask of the Avenger (1951), a swashbuckler withJohn Derek. For Small he didScandal Sheet (1952), a newspaper melodrama from a novel bySam Fuller, andThe Brigand (1952), another swashbuckler.[9]
Karlson started directingAssignment: Paris (1952) for Columbia in Paris but was fired by studio headHarry Cohn during filming and replaced byRobert Parrish.[5]
Karlson bounced back with two films for Edward Small starringJohn Payne that were released throughUnited Artists:Kansas City Confidential (1952) and99 River Street (1953).
Karlson did episodes ofThe Revlon Mirror Theater (1953) and did all episodes of the TV seriesWaterfront (1954).
Karlson was invited back to Columbia to do a WesternThey Rode West (1954) and a film noirTight Spot (1955). He also directed episodes ofFord Television Theatre andStudio 57.
After makingHell's Island (1955) with John Payne forParamount Pictures, he did5 Against the House (1955), a heist movie at Columbia, which gaveKim Novak one of her first roles.
Karlson returned to Monogram (now known asAllied Artists) to makeThe Phenix City Story (1955), based on the murder ofAlbert Patterson. It was a hit and came to be regarded as one of his best movies. He went back to Columbia forThe Brothers Rico (1957), a thriller, andGunman's Walk (1958), a Western.
Desi Arnaz hired Karlson to direct the pilot for the TV seriesThe Untouchables (1959), later released theatrically asThe Scarface Mob. AlthoughThe Untouchables had a long run on TV, Karlson only received a straight salary for his work on the pilot.[5]
Karlson wasAlbert R. Broccoli andHarry Saltzman's first choice to direct their firstJames Bond filmDr. No (1962), but they were forced to decline him after he asked for too high of a salary.[10]
For Allied Artists he did a war biopicHell to Eternity (1960), followed byKey Witness (1960). Both starredJeffrey Hunter.
Karlson directedThe Secret Ways (1961) from a novel byAlistair MacLean, although he clashed with star-producerRichard Widmark. He made a melodrama,The Young Doctors (1961);[11] anElvis Presley film,Kid Galahad (1962); andRampage (1963), an adventure story withRobert Mitchum. He directed the pilot for a TV series aboutAlexander the Great withWilliam Shatner that was not picked up and did uncredited work onRide the Wild Surf (1964).
Karlson enjoyed a big hit with the firstMatt Helm movie withDean Martin,The Silencers (1966). It was made by Columbia who asked Karlson to take over fromRoger Corman onA Time for Killing (1967). He returned to the Matt Helm movies for the fourth and final one,The Wrecking Crew (1968), co-starringSharon Tate andElke Sommer.
Karlson made a war movie in Europe withRock Hudson,Hornets' Nest (1970). He did a horror movie,Ben (1972), best remembered for its Michael Jackson theme song.
He had a huge success in 1973 withWalking Tall, the fact-based story of a crusading sheriffBuford Pusser in the most corrupt county in Tennessee.[12] It was a major domestic and international hit, costing $500,000 and grossing more than $23 million. It also made Karlson a fortune, thanks to the fact that he owned a large percentage of it.[5]
His last film wasFramed (1975) withJoe Don Baker.[13]
Wheeler Winston Dixon later wrote of Karlson:
[He] emerges as a violent American original, born and brought up inChicago, used to violence as a way of life, someone who was forced to make a great many films that he didn't believe in, just so that he could finally get a free hand with the minor studios to make the films that he did ... In Karlson's best films, a truly bleak vision of American society is readily apparent; a world where everything is for sale, where no one can be trusted, where all authority is corrupt, and honest men and women have no one to turn to but themselves if they want any measure of justice. For Karlson, everything comes with a price – in blood, death, and betrayal. ... In his finest work, Karlson seems to be saying "don't you believe what they tell you. Authority figures only look out for themselves. There are no easy answers. You won't get what you deserve, and you won't even get what you fight for. You'll get what you can take, and that's got to be enough."[5]
The Academy Film Archive has preserved his filmsTight Spot andScandal Sheet.[14]
In 2019, Karlson's filmThe Phenix City Story was selected by theLibrary of Congress for preservation in theNational Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[15]
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