Richard Fleischer
Birth : 1916-12-08, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Death : 2006-03-25
History
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Richard O. Fleischer (December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director.
Fleischer was born in Brooklyn, the son of Essie (née Goldstein) and animator/producer Max Fleischer. After graduating from Brown University, he went to Yale School of Drama, where he met his future wife, Mary Dickson.
His film career began in 1942 at the RKO studio, directing shorts, documentaries, and compilations of forgotten silent features.
Fleischer moved to Los Angeles and was assigned his first feature, Child of Divorce (1946). In 1954, he was chosen by Walt Disney (his father's former rival as a cartoon producer) to direct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Kirk Douglas. In 1955 Fox signed Fleischer to a long term contract. He would work for that studio for the next fifteen years. His first film under his new contract with Fox was The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955). Kirk Douglas hired Fleischer to make The Vikings (1958), which was another big hit. He then moved to Paris where he directed two stories for Darryl F. Zanuck starring Greco. Fleischer then signed a contract with Dino de Laurentiis to make Barabbas (1962). Back in Hollywood, Richard Zanuck had become head of production at Fox and offered Fleischer Fantastic Voyage (1966). It was a success and resurrected his Hollywood career. Che! (1969), a biopic of Che Guevera that starred Omar Sharif, was an expensive flop, as was an account of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). This was his last film for 20th Century Fox.
Fleischer travelled to England, where he directed an acclaimed thriller, 10 Rillington Place. See No Evil (1971) with Mia Farrow was another thriller. In Hollywood, he made The New Centurions (1972). At MGM, he made a science-fiction film, Soylent Green (1973), with Charlton Heston.
He was reunited with De Laurentiis for the popular, if controversial, Mandingo (1975). The Prince and the Pauper (1977) was a version of the Mark Twain novel that featured Heston, Harrison and Scott in its cast. Fleischer was then hired on Ashanti (1979), starring Michael Caine, which turned out to be a flop. Tough Enough (1983) was about the Toughman Contest starring Dennis Quaid. He made three more for de Laurentiis. His final theatrical feature was Million Dollar Mystery (1987).
Fleischer was chairman of Fleischer Studios, which today handles the licensing of Betty Boop and Koko the Clown. In June 2005, he released his memoirs of his father's career in Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleischer and the Animation Revolution.
Fleischer's 1993 autobiography, Just Tell Me When to Cry, described his many difficulties with actors, writers and producers.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard O. Fleischer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Self – Interviewee
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed immortality for the renowned cameraman whose career spanned seventy years.
Himself
How the cinema industry does not respect the author's work as it was conceived, how manipulates the motion pictures in order to make them easier to watch by an undemanding audience or even how mutilates them to adapt the original formats and runtimes to the restrictive frame of the television screen and the abusive requirements of advertising. (Followed by “Filmmakers in Action.”)
Self
A documentary on serial killer films.
Himself
With rare behind-the-scenes footage, a detailed look at the making of Walt Disney’s adaptation of the Jules Verne novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
Self
From the A&E "Biography" series, a review of the birth, development and cinematic history of Betty Boop, the flapper cartoon character who has been a popular icon since the 1930s.
Director
A movie director and his wanna-be actor/eccentric inventor nephew are filming a low-budget sci-fi movie. Things get interesting when the nephews' bizarro invention starts bringing visitors from other times, including Napoleon, Archimedes, and people from the future and cavemen from the past. Just when they are filming what they are convinced will be one of the greatest movies ever, the same machine sends an alien visitor to their set. Also includes a last-minute cameo from James Coburn, as the infuriated head of the studio.
Director
A dying man in a roadside diner tells the other patrons about money he has hidden in four places. But instead of directions, he leaves them only with clues they must solve in order to claim the loot. Released with a promotional tie-in for Glad-Lock brand bags.
Director
The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She raids the city Hablac and kills the keeper of a talisman that gives her great power. Red Sonja, sister of the keeper, sets out with her magic sword to overthrow Gedren.
Director
Conan is commissioned by the evil queen Taramis to safely escort a teen princess and her powerful bodyguard to a far away castle to retrieve the magic Horn of Dagoth. Unknown to Conan, the queen plans to sacrifice the princess when she returns and inherit her kingdom after the bodyguard kills Conan. The queen's plans fail to take into consideration Conan's strength and cunning and the abilities of his sidekicks: the eccentric wizard Akiro, the warrior woman Zula, and the inept Malak. Together the hero and his allies must defeat both mortal and supernatural foes in this voyage to sword-and-sorcery land.
Director
To debunk the Amityville house's infamous reputation and take advantage of a rock-bottom asking price, skeptical journalist John Baxter buys the place and settles in to write his first novel. But as soon as the ink on the deed has dried, people who have come into contact with John and the house begin to meet with shocking fates. Is it all just coincidence, or is the house really the gateway to hell?
Director
An aspiring country singer, whose money is disappearing faster than his career opportunities, enters a "Tough Man" amateur boxing contest to earn some cash to pay his bills. Amazingly enough, he wins it, and is picked to go onto the national finals. He's torn between his first love, music, and the glitz, glamor and money of the "Tough Man" world.
Director
Jess Robin dreams of a career in popular music, but his father, Cantor Rabinovitch, forbids it, insisting Jess live as a traditional Jew and inherit his position at the synagogue. With the help of friend and professional musician Bubba, Jess gets a chance to go to Los Angeles and have famous singer Keith Lennox record one of his songs. Defying both his father and his wife, Jess leaves New York to pursue his dreams.
Director
Dr. Anansa Linderby is kidnapped in a medical mission in Africa by a slave trader. From this moment, her husband will do anything to recover her and to punish the bad guys, but that will be not an easy task.
Director
Tom Canty is a poor English boy who bears a remarkable resemblance to Edward, Prince of Wales and son of King Henry VIII. The two boys meet and decide to play a joke on the court by dressing in each other's clothes, but the plan goes awry when they are separated and each must live the other's life.
Director
The legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt's unconventional life and career are examined in this biopic. At an audition in 1860, the teenage Bernhardt proclaims herself the greatest actress of her time. Her career blossoms, as does her private life. But art and life don't stay balanced, much to the frustration of her lovers. The eccentric Bernhardt eventually does marry another actor, but it's her life on stage that ultimately gives her the most satisfaction.
Director
Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. Meanwhile, Warren buys a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and to earn money as a prize-fighter.
Director
A melon farmer battles organized crime and a hit man who wants to kill him.
Producer
After escaping home, three young friends form a dynamic alliance of untamed youth. They meet an old man named Spikes with the experience only a master gunfighter can offer. The gang of men go on a crime spree and are converted to outlaws with a price on their heads.
Director
After escaping home, three young friends form a dynamic alliance of untamed youth. They meet an old man named Spikes with the experience only a master gunfighter can offer. The gang of men go on a crime spree and are converted to outlaws with a price on their heads.
Director
After his mistress is murdered, a Mafia leader goes after the killer with a bloody vengeance. Soon after the hunt begins, a gang war ensues.
Director
This is the year 2022. Overcrowding, pollution, and resource depletion have reduced society’s leaders to finding food for the teeming masses. The answer is Soylent Green.
This promotional short film for Soylent Green (1973) begins by showing clips of films that depicted what the future might be like beyond Earth (click the "movie connections" link for the short list). The narrator then discusses the origin of the idea depicted in "Soylent Green": some time in the future, there will be too many people and not enough food to feed them. Director Richard Fleischer and star Charlton Heston discuss how an upcoming crowd scene will be filmed. Then we see what happens when the crowd riots because there is not enough food available to be distributed to everyone. "Soylent Green" was Edward G. Robinson's 101st (and, as it turned out, his last) feature film. During a break in filming, the cast and crew hold a ceremony celebrating the first film of his "second hundred", and Robinson makes appreciative remarks to the crowd. Studio head Jack L. Warner and friend George Burns are among those in attendance.
Director
An idealistic rookie cop joins the LAPD to make ends meet while finishing law school, and is indoctrinated by a seasoned veteran. As time goes on, he loses his ambitions and family as police work becomes his entire life.
Director
In the English countryside, Sarah Rexton, recently blinded in a horse riding accident, moves in with her uncle's family and gallantly adjusts to her new condition, unaware that a killer stalks them.
Director
A former mob getaway driver from Chicago has retired to a peaceful life in a Portuguese fishing village. He is asked to pull off one last job - to drive a dangerous crook and his girlfriend to France.
Director
The story of British serial killer John Christie, who committed most or all of his crimes in the titular terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans.
Director
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words use by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
Director
Biography of Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who helped Fidel Castro in his struggle against the corrupt Batista regime, eventually resulting in the overthrow of that government and Castro's taking over of Cuba. The film covers Guevara's life from when he first landed in Cuba in 1956 to his death in an ambush by government troops in the mountains of Bolivia in 1967.
Director
Boston is being terrorized by a series of seemingly random murders of women. Based on the true story, the film follows the investigators path through several leads before introducing the Strangler as a character. It is seen almost exclusively from the point of view of the investigators who have very few clues to build a case upon.
Director
A veterinarian who can communicate with animals travels abroad to search for a giant sea snail.
Director
In order to save an assassinated scientist, a submarine and its crew are shrunk to microscopic size and injected into his bloodstream.
Director
Epic account of the thief Barabbas, who was pardoned for his crimes and spared crucifixion when Pilate offered the Israelites a choice to pardon Barabbas or Jesus. Struggling with his spirituality, Barabbas goes through many ordeals leading him to the gladiatorial arena, where he tries to win his freedom and confront his inner demons, ultimately becoming a follower of the man who was crucified in his place.
Director
Irish seaman Vic Brennan persuades his Dublin family to finance a truck-hauling business in the remote African town of Jebanda. The only stipulation is that his cousin Samuel, a timid bank clerk, accompany Vic and his Corsican bride, Marie, to Africa and protect the family fortune.
Director
A Story of two love triangles...
Director
A cowboy tries for easy money with his partner, then tries ranching with a saloon hostess's money.
Director
Two close friends kidnap and murder a young boy and are defended in court by a renowned attorney who makes an impassioned plea against capital punishment.
Director
Einar, brutal son of Ragnar and future heir to his throne, tangles with Eric, a wily slave, for the hand of a beautiful English maiden.
Director
Sam Gifford remembers : In prewar years he was an arrogant southern cotton plantation owner, married to the daughter of a colonel. At the beginning of the war he was mobilized with his National Guard unit as a sergeant. Came the day when, revolted by the cowardice of his lieutenant, who had fired at his own men, he hit him. Downgraded, he was sent to a disciplinary battalion. Sam now discovers his new detachment, his new commanding officer, just another cowardly brute, Captain Waco Grimes. While in combat, Sam will gradually become closer to the privates, working-class people he used to despise. He will become another man, a better man.
Director
American arms dealer Kennedy hopes to make a killing by selling to the "regulares" in the 1916 Mexican revolution. American mercenary Wilson favors the rebel faction headed by Escobar, and they plot to hijack Kennedy's arms; but Wilson also has his eye on Kennedy's wife. Raids, counter-raids, and escapes follow in a veritable hail of bullets.
Director
Broadway showgirl Evelyn Nesbit (Joan Collins) is the object of affection of two men: playboy architect Stanford White (Ray Milland) and wealthy but unstable Harry Thaw (Farley Granger). She marries Thaw, but White’s continued pursuit puts him in the path of Thaw’s volatile temper. Inspired by true events that occurred at the turn of the 20th century.
Director
Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.
Director
A ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.
Director
Left by his wife, a vain rodeo star picks up a floozy and rides a bad Brahman bull.
Director
A violinist and his brother guide one's son through his crush on the family maid in 1920s Ottawa.
Director
A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a tense train ride.
Director
In a desperate attempt to get out of debt, career gambler Dan Milner agrees to rendezvous with a mysterious contact at a distant Mexican resort in exchange for $50,000. Upon arriving, Milner meets his fellow guests, including a plastic surgeon, a philandering movie star and his beautiful girlfriend. Soon Milner discovers that the man who hired him may be the ruthless gangster Nick Ferraro -- a deported crime boss looking to re-enter the USA.
Director
The film tells the story of a well-planned robbery of an armored car when it stops at a sports stadium. Yet, the heist goes awry, and a tough Los Angeles cop is in hot pursuit.
Director
U.S. Treasury Department agents go after a ring of counterfeiters.
Director
A kind of filmed vaudeville show, using old material from RKO films and some new.
Director
1949 thriller about the hunt for a serial killer known as "the Judge" who kills his victims on rainy nights.
Director
Jim Fletcher, waking up from a coma, finds he is to be given a court martial for treason and charged with informing on fellow inmates in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. Escaping from the hospital he tries to clear himself by enlisting the aid of Martha Gregory, widow of a service buddy he was accused of informing on. Helped also by Ted Niles, a surviving fellow prisoner, he gets closer to finding the answers he needs, and becomes ensnared in a grandiose scheme involving his Japanese ex-prison guard, $10,000,000 of US currency forged by the Japanese and a burgeoning crime network poised to wreak havoc throughout southern California.
Director
A cop on suspension is framed for murder when he noses in on a murder investigation.
Director
A small town man inherits a significant fortune and takes his family to New York City whereupon they are continually shocked at the alien culture of the Big Apple.
Director
Family drama about a young farm girl, suddenly orphaned, who must give up her beloved dog when she's sent to live with her aunt in Boston.
Director
This is 1947 biography movie about how Alexander Graham Bell and his partner Thomas Augustus Watson invented the first discernible speech, transmitted over a telephone.
Director
Documentary Feature winner "Design for Death" (1947) examines Japanese culture and how it led to Japan's role in WWII.
Director
An eight-year-old girl is an unwilling and disturbed witness of parental quarrels in her home, and when the parents finally secure a divorce, the judge decrees that the young girl live with her mother for eight months and her father the other four months. The divided life affects her both mentally and physically.
Writer
Richard Fleischer provides a funny twist and amusing narrative commentary by Ward Wilson on two re-edited silent films in this RKO short film.
Producer
Richard Fleischer provides a funny twist and amusing narrative commentary by Ward Wilson on two re-edited silent films in this RKO short film.
Director
Richard Fleischer provides a funny twist and amusing narrative commentary by Ward Wilson on two re-edited silent films in this RKO short film.
Director
Richard Fleischer provides a funny twist and amusing narrative commentary by Ward Wilson on two re-edited silent films in this RKO short film.
Director
Documentary short film extolling the virtues of the American Community Chest charity program and its value to the Allied war effort.
Writer
A collection of old-time silent movies, re-scored and narrated, featuring the most popular silent film stars. Includes:
1. Pathé 1900 Bathing Beauties fron Venice, California
2. Goodness Gracious with Clara Kimball Young and Sidney Drew
3. A Drunkard's Reformation Directed by D.W. Griffith
Director
A collection of old-time silent movies, re-scored and narrated, featuring the most popular silent film stars. Includes:
1. Pathé 1900 Bathing Beauties fron Venice, California
2. Goodness Gracious with Clara Kimball Young and Sidney Drew
3. A Drunkard's Reformation Directed by D.W. Griffith
Self
