Bert I. Gordon
Encyclopedia
Bert I. Gordon is an American film director
most famous for such science fiction
and horror
B-movie
s as The Amazing Colossal Man
and Village of the Giants
.
Most of Gordon's work is in the idiom of giant monster films, for which he used rear-projection
to create the special effects. His nickname "Mister B.I.G." is a reference both to his initials and to his preferred technique for making super-sized creatures.
Gordon began his career directing television commercials before moving to film in 1954 to produce Serpent Island. In 1957 he began his prolific association with American International Pictures
.
In 1960, he wrote, produced and directed The Boy and the Pirates
, starring active and popular child star of the time Charles Herbert
and Gordon's own daughter, Susan. The three of them recently appeared together in the celebrity lineup at the 2006 Monster Bash, held June 23-25 at the Pittsburgh (PA) Airport Four Points.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, released a Midnite Movies double DVD
set with the rarely seen The Boy and the Pirates, and the more recent Crystalstone (1988), on June 27, 2006.
His 1977 Empire of the Ants
featured a pre-Dynasty
Joan Collins
, who later said of the film that it was her worst acting experience, but by then the loosely-based modernized H. G. Wells
tale had been elevated to cult film
status.
None of his films has received significant critical attention, but his work has attained popularity in some circles. The cult TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000
(MST3K) has featured several of his movies, listed below.
Gordon holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
.
Bert I. Gordon has appeared recently annually in the celebrity lineup at the Monster Bash, held each June, at the Pittsburgh, PA Airport Four Points.
Of these titles, King Dinosaur, The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth Vs. The Spider, War of the Colossal Beast, The Magic Sword, Tormented, Beginning of the End and Village of the Giants were featured on MST3K.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
most famous for such science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s as The Amazing Colossal Man
The Amazing Colossal Man
The Amazing Colossal Man is a 1957 black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Glenn Langan. The film revolves around a 60 foot mutant man produced as the result of an atomic accident....
and Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants is a 1965 science-fiction/comedy movie with many elements of the beach party film genre. It was produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon, and based loosely on H.G. Wells's book The Food of the Gods...
.
Most of Gordon's work is in the idiom of giant monster films, for which he used rear-projection
Rear projection effect
Rear projection is part of many in-camera effects cinematic techniquesin film production for combining foreground performances with pre-filmed backgrounds. It was widely used for many years in driving scenes, or to show other forms of "distant" background motion...
to create the special effects. His nickname "Mister B.I.G." is a reference both to his initials and to his preferred technique for making super-sized creatures.
Gordon began his career directing television commercials before moving to film in 1954 to produce Serpent Island. In 1957 he began his prolific association with American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
.
In 1960, he wrote, produced and directed The Boy and the Pirates
The Boy and the Pirates
The Boy and the Pirates is a 1960 film from Bert I. Gordon , the master of giant monster films. It stars a very popular child star of the day in 12-year-old Charles Herbert and Gordon's own daughter, Susan. The story line, that of a little boy and girl trapped on the pirate ship of Blackbeard,...
, starring active and popular child star of the time Charles Herbert
Charles Herbert
Charles Herbert is a former American child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Before reaching his teens, Herbert was renowned by a generation of moviegoers for an on-screen broody, mature style and wit that enabled him to go one-on-one with some of the biggest names in the industry, and his appearances...
and Gordon's own daughter, Susan. The three of them recently appeared together in the celebrity lineup at the 2006 Monster Bash, held June 23-25 at the Pittsburgh (PA) Airport Four Points.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, released a Midnite Movies double DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set with the rarely seen The Boy and the Pirates, and the more recent Crystalstone (1988), on June 27, 2006.
His 1977 Empire of the Ants
Empire of the Ants (film)
Empire of the Ants is a 1977 science fiction horror film by Bert I. Gordon. Based very loosely on Empire of the Ants by H.G. Wells, the film involves a group of prospective land buyers led by a land developer, pitted against giant, mutated ants.-Plot:...
featured a pre-Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
, who later said of the film that it was her worst acting experience, but by then the loosely-based modernized H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
tale had been elevated to cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
status.
None of his films has received significant critical attention, but his work has attained popularity in some circles. The cult TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
(MST3K) has featured several of his movies, listed below.
Gordon holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
.
Bert I. Gordon has appeared recently annually in the celebrity lineup at the Monster Bash, held each June, at the Pittsburgh, PA Airport Four Points.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1955 1955 in film The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released.... |
King Dinosaur King Dinosaur King Dinosaur is a 1955 science fiction film starring William Bryant and Wanda Curtis with narration by Marvin Miller. In this film, four astronauts in 1960 travel to a planet called Nova that has just entered Earth's solar system. The crew begins to study the planet to see if it's able to... |
|
| 1957 1957 in film The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:... |
The Cyclops The Cyclops The Cyclops is a science fiction film starring James Craig and Gloria Talbott.-Synopsis:A test pilot is missing and a search party is sent out in the jungles of Mexico... |
|
| 1957 1957 in film The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:... |
The Amazing Colossal Man The Amazing Colossal Man The Amazing Colossal Man is a 1957 black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Glenn Langan. The film revolves around a 60 foot mutant man produced as the result of an atomic accident.... |
|
| 1957 1957 in film The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:... |
Beginning of the End Beginning of the End Beginning of the End is a 1957 American science fiction film directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Peter Graves and Peggie Castle. The film is about an agricultural scientist who has successfully grown gigantic vegetables using radiation... |
Starring Peter Graves Peter Graves (actor) Peter Aurness , known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973... . |
| 1958 1958 in film The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946.... |
Earth vs. the Spider | a/k/a Earth vs. the Giant Spider, The Spider |
| 1958 1958 in film The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946.... |
War of the Colossal Beast War of the Colossal Beast War of the Colossal Beast is a 1958 black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Bert I. Gordon and produced by Carmel Productions and distributed by American International Pictures. It continued the storyline of the 1957 movie The Amazing Colossal Man, although it was not marketed as a direct... |
a//ka Revenge of the Colossal Man, The Terror Strikes |
| 1958 1958 in film The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946.... |
Attack of the Puppet People Attack of the Puppet People Attack of the Puppet People is a 1958 American black-and-white science fiction Horror film directed, produced and written by Bert I. Gordon. It stars John Hoyt as an eccentric doll maker... |
a//ka Six Inches Tall, The Fantastic Puppet People |
| 1960 1960 in film The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I... |
Tormented Tormented (1960 film) For the 2009 film, see Tormented Tormented is a 1960 horror movie directed and produced by Bert I. Gordon for Allied Artists Pictures Corporation, and starring Richard Carlson.... |
|
| 1960 1960 in film The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I... |
The Boy and the Pirates The Boy and the Pirates The Boy and the Pirates is a 1960 film from Bert I. Gordon , the master of giant monster films. It stars a very popular child star of the day in 12-year-old Charles Herbert and Gordon's own daughter, Susan. The story line, that of a little boy and girl trapped on the pirate ship of Blackbeard,... |
Starring Charles Herbert Charles Herbert Charles Herbert is a former American child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Before reaching his teens, Herbert was renowned by a generation of moviegoers for an on-screen broody, mature style and wit that enabled him to go one-on-one with some of the biggest names in the industry, and his appearances... and Susan Gordon. |
| 1962 1962 in film The year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government.... |
The Magic Sword (film) The Magic Sword (film) The Magic Sword is a 1962 live action fantasy film, mainly aimed at children, based loosely on the medieval legend of St. George and the Dragon.The film appeared on a 1992 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000... |
a/k/a St. George and the Dragon St. George and the Seven Curses The Seven Curses of Lodac |
| 1965 1965 in film The year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:... |
Village of the Giants Village of the Giants Village of the Giants is a 1965 science-fiction/comedy movie with many elements of the beach party film genre. It was produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon, and based loosely on H.G. Wells's book The Food of the Gods... |
Starring Beau Bridges, Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford, Tim Rooney & Tisha Sterling; Based on The Food of the Gods The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth is a novel written by H. G. Wells. Published in 1904, it is one of his lesser known scientific romances, aside from the various B-movie adaptations .-Plot summary:... by H. G. Wells H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games... |
| 1966 1966 in film The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer... |
Picture Mommy Dead | a/k/a Color Mommy Dead |
| 1970 1970 in film The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career.... |
How to Succeed with Sex | |
| 1972 1972 in film The year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB... |
Necromancy Necromancy (film) Necromancy is a 1972 horror film directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Orson Welles and Pamela Franklin.-Plot:... |
a/k/a A Life for a Life Rosemary's Disciples (USA: video title) The Toy Factory The Witching (USA: reissue title) |
| 1973 1973 in film The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra.... |
The Mad Bomber | a/k/a Detective Geronimo The Police Connection |
| 1976 1976 in film The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film... |
The Food of the Gods The Food of the Gods (film) The Food of the Gods is a 1976 film released by American International Pictures and was written, produced, and directed by Bert I. Gordon.... |
a/k/a H. G. Wells' Food of the Gods |
| 1977 1977 in film The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network.... |
Empire of the Ants Empire of the Ants (film) Empire of the Ants is a 1977 science fiction horror film by Bert I. Gordon. Based very loosely on Empire of the Ants by H.G. Wells, the film involves a group of prospective land buyers led by a land developer, pitted against giant, mutated ants.-Plot:... |
a/k/a H.G. Wells' Empire of the Ants, Starring Joan Collins Joan Collins Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress... . |
| 1981 1981 in film -Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it.... |
Burned at the Stake | a/k/a The Coming |
| 1982 1982 in film -Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T... |
Let's Do It! | |
| 1985 1985 in film -Events:* 3 December - Roger Moore steps down from the role of James Bond after twelve years and seven films. He is replaced by Timothy Dalton.* The Academy Award for Best Picture was won by Out Of Africa, while the highest grossing film was Back to the Future.* Bliss wins AFI Award for best Movie... |
The Big Bet | |
| 1990 1990 in film The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2.... |
Satan's Princess | a/k/a Malediction |
Of these titles, King Dinosaur, The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth Vs. The Spider, War of the Colossal Beast, The Magic Sword, Tormented, Beginning of the End and Village of the Giants were featured on MST3K.