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Post by kims on May 8, 2023 0:21:18 GMT
Lippert films? I've seen some of the films, but don't remember that studio
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Post by topbilled on May 8, 2023 1:25:14 GMT
Lippert films? I've seen some of the films, but don't remember that studio Robert Lippert was a theater chain owner originally based in San Francisco, who went into the business of producing his own films in the mid-to-late 1940s. Originally, his company was called Screen Guild Productions. But he rebranded as Lippert Pictures by 1948.
I probably should have included his releases from 1948 and 1949 and may go back and add those in later.
Through 1955, he supplied a steady flow of cheap B pictures to theaters across the U.S. In late '55, he dissolved Lippert Pictures and entered into a production arrangement with 20th Century Fox.
At 20th Century Fox, his division which was then called Regal Pictures, continued to produce modestly budgeted fare-- usually in the western, crime and action adventure genres. His films from 1956 onward were distributed through Fox.
Basically, he ended up becoming the head of a substantial B picture unit at Fox. This is kind of interesting, because Fox had phased out its B picture unit during the war...but there was a new market in the 50s for cheap drive-in movie fare. So it makes sense the studio would collaborate with Lippert, who did have a good track record with a specific type of product that was made quickly and did well with audiences.
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Post by Fading Fast on May 8, 2023 4:31:02 GMT
Like Kims, I hadn't heard of Lippert Films until this thread.
As I was going through its list of films, none of the names really jumped out at me (some were generic enough that they sounded modestly familiar, but I don't think I've seen them) until the last one, "Superman and the Mole Men," as I saw that one as a kid in the 1970s and loved it. I was just the right age at that time, guessing seven or eight, for Superman to be the perfect hero.
Topbilled, that's great color on Lippert and his career - thank you.
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Post by topbilled on May 8, 2023 12:38:18 GMT
Another thing that made Lippert successful was a partnership he formed with a few British production companies. From 1947 to 1951, Eagle-Lion had been a studio set up in Hollywood by British companies to make Hollywood films that were released alongside British films, since British pictures sometimes had trouble penetrating the American market.
After Eagle-Lion folded in '51, Lippert partnered up with some of those British outfits to distribute their films in the U.S. alongside his cheap B films. In some cases, he shared actors he had under contract and co-financed those British pictures with declining American stars (like George Raft, Zachary Scott, Richard Denning, Scott Brady, etc.)
For purposes of these threads, I am not including his ventures with the British companies. I am just listing Lippert's Hollywood output. As I have said previously, I will probably create separate threads on British titles, after I have studied classic British cinema more thoroughly.
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