Depending on what source you go to, movie and television director Jack Arnold (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL!) would have been either 101 or 98 years old yesterday. Born Jack Arnold Waks in New Haven, Connecticut, Arnold had the questionable distinction of publishing his first (and only) science fiction story A Life in Television in J. Berg Esenwein's forgettable anthology Adventures to Come, a 1937 effort consider to be the first actual science fiction anthology as well as one of the poorest anthologies ever, story-wise. Twelve years later, Arnold began directing documentary shorts and soon moved on to motion pictures, pausing briefly in 1955 to direct four episode of television's Science Fiction Theatre. By 1959 television began make up the bulk his work, directing a further 222 episodes (including 26 episodes of Gilligan's Island) and five television movies (including a remake his 1959 theatrical release The Mouse That Roared, which he tried -- unsuccessfully -- to turn into a television series). His last directorial job was a 1984 episode of The Love Boat. He died in 1992. And, thanks to IMDB, we know that he was a Libra. (Actually, we knew that from the date, but it was kind of IMDB to spell that out for us.)
Anyway, to celebrate his 101st or 98th birthday, here's an episode from Peter Gunn that Arnold directed in 1959, The Ugly Frame, complete with not-1959 ads (sorry). And, yes, I know the link says 1958, but are you going to believe everything you read?
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3545803033?ref_=nm_rvd_vi_1
A good topic for us to do jointly some week.
ReplyDeleteWell worth remembering - thanks Jerry. IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE is probably my favourite of his movies - he also did some nice episodes of the 70s ELLERY QUEEN show.
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