Today we feature Arthur C. Pierce and the six movies he directed from 1965-78. And, we'll have much more info for you on this hard working man and the movies he was involved in...
First up is
THE HUMAN DUPLICATORS from 1965, this wild flick stars George (ROBOT MONSTER) Nader, Richard (EEGAH!!) Kiel, Barbara (THE POWER) Nichols, George (COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE) Macready, Dolores (PHANTOM PLANET) Faith, Hugh (THE MOLE PEOPLE) Beaumont and Richard (GOG) Arlen!.. WOW!!
MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE from 1965 is one of my favorite flicks to watch again, This one stars William (THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED) Leslie, Dolores (HOUSE OF BLACK DEATH) Faith (48 years old at time of death), Richard (ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS) Garland (41 years old at time of death), Harold (FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER) Lloyd Jr. (40 years old at time of death), Glenn (THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN) Langan and Francine (SPACE MONSTER) York.
In 1966, Arthur directed
WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET. This hard to find movie stars Wendell (THE ASTRO ZOMBIES) Corey, Keith (NIGHT OF THE WITCHES) Larsen, John (TARANTULA) Agar and Merry (HOUSE OF THE DAMNED) Anders.
Also in 1966, Arthur directs LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS, a flick that was a real departure from his sci-fi roots! This one stars Ferlin (HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE) Husky, Jayne (THE FAT SPY) Mansfield (34 years old at time of death), Mamie (NAVY vs. THE NIGHT MONSTERS) Van Doren, Sonny (HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE) James and Richard (MOONRAKER) Kiel. It features a pile of country western stars including Del Reeves, Bill Anderson, Connie Smith and more...
THE NAVY vs, THE NIGHT MONSTERS from 1966 is another movie I like to watch again! This crazy thing stars Mamie (HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL) Van Doren, Anthony (THE WASP WOMAN) Eisley, Billy (WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS) Gray, Bobby (DOOMSDAY MACHINE) Van and Pamela (WILD IN THE STREETS) Mason.
Twelve years later in 1978, Arthur directs his last movie,
THE ASTRAL FACTOR. It stars Robert (BEYOND THE STARS) Foxworth, Stefanie (THE BOATNIKS) Powers, Sue (END OF THE WORLD) Lyon, Marianna (SCHIZOID) Hill and Elke (THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM) Sommer.
What I learned from this post is that Arthur directed a pile of big stars during his time as a director. We will learn a lot more about this man in some upcoming posts, do not miss those! Eegah!! will be here on Wednesday with more Dungeon Cargo, just for you!!
6 comments:
OMG, thank you so much...
Some addition details...
Mr. Pierce only directed about 15-20 minutes of NAVY VS NIGHT MONSTERS (basically, most scenes involving action and/or humor), and something like 10-15 minutes of ASTRAL FACTOR/INVISIBLE STRANGLER.
He did co-produce, write, and direct (without receiving a directing credit) all of MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE and THE HUMAN DUPLICATORS.
WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET was written and directed 100% by Mr. Pierce, who also had a hand in designing and arranging sets, props, and costumes--everything the producers didn't "get"--as he also did for all of the films he wrote and/or directed.
Thanks again for the kind attention to my old friend and his work.
More to come...
I've never gotten most of the insults about THE HUMAN DUPLICATORS. Sure, it's "pulp" science fiction, but mainly in a good way.
The same with THE ASTRAL FACTOR, which is probably so little-known it doesn't even get INSULTS.
Wonderful! Some of my favorites, especially WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET which is really, really close to being Star Trek in many ways. Looking forward to more!
When I first became friends with Mr. Pierce in the mid-1970s, he sent me a letter pointing out a coming title change for THE ASTRAL FACTOR.
He mentioned that he had been embarrassed in the previous decade by a producer's addition of WOMEN OF... to his film which had throughout pre-production and production been titled only, THE PREHISTORIC PLANET (his favorite of his several films, BTW).
So I think he was growing uneasy that THE ASTRAL FACTOR was about to be retitled, possibly INVISIBLE STRANGLER, by somebody up top who hadn't a clue what "astral" meant, so he closed the letter by commenting that I shouldn't be surprised if the film might end up being called something like THE WOMEN OF THE ASTRAL STRANGLER'S INVISIBLE FACTOR! ;)
LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS was a zany little film, one of his favorites even though it wasn't sci-fi. The film was came up short, so he wrote and directed about 15 minutes of additional material to bring it up to the proper running time. He laughed pretty much every time we talked about this film, because it was not unlike a party during filming...except for some friction with some of the cast. He had actually planned a second sequel (after HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, which he had little to do with), to be called HILLBILLYS IN OUTER SPACE, likely using sets from MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE.
Thanks for the nice comments, gang! =}
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