William C. Thomas

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William Carroll Thomas (born August 11, 1903 in Los Angeles , California , † April 3, 1984 in Beverly Hills , California) was an American film producer , director and writer who was nominated for an Oscar . Thomas teamed up with producer William H. Pine at Paramount Pictures . The duo was known there under the name The Dollar Bills because none of their films ever wasted money.

Life

William C. Thomas could be described as a Californian through and through. Immediately after graduating from the University of Southern California , he was drawn into the film industry. He began his career at Paramount as a screenwriter and slowly worked his way up the ladder to become a producer. At Paramount, a collaboration with William H. Pine quickly came about, which turned out to be very successful. They received the title The Dollar Bills because their films always stayed within the budget, which was not exactly generous, they brought in a profit with almost every one of their films, and "Bill" was derived from their first name William. Most of their joint films were action or adventure films, they were about fire fighting or espionage, but westerns with a historical background were also on their program. Usually they worked with the same actors over and over again, such as Richard Arlen , Jean Parker , Chester Morris ( No Hands on the Clock , 1941; Gambler's Choice , 1944), Buster Crabbe ( Wildcat 1942; Swamp Fire , 1946), J. Carrol Naish , Robert Lowery ( They Made Me a Killer , 1946; Big Town , 1946; I Cover Big Town , 1947) and Ann Savage ( Jungle Flight , 1947).

Thomas' first film as a producer was the musical comedy Campus Confessions with Betty Grable from 1938. In the drama Power Dive from 1941 with Richard Arlen and Jean Parker, he then worked for the first time with Pine. Arlen played a rough test pilot who, together with his brother, is developing a new airplane. In the next film of the team, the adventure film Forced Landing , the main role was again occupied by Richard Arlen, who again played a pilot. The comedic film drama Flying Blind (1941), starring Arlen and Parker, also revolved around an airplane that this time hijacked, crashes, and the survivors are then confronted with forest fires. Arlen and Parker also starred in the 1942 action drama Torpedo Boat . In the thriller I Live on Danger , Jean Parker then played alongside Chester Morris. Richard Arlen starred opposite Susan Hayward in the short-film war drama A Letter from Bataan (1942) . In the 1942 action film Wrecking Crew , Arlen, Morris and Parker played side by side. They were also an integral part of the cast in the following films by Thomas.

In 1943 , William C. Thomas received an Oscar nomination in the “Best Documentary” category for the documentary We Refuse to Die . However, the trophy went to the productions Battle for Midway , Kokoda Front Line! , Moscow Strikes Back and Prelude to War .

Starting in 1949, the budget of the Pine Thomas films was increased, so you could now work with actors who had bigger names, such as Fred MacMurray , Charlton Heston , Ronald Reagan , Rhonda Fleming and John Payne . The larger budget also had an impact on the equipment for their films. The team first worked with John Payne in the western El Paso - The City of the Lawless (1949), as well as in the romantic adventure film Käpt'n China and the western The Rebel of Mexico , female lead Rhonda Fleming, both from 1950. In the historical adventure film Tripoli (1950) Payne was again cast; Maureen O'Hara was his partner. In the western His Last Treason (1951), Ronald Reagan and Rhonda Fleming topped the cast, as did the drama Hong Kong (1952) and the romantic crime drama Tropical Adventures (1953). In the western Knechtet (1953) again John Payne played the main role. Ellen Corby , who gained great fame from 1971 as Esther Corby, grandmother of the Walton children, plays a small role in it. In the Shadow of the Gallows (1955) was another western by the duo, in which James Cagney was in the lead role. Also in 1955, Thomas and Pine produced the historic western On the Distant Horizon starring Fred MacMurray, Charlton Heston and Donna Reed . Jane Wyman , Charlton Heston and Claire Trevor star in the drama I Want You to Love Me (1955) . It tells the success story of a seamstress who has made a career but has no one who really loves her.

William C. Thomas and his partner William H. Pine ended their careers at United Artists , where they had moved in 1957. Their last film together was the crime drama Nightmare with Edward G. Robinson , which came to the cinema in 1956. His next film The Big Caper with Rory Calhoun in the lead role, also a crime drama, produced Thomas with Howard Pine, the son of his former partner, who died in April 1955, who also worked as a producer and assistant director.

Thomas wrote the script and also produced the film for the crime drama Cats from Los Angeles in 1976. For the English version of the action film High Seas Hijack , which is set in Japan and has a predominantly Japanese cast , Thomas made his last appearance as a producer in 1977.

Filmography (selection)

- unless otherwise stated, as producer -

  • 1937: This Way Please (author, as Bill Thomas)
  • 1937: You're a Sweetheart (writer, as William Thomas)
  • 1938: Campus Confessions
  • 1938: King of Alcatraz
  • 1939: $ 1000 a touchdown
  • 1940: Golden Gloves
  • 1941: Power Dive
  • 1941: Forced Landing
  • 1941: Flying Blind
  • 1941: No Hands on the Clock
  • 1942: Torpedo Boat
  • 1942: I Live on Danger
  • 1942: A Letter from Bataan (short film)
  • 1942: We Refuse to Die (documentary)
  • 1942: Wrecking Crew
  • 1942: Paramount Victory Short No. T2-3: The Price of Victory
  • 1943: Alaska Highway
  • 1943: Cowboy in Manhattan (Author)
  • 1944: Gambler's Choice
  • 1944: Dark Mountain
  • 1944: One Body Too Many
  • 1945: People Are Funny
  • 1945: Midnight Manhunt (Director)
  • 1946: They Made Me a Killer (+ director)
  • 1946: Big Town (director)
  • 1946: Swamp Fire
  • 1947: I Cover Big Town (Director)
  • 1947: Jungle Flight
  • 1947: Big Town After Dark
  • 1948: The Avengers of Death Gorge ( Albuquerque )
  • 1948: Big Town Scandal (Director, as William Thomas)
  • 1948: El Paso - The city of the lawless ( El Paso )
  • 1949: Hunted by the FBI ( Manhandled )
  • 1949: Special Agent (director)
  • 1950: Käpt'n China ( Captain China )
  • 1950: The Rebel of Mexico ( The Eagle and the Hawk )
  • 1950: The Lawless
  • 1950: Tripoli ( Tripoli )
  • 1951: His Last Outpost ( The Last Outpost )
  • 1951: The Fist of Retribution ( Passage West )
  • 1952: Hong Kong ( Hong Kong )
  • 1952: The Corsair's Lover ( Caribbean )
  • 1952: Escape from the Fire ( The Blazing Forest )
  • 1953: Tropical Adventure ( Tropic Zone )
  • 1953: Geknechtet ( The Vanquished )
  • 1954: The treasure of Jivara ( Jivaro )
  • 1955: In the shadow of the gallows ( Run for Cover + Author)
  • 1955: On the trail of the devil ( Hell's Island + author)
  • 1955: On the distant horizon ( The Far Horizons )
  • 1955: I want you to love me ( Lucy Gallant )
  • 1956: In the Dark of the Night ( Nightmare )
  • 1947: The Big Caper
  • 1957: Get out at 43,000 ( at Bailout 43,000 )
  • 1973: Jonathan the Seagull ( Jonathan Livingston Seagull ; as Bill Thomas and assistant to the producer)
  • 1976: Cats ( Cat Murkil and the Silks ; + Writer + Soundtrack Slow Down Baby )
  • 1977: High Seas Hijack

Award

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William C. Thomas at findagrave.com, accessed January 12, 2016.
  2. William C. Thomas In: The New York Times , accessed January 12, 2016.