William Castle (Director)

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William Castle (born April 24, 1914 in New York City , New York , † May 31, 1977 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American film director , producer and actor . He was born to Jewish parents under the name William Schloss .

Life

In order to avoid problems and discrimination, William Castle was renamed William Castle. Castle was involved in show business from an early age. He started out as an extra in stage plays when he was 15. Slowly but surely he worked his way up and became a recognized performer on New York stages. At the age of 23 he moved to Los Angeles. At Columbia Pictures he became a dialogue director. After six years in Hollywood, he was allowed to direct for the first time. In 1946 Castle worked with Orson Welles on the film The Lady of Shanghai .

Towards the end of the 1940s, Castle then directed B-films, primarily adventure and costume films that were quickly filmed down, as well as westerns. He shot one of these 1948 westerns, Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven , with popular western actor and World War II hero Audie Murphy . After founding his own production company, he switched to the horror genre. The weak films were spiced up by advertising gimmicks that made him famous. For example, there was $ 1,000 life insurance in the event a viewer died of fear of death. In a ghost film, the audience was given special glasses ( anaglyph glasses ) to block out particularly terrifying figures. In The Tingler , a worm-like monster escapes, whereupon worm-like puppets were thrown into the auditorium by extras in the cinemas. Castle also had illuminated skeletons hung in movie theaters. In his films he also deliberately used comedic elements, which, however, remained largely ineffective. In 1962 William Castle filmed the novel "Zotz!" By Walter Karig . The high point of his career as a producer was then in 1967 the film Rosemary's Baby , which he produced with director Roman Polański . He then said goodbye to the cinema and contented himself with the production of horror films for television. In 1974 Castle made a cinema comeback with the film Shank . His last film work was the animal horror shocker Feuerkäfer in 1975.

Married to Ellen Falck in 1948, Castle died of a heart attack in 1977. His daughter Terry Castle co-produced two remakes of her father's films.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1944: Never Marry a Stranger (When Strangers Marry) - directed
  • 1944: The Mark of the Whistler - directed
  • 1947: The Lady from Shanghai (The Lady from Shanghai) - Co-production
  • 1948: Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven - directed
  • 1949: Cocaine (Johnny Stool Pigeon) - directed
  • 1949: Tödlicher Sog (Undertow) - director
  • 1951: Murder in Hollywood (Hollywood Story) - Director
  • 1953: Fort Ti (Fort Ti) - director
  • 1953: Serpent of the Nile - director
  • 1954: The Gypsy Girl of Sebastopol (Charge of the Lancers) - director
  • 1954: Don't kill him! (Jesse James vs. the Daltons) - Director
  • 1954: Queen of Tahiti (Drums of Tahiti) - director
  • 1954: The Kiss and the Sword (The Iron Glove) - director
  • 1954: The rebels (The Saracen Blade) - Director
  • 1954: The Law vs. Billy the Kid - directed
  • 1954: Gangsters, Gamblers and a Sheriff (Masterson of Kansas) - directed
  • 1955: Americano (The Americano) - director
  • 1955: The Intrigue of Lily Scarlett (Duel on the Mississippi) - directed
  • 1956: Alarm at Oil Tower 3 (The Houston Story) - directed
  • 1958: Macabre - director, producer
  • 1959: House on Haunted Hill (House on Haunted Hill) - director, production
  • 1959: Scream when the Tingler comes (The Tingler) - Director, Production
  • 1960: The Eerie Legacy (13 Ghosts) - director
  • 1961: Mörderisch (Homicidal) - director, producer
  • 1961: The Eerie Mr. Sardonicus (Mr. Sardonicus) - Director, Production
  • 1962: Zotz!
  • 1963: The Old Dark House (The Old Dark House) - director, production
  • 1964: The Strait Jacket - Director, Production
  • 1964: He only came at night (The Night Walker) - director, producer
  • 1965: It happened at 8:30 a.m. (I Saw What You Did) - Director, Producer
  • 1968: Rosemary's Baby (Rosemary's Baby) - Production
  • 1969: Outbreak of the Damned (Riot) production
  • 1975: Feuerkäfer (Bug) - production, screenplay

literature

  • Robert Zion: William Castle, or The Power of Darkness. Corian Verlag, Meitingen 2000, ISBN 3-89048-319-4 .

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ^ "Zotz!" In the Internet Movie Database
personal data
SURNAME Castle, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schloss, William (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director, producer and actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 1977
Place of death Los Angeles , California