Rebel Highway

Last updated
Rebel Highway
Rebel Highway.jpg
Genre Drama, action
Created byLou Arkoff
Debra Hill
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersLou Arkoff
Debra Hill
Production company Dimension Television
Original release
Network Showtime
ReleaseJuly 22 (1994-07-22) 
September 23, 1994 (1994-09-23)

Rebel Highway was a short-lived revival of American International Pictures created and produced by Lou Arkoff, the son of Samuel Z. Arkoff, and Debra Hill for the Showtime network in 1994. The concept was a 10-week series of 1950s "drive-in classic" B-movies remade "with a '90s edge". [1] The impetus for the series, according to Arkoff was, "what it would be like if you made Rebel Without a Cause today. It would be more lurid, sexier, and much more dangerous, and you definitely would have had Natalie Wood's top off". [2]

Contents

Arkoff originally wanted to call the series Raging Hormones, but Showtime decided on Rebel Highway instead. [3] Arkoff and Hill invited several directors to pick a title from one of Samuel Arkoff's films, hire their own writers and create a story that could resemble the original if they wanted. [3] In addition, they had the right to a final cut and to select their own director of photography and the editor. [4] Each director was given a $1.3 million budget and 12 days to shoot it with a cast of young, up and coming actors and actresses. According to Arkoff, the appeal to directors was that, "They weren't hampered by big studios saying, 'You can't do this or that.' And all the directors paid very close attention to the detail of the era. We want these shows to be fun for the younger generation and fun for the older generation". [3]

The series premiered with Robert Rodriguez's Roadracers on July 22, 1994.

Films

Soundtrack

The soundtrack featured contemporary artists covering classic songs from the 1950s.

Reception

In his review for Entertainment Weekly , Ken Tucker wrote, "It is the whimsical notion behind the Rebel Highway series to take a group of mostly grade-D exploitation films from the '50s and remake them, with good actors and directors, in the '90s". [5] In his review for the Chicago Reader , Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote that the series "is at best a collection of offbeat so-called B-films, though given the state of American movies at the moment this is a much more sizable achievement than it might at first appear–especially considering that the whole system that once supported B-films no longer exists". [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Rodriguez</span> American filmmaker (born 1968)

Robert Anthony Rodriguez is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 action film El Mariachi, which was a commercial success after grossing $2.6 million against a budget of $7,000. The film spawned two sequels known collectively as the Mexico Trilogy: Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American International Pictures</span> Film production company

American International Pictures is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing films from 1955 until 1980, a year after its acquisition by Filmways in 1979.

<i>Red Shoe Diaries</i> American television series

Red Shoe Diaries is an American anthology erotic drama series that aired on Showtime cable network from 1992 to 1997 and was distributed by Playboy Entertainment overseas. It is a spinoff of the television film of the same name, directed by Zalman King. Most episodes were directed by either King or Rafael Eisenman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Tucker</span> American actor

Jonathan Moss Tucker is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Virgin Suicides (1999), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Hostage (2005), In the Valley of Elah (2007), The Ruins (2008), and Charlie's Angels (2019). He has appeared in the television series The Black Donnellys (2007), Parenthood (2011–2013), Kingdom (2014–2017), Justified (2015), Snowfall (2018), Westworld (2018–2022), City on a Hill (2019), and Debris (2021).

Troublemaker Studios is an American production company founded and owned by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and producer Elizabeth Avellán. The company is based in Austin, Texas and is at the former site of the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. It shares space with Austin Studios, which is managed by the Austin Film Society, and houses production offices, sound stages and the largest green screen in Texas.

<i>The Wild Party</i> (1975 film) 1975 film by James Ivory

The Wild Party is a 1975 American comedy-drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant for Merchant Ivory Productions. Loosely based on Joseph Moncure March's narrative poem of the same name, the screenplay is written by Walter Marks, who also composed the score. The plot follows an aging silent movie comic star of the 1920s named Jolly Grimm attempts a comeback by staging a party to show his new film.

<i>Cool and the Crazy</i> 1994 television film by Ralph Bakshi

Cool and the Crazy is a 1994 American made-for television drama film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi and starring Jared Leto and Alicia Silverstone. The story revolves around an unhappily married couple in the late 1950s who both lead separate affairs. The film was Bakshi's first feature-length live-action film, being primarily known as a director of animated films which heavily utilize live-action sequences, such as Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic, Wizards, American Pop and The Lord of the Rings.

<i>Shake, Rattle and Rock!</i> (1994 film) 1994 film

Shake, Rattle and Rock! is a 1994 television film starring Renée Zellweger, Howie Mandel, and members of the Grammy-nominated R&B band For Real. The film was produced by Lou Arkoff as part of the Rebel Highway series of television films made in a short-lived revival of American International Pictures that aired on the Showtime television network.

<i>Roadracers</i> (1994 film) American TV series or program

Roadracers is a 1994 made-for-television film directed by Robert Rodriguez, his second feature film following the success of his 1992 debut, El Mariachi. The film originally aired on Showtime Network as part of their Rebel Highway series that took the titles of 1950s-era B-movies and applied them to original films starring up-and-coming actors of the 1990s and directed by established directors such as William Friedkin, Joe Dante, and Ralph Bakshi. Rodriguez was the only young director to participate in the series. The series was produced by the son and daughter of Samuel Z. Arkoff, the co-founder and producer of American International Pictures (AIP), the distributor of the films this series takes its titles from.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. J. Cutler</span> American film director

R. J. Cutler is an American filmmaker, documentarian, television producer and theater director.

Jonathan Kaplan is an American film producer and director. His film The Accused (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. His film Love Field (1992) earned actress Michelle Pfeiffer an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival. Kaplan received five Emmy nominations for his roles directing and producing the television series ER.

<i>Confessions of a Sorority Girl</i> American TV series or program

Confessions of a Sorority Girl is a 1994 American television film that debuted on Showtime on July 29, 1994. Directed by Uli Edel, the stars include Alyssa Milano and Jamie Luner.

<i>Runaway Daughters</i> (1994 film) 1994 American TV series or program

Runaway Daughters is a 1994 television film directed by Joe Dante that originally aired on the cable television network Showtime as part of the anthology series Rebel Highway. It is a loose remake of Runaway Daughters, an American International Pictures production from 1956, the year in which both the original and the remake are set. Much of the cast of Dante's The Howling is reunited on this film, including Christopher Stone, Dee Wallace, Robert Picardo, Dick Miller, and Belinda Balaski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Rodriguez filmography</span>

Robert Anthony Rodriguez is an American film and television director, producer, writer, composer, cinematographer and editor. He has contributed to many projects as a combination of the six. Less commonly, Rodriguez has also worked as a second unit director, digital animator and a visual effects supervisor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cameron Mitchell</span> American film director (born 1963)

John Cameron Mitchell is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which is based on the stage musical of the same name. He also portrayed the role of Joe Exotic in the Peacock limited series Joe vs. Carole in 2022.

<i>Apache Woman</i> (1955 film) 1955 film by Roger Corman

Apache Woman is a 1955 American Western directed by Roger Corman and starring Lloyd Bridges. It was Corman's second film as director, following Five Guns West. It was one of four Westerns he made for American International Pictures, the other being Five Guns West, The Oklahoma Woman (1955) and Gunslinger (1956). Corman says Apache Woman and Oklahoma Woman were from ideas by AIP whereas the others were his ideas. This was the first film from Golden State Productions, a company headed by Alex Gordon.

<i>Motorcycle Gang</i> (1994 film) 1994 film directed by John Milius

Motorcycle Gang originally aired on the cable television network Showtime on August 5, 1994, as part of the anthology series Rebel Highway. As with other films in the series, its name is taken from a 1950s B-movie but its plot bears no resemblance to that film.

Louis S. Arkoff is an American film producer; he is the son of executive producer Samuel Z. Arkoff.

<i>Dragstrip Girl</i> (1994 film) American TV series or program

Dragstrip Girl is a 1994 American drama film directed by Mary Lambert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie McDowell</span> American film director and screenwriter (born 1983)

Charles Malcolm McDowell is an American film director and screenwriter. McDowell made his directorial film debut with the romantic thriller The One I Love (2014). He has since written and directed the Netflix drama films The Discovery (2017) and Windfall (2022).

References

  1. Corliss, Richard (August 15, 1994). "I Was a Teenage Teenager". Time . Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  2. Fretts, Bruce (July 29, 1994). "Return of the Killer B's". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2010-04-08.
  3. 1 2 3 Brennan, Patricia (July 17, 1994). "Fast Cars, Fast Girls and Raging Hormones". Washington Post .
  4. 1 2 Rosenbaum, Jonathan (November 18, 1994). "The Way We Weren't". Chicago Reader . Retrieved 2010-04-08.
  5. Tucker, Ken (July 29, 1994). "Rebel Highway". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2010-04-08.