Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and satirical films with overlapping dialogue and ensemble casts. Over his career he received several awards including an Academy Honorary Award, two British Academy Film Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for seven competitive Academy Awards.
Richard Ewing Powell was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.
Farewell, My Lovely is a novel by Raymond Chandler, published in 1940, the second novel he wrote featuring the Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times and was also adapted for the stage and radio.
The Delinquents is a 1957 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Robert Altman. As the directorial debut of Altman, he filmed it in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri during the summer of 1956 on a $63,000 budget. It is not only the first film Altman directed, but also the first to star Tom Laughlin.
The Emerald Triangle is a region in Northern California that derives its name from being the largest cannabis-producing region in the United States. The region includes three counties in an upside-down triangular configuration:
Girls Town is a 1959 American drama film directed by Charles F. Haas and starring Mamie Van Doren, Mel Tormé, and Ray Anthony. Paul Anka also appears in his first acting role. Van Doren stars as a juvenile delinquent who is sent to a girls' school run by nuns, where she finds herself unable to help her sister. The film capitalizes on the 1950s rebellious-teen exploitation films, with catfights, car races, music from Anka and The Platters, and sexy outfits.
I Was a Teenage Werewolf is a 1957 American science fiction horror film directed by Gene Fowler Jr., and starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager, Yvonne Lime and Whit Bissell. Co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen, it was one of the most successful films released by American International Pictures (AIP).
Murder, My Sweet is a 1944 American film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley. The film is based on Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel Farewell, My Lovely. It was the first film to feature Chandler's primary character, the hard-boiled private detective Philip Marlowe.
Kansas City is a 1996 American crime film directed by Robert Altman, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, Michael Murphy and Steve Buscemi. The musical score of Kansas City is integrated into the film, with modern-day musicians recreating the Kansas City jazz of 1930s.
The Wild Angels is a 1966 American independent outlaw biker film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Made on location in Southern California, The Wild Angels was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture. It inspired the biker film genre that continued into the early 1970s.
Shelby William Storck was an American newscaster, actor, writer, journalist, public relations specialist, and motion picture and television producer-director. He was a radio actor on The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen and other programs, and appeared in the feature films The Delinquents and The Cool and the Crazy.
Daddy-O is a 1959 B-movie starring Dick Contino, Sandra Giles and Bruno VeSota. It was directed by Lou Place and written by David Moessinger. The film is notable for its soundtrack as being the debut film score for John Williams. The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Roadracers. It was later featured as a movie mocked by Mystery Science Theater 3000. Daddy-O was produced by Elmer C. Rhoden Jr. who also produced The Delinquents (1957) and The Cool and the Crazy (1958).
The Long Goodbye is a 1973 American neo-noir film directed by Robert Altman, adapted by Leigh Brackett from Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel of the same name. The film stars Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe and features Sterling Hayden, Nina Van Pallandt, Jim Bouton, Mark Rydell, and an early, uncredited appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Calvin Company was a Kansas City, Missouri-based advertising, educational and industrial film production company that for nearly half a century was one of the largest and most successful film producers of its type in the United States.
Marlowe is a 1969 American neo-noir film starring James Garner as Raymond Chandler's private detective Philip Marlowe. Directed by Paul Bogart, the film was written by Stirling Silliphant based on Chandler's 1949 novel The Little Sister.
Pineapple Express is a 2008 American buddy stoner action comedy film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco alongside Gary Cole, Rosie Perez and Danny McBride. The plot centers on a process server and his marijuana dealer as they are forced to flee from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after witnessing them commit a murder. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story.
Richard Bakalyan was an American actor who started his career playing juvenile delinquents in his first several films.
The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club.
The Beatniks is an American crime film in the teensploitation genre directed by Paul Frees that was filmed in 1958 and released in 1959. It was also featured on the movie-mocking program Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Dragstrip Riot is a 1958 US teen-oriented sportscar club and motorcycle gang film produced by O'Dale Ireland and directed by David Bradley. It stars Yvonne Lime, Gary Clarke, Fay Wray and Connie Stevens. Set in coastal California, the film centres on a false accusation that a sportscar club member is responsible for the death of a member of a motorcycle gang and the gang's attempts to take revenge. Dragstrip Riot was released in the US by American International Pictures as a double feature with The Cool and the Crazy (1958), and distributed in Canada by Astral Films and in the UK by Anglo Amalgamated.
