W. Merle Connell

W. Merle Connell
Born	(1905-01-07)January 7, 1905 Yakima, Washington
Died	November 25, 1963(1963-11-25) (aged 58) Los Angeles
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1947-1967
Notable work	Untamed Women

William Merle Connell was born on January 7, 1905 in Yakima, Washington. In 1926, Connell married Jennie Ramsey. ^[1] Connell died on November 25, 1963 in Los Angeles. Connell directed a number of American burlesque films, ^[2] and exploitation films, including Untamed Women .

Career

Connell's "Quality Pictures" ^[3] distributed a one-reel burlesque compilations, including: Juke-Box Follies (1945), ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} and Variety Girls (c. 1955). ^[8]

"Quality Pictures, a small studio on Santa Monica Boulevard run by producer-director W. Merle Connell, ^[9] was one of the preeminent companies putting out burlesque films for the peepshow and theatrical markets. Connell filmed Los Angeles burlesque dancers in short, two-to-three-minute performances and packaged the segments as single-reel compilations, producing twenty-five of these by 1947. Keeping a hand in the peepshow market, Quality also bought and sold Panorams and converted them for a fee. By the 1950s, Quality had begun focusing on narrative films as well; the Quality Pictures studio was even used for several Ed Wood movies, including Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)." ^[7]

Film director

• A Night at the Follies (1947) ^{[10] [11]} with Evelyn West

filmed at a burlesque stage show at the Follies Theater in Los Angeles

• Test Tube Babies (1948) ^{[10] [11] [12]}
• The Devil's Sleep (1949) ^{[10] [11]}
• Trouble at Melody Mesa (1949) ^{[10] [11]}
• Midnight Frolics (1949) ^{[10] [11] [13]} with Annette Warren
• International Burlesque (1950) ^{[10] [14] [11]}
• Ding Dong (1951) ^{[10] [11] [15]}

filmed at Moulin Rouge Theatre, 485 8th Street, Oakland, California ^{[16] [17]}

also known as A Night at the Moulin Rouge

• Home Town Girl (1951) ^{[10] [11]}
• Untamed Women (1952) ^{[10] [11]}
• The Flesh Merchant (1956) ^{[18] [19] [20] [21]}
• The Wild and Wicked (1956) ^{[10] [11]}
• Not Tonight Henry (1961) ^{[10] [11]}
• The Pill (1967) ^{[10] [11]}

Cinematographer

• Dance Hall Racket
• The Cape Canaveral Monsters
• The Jailbreakers

See also

• TCM Underground

References

1. "Lewis County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1847-2024 - W - Ramsey - Connell - Et Al". Digital Archives. Washington State Archives. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
2. pp.267-268 Shteir, Rachel Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show Oxford University Press, USA 1 Nov 2004-
3. "Plan9_PGM_WEB" (PDF). alex film society. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
4. "Juke-Box Follies". FilmFlow.tv. Retrieved March 23, 2025. A series of burlesque peep-show acts for servicemen.
5. "Juke Box Follies". Variety. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company. November 1945. Retrieved March 23, 2025. "Juke Box Follies" (also Dc- I months attributed' in part to the at- zel) is the two-reelcr spurned by the tention altraefed to the company by board ...
6. "F-7715 - JUKEBOX FOLLIES". Historic Films. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
7. "Nitrate Shorts - Nitrate Picture Show". www.eastman.org | George Eastman Museum . May 31, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
8. Paghat the Ratgirl. "Reviews: Variety Girls". www.weirdwildrealm.com. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
9. Hollings, Ken (January 10, 1996). "Criswell Predicts: Lost Voices from a Forgotten Future, 1956-59". CTheory : 1/10/1996. ISSN   1190-9153 . Retrieved March 23, 2025.
10. "W. Merle Connell". AFI Catalog . Retrieved March 23, 2025.
11. W. Merle Connell - tcmdb Turner Classic Movies
12. Barrett, Michael (September 28, 2020). "Exploitation Shenanigans 'Test Tube Babies' and 'Guilty Parents' Contend with the Aftermath". www.popmatters.com » PopMatters. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
13. "Midnight Frolics (1949)". Turner Classic Movies.
14. "International Burlesque". tcmdb . tcm.com . Retrieved March 23, 2025.
15. "Ding Dong". tcmdb . Retrieved March 23, 2025.
16. "Moulin Rouge Theatre in Oakland, CA". cinematreasures.org - Cinema Treasures.
17. "Moulin Rouge Theatre at 485 8th Street in Oakland, California". calisphere . 1976. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
18. "'The Flesh Merchant' Registers No Sale". The New York Times . May 19, 1956. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
19. Connell, W. Merle. "The Flesh Merchant (1956)". AllMovie . Retrieved March 23, 2025.
20. "Flesh Merchant". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved March 23, 2025.
21. "The Flesh Merchant". The Grindhouse Cinema Database. Retrieved March 23, 2025.

External links

• "W. Merle Connell". AFI Catalog .
• W. Merle Connell - tcmdb Turner Classic Movies
• W. Merle Connell - tvguide.com
• W. Merle Connell - allmovie
• "W. Merle Connell (1905-1963)". Find a Grave .
• W. Merle Connell - iMdb