World Wide Pictures

Last updated
World Wide Pictures
Company type Film production and distribution
Founded1951
Founder Billy Graham and Dick Ross
Defunct2003
Headquarters,
Website World Wide Pictures

World Wide Pictures (WWP) was a film distributor and production company established as a subsidiary of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) in 1951. It is involved in the production and distribution of evangelistic films, the production of Graham crusade films, and publicity for Graham crusades.

Contents

History

WWP was established in 1951 after Graham met Dick Ross, who had produced a documentary film of Graham's 1950 crusade in Portland, Oregon. [1] That film's success led the BGEA to buy Ross's production company and hire him as the president of a new BGEA subsidiary incorporated as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Film Ministry (which was to be WWP's official name until 1980).

WWP's first feature film was Mr. Texas , produced during Graham's 1951 Fort Worth, Texas Crusade. It was also during the 1950s that WWP established production facilities in Burbank, California.

Perhaps WWP's best-known production was the 1965 film The Restless Ones, featuring Kim Darby. It was the first theatrical movie. [2] According to an October 14, 1966, issue of Christianity Today more than 120,000 professions of faith were recorded after more than two million people viewed the film. Other feature films included Two a Penny (also 1965), which starred Cliff Richard. Both The Hiding Place (1975, with Julie Harris) and Time to Run (1973) received Golden Globe nominations for Most Promising Newcomer.

WWP stopped national releases of its films in the late 1980s. The company sold its Burbank studio, moved its headquarters to Minneapolis, and switched to working with independent producers and distributing films to churches, on home video, and as made-for-TV movies.

They cautiously returned to feature films in 2001 with the limited national release of Road to Redemption , WWP's first comedy after over 125 films. [3] The film starred Pat Hingle, Julie Condra, Leo Rossi, Jay Underwood, Tony Longo, and Wes Studi. [4] It was followed by The Climb , which starred Jason Winston George, Ned Vaughn, and Dabney Coleman, and featured Todd Bridges. In 2003, the company released Last Flight Out.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Bright</span> American evangelist

William R. Bright was an American evangelist. In 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles, he founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students. In 1952 he wrote The Four Spiritual Laws. In 1979 he produced the film Jesus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Graham</span> American evangelist (1918–2018)

William Franklin Graham Jr. was an American evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring live sermons became well known in the mid- to late 20th century. Throughout his career, spanning over six decades, Graham rose to prominence as an evangelical Christian figure in the United States and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sony Pictures</span> American television and film studio

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment through multiple platforms. Through an intermediate holding company called Sony Film Holding Inc., it is operated as a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., which is itself a subsidiary of the multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Graham</span> American author (1920–2007)

Ruth McCue Bell Graham was a Chinese-born American Christian author. She was born in Qingjiang, Jiangsu, Republic of China, the second of five children. Her parents, Virginia Leftwich Bell and L. Nelson Bell, were medical missionaries at the Presbyterian Hospital 300 miles (480 km) north of Shanghai. At age 13 she was enrolled in Pyeng Yang Foreign School in Pyongyang, Korea, where she studied for three years. She completed her high school education at Montreat, North Carolina, while her parents were there on furlough. She graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Z. Arkoff</span> American producer of B movies

Samuel Zachary Arkoff was an American producer of B movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monogram Pictures</span> American film studio

Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in the golden age of Hollywood, generally referred to collectively as Poverty Row. Lacking the financial resources to deliver the lavish sets, production values, and star power of the larger studios, Monogram sought to attract its audiences with the promise of action and adventure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Beverly Shea</span> American gospel singer and hymn composer born in Canada

George Beverly Shea was a Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer. Shea was often described as "America's beloved gospel singer" and was considered "the first international singing 'star' of the gospel world," as a consequence of his solos at Billy Graham Crusades and his exposure on radio, records and television. Because of the large attendance at Graham's Crusades, it is estimated that Shea sang live before more people than anyone else in history.

Clifford Burton Barrows was a longtime music and program director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He had been a part of the Graham organization since 1949. Barrows was best known as the host of Graham's weekly Hour of Decision radio program, and the song leader and choir director for the crusade meetings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert L. Lippert</span> American film producer

Robert Lenard Lippert was an American film producer and cinema chain owner. He was president and chief operating officer of Lippert Theatres, Affiliated Theatres and Transcontinental Theatres, all based in San Francisco, and at his height, he owned a chain of 139 movie theaters.

<i>Man in the 5th Dimension</i> 1964 American film

Man in the 5th Dimension is a 1964 American short film produced and directed by Dick Ross and starring evangelist Billy Graham. It was produced for exhibition at the 1964 New York World's Fair.

<i>Billy: The Early Years</i> 2008 American film

Billy: The Early Years is a 2008 American biographical film directed by Robby Benson. The film tells the story of the early life of evangelist Billy Graham, played by Armie Hammer. After almost a year and a half of delays, the film was released on DVD on March 16, 2010.

<i>Two a Penny</i> 1968 British film by James F. Collier

Two a Penny is a 1967 British film, released nationally in 1968, directed by James F. Collier and starring Cliff Richard. It was produced by Frank R. Jacobson for Billy Graham's film distribution and production company World Wide Pictures The original story and screenplay was by Stella Linden.

William Franklin Graham IV is an American Christian evangelist. He is the Executive Vice President and associate evangelist of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Graham is the third generation of Grahams to preach under the banner of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). He is a grandson of Billy Graham and the oldest son of Franklin Graham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allied Artists International</span> American movie studio and motion picture distributor

Allied Artists International, Inc. (AAI) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment corporation headquartered in Glendale, California, United States, producing and distributing motion pictures, recorded music, broadcast television, online streaming, video games, and other media products. The company is the successor to Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. In the year 2000, AAI divided its media products into three distinct wholly owned divisions, Allied Artists Film Group (AAFG), Allied Artists Music Group (AAMG) and Allied Artists Music & Video Distribution (AAMVD). Then, around 2020, AAI reorganized itself into four divisions: Allied Artists Music Group, Allied Artists Film Group, Allied Artists Films & Monogram Pictures, & Allied Artists Broadcasting & Allied Artists Music & Video Distribution. Allied Artists Pictures is known for having produced and released such historic motion pictures as Cabaret, starring Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli; Papillon, starring Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen; and The Betsy, starring Laurence Olivier, Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Duvall, and Katharine Ross.

Shadow of the Boomerang is a 1960 Australian drama film directed by Dick Ross and written by Dick Ross and John Ford. It is a 'Christian Western' about a cattle station manager who learns to overcome his prejudice against aboriginals.

Mr. Texas is a 1951 American Western film directed by Dick Ross, starring Redd Harper and Cindy Walker. Evangelist Billy Graham called it "the first Christian Western".

Wiretapper is a 1955 American biographical crime drama film directed by Dick Ross, written by John O'Dea, and starring Bill Williams, Georgia Lee and Douglas Kennedy. The scenario of the film was based on the true story of Jim Vaus Jr. The score was composed by Ralph Carmichael.

<i>Unbroken: Path to Redemption</i> 2018 sequel film directed by Harold Cronk

Unbroken: Path to Redemption is a 2018 American Christian drama film directed by Harold Cronk, and is the sequel to the 2014 film Unbroken. Because of the much lower budget, none of the original cast or crew returned, except the producer Matthew Baer and actors Vincenzo Amato and Maddalena Ischiale. The film chronicles the rest of Louis Zamperini's story, following his return from World War II. The film features a role from evangelist Will Graham, who portrays his grandfather, Billy Graham.

The New York Crusade was a major evangelistic campaign conducted in 1957 in New York City by Billy Graham. It was preceded by two years of preparation and lasted from May 15 to September 1. It was the largest evangelistic campaign ever organized in New York City.

<i>Road to Redemption</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by Robert Vernon

Road to Redemption is a film produced by John Shepherd and Jason Behrman, and distributed by Billy Graham Ministries' World Wide Pictures and released in select theaters in 2001. It was written and directed by Robert Vernon and starred Pat Hingle, Jay Underwood, Julie Condra, and Leo Rossi. It was released on home video and DVD in June 2001.

References

  1. John Lyden, The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2009, p. 82
  2. Peter T. Chattaway (August 23, 2005). "Billy Graham Goes to the Movies". patheos.com. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  3. Ruble, Renee (2001-02-01). "New release for faithful youngsters not preachy" . Lebanon Daily News . Associated Press. p. 2B. Retrieved 2024-05-30 via Newspapers.com.
  4. Foundas, Scott (2001-03-04). "Road to Redemption". Variety . Vol. 382, no. 3. Retrieved 2024-05-30.

Further reading