Zombos Says: An enjoyable, informative read.
Gary A. Smith presents a chronological rundown of the American International Pictures’ offerings from 1954 to 1972. The format of American International Pictures: The Golden Years, takes a little time to get used to as Smith combines various sources of information to paint an interesting production history using articles and reviews from trade publications like Boxoffice, The Hollywood Reporter and Showman’s Trade Review, excerpts from the movies’ pressbooks, critical reviews from The New York Times, Variety, and other newspapers, and quotes from notable creatives involved with AIP like Roger Corman, actors, and other key players involved with production and distribution (from personal interviews provided by Mark Thomas McGee who wrote Fast and Furious: The Story of American International Pictures).
Smith, in his introduction, states he wanted to trace the history of the company through their continual use of publicity, and that not every movie is covered. What really stands out through all this movie by movie, year by year, rundown is how AIP evolved with the audience’s social tastes, and how they always kept their core audience (teens and drive-in crowd) front and center when bringing movies, either domestic or foreign, onto their yearly release schedule.
Under their initial American Releasing Corporation (ARC), with offices in the Lawyer’s Building “not far from Hollywood and Vine,” James Nicholson and Samuel Arkoff struck a deal with producer Roger Corman to distribute his third movie, The Fast and the Furious. And so it began.
Roger Corman (Producer): “I had offers from Republic and Columbia to distribute The Fast and the Furious, but I saw that I was in a trap. If I had to wait for each picture to pay off, I would be making one movie a year. So I gave the picture to Jim [Nicholson] with the stipulation that I would not have to wait for the picture to be released to get my money and I wanted a commitment for two more pictures.”
Addressing members of the North Central Allied Film distributors annual convention, Nicholson pleaded his mission with ARC. To provide playable, commercial, movies (or product) for distribution, he stated that, based on “interesting facts and figures…we found that there were scores of pictures made on a modest budget which did quite well at the box office.” He encouraged support of the independent producers and exchanges. By 1956, “having gotten minimal rentals from exhibitors for their single releases,” Arkoff and Nicholson had started using combinations of movies, two cheapies with similar themes, playable (with a higher rental fee) as a double-bill, beginning with Female Jungle and Oklahoma Woman, and The Day the World Ended and The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues.
The first week in January, this double feature package opened at six theaters and eight drive-ins in Los Angeles and grossed $140,000 during the first half week. ARC had to order an additional 100 prints of the films to accommodate all of the bookings they had contracted.
By March of 1956 ARC changed to AIP and moved over to Sunset Boulevard. Boxoffice Magazine, October 20, 1956, notes how AIP makes “exploitation combinations for teenage patrons” (9 to 24 years old). AIP also started spending money on radio, and theater and TV trailers, like the majors, to the tune of 20,000 dollars on the national level and 50 to 100,000 dollars on the local level. In 1957, the double-bills kick into full gear and bring some controversy with I Was a Teenage Werewolf, a popular title with a young Michael Landon. It was paired with Invasion of the Saucer-Men. AIP’s pressbooks reflect the double-bill format, hyping two movies in one printed package.
The double-bills are built around rock and roll, teenage angst and misbehaving teenagers, horror and science fiction, and motorcycle gangs. Here and there you also have westerns, jungles, prison girls, a teenage Frankenstein (monster), and enough irregular themes to shake a parent’s tree and incite the morality league: as Nicholson was quoted: “We go ahead and pick an exploitable title and then write a story to fit it.”
By 1959 and into the 1960s, the notable Roger Corman paired with Vincent Price cycle of Edgar Allan Poe movies hit theaters, along with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in the beach party movies. Opening up to Europe, AIP imported Italian sword and sandal, horror, and other foreign themes while opening the purse strings to return to higher budgeted single-release movies. By 1964 Japan contributed Godzilla. The number of movies they distributed each year also increased. AIP’s advertising venues changed with their needs, to include major magazines and Sunday newspaper supplements, as well as the fan magazines, to promote their slate of pictures. In 1962, AIP installed an IBM system to handle their increased release schedule.
AIP’s relentless slate of horror and anti-social behavior fare draws the attention of Dr. Frederick Wertham (who originally tackled the comic book industry into the Comics Code Authority), but times have changed and their box office receipts validate their success. Changes also come to their pressbooks, which, based on a survey of entertainment editors in newspapers, begin to lean toward carefully prepared presskits “with a different style of news release.”
May 17, 1965 Boxoffice — AIP SURVEY OF MOVIE EDITORS SHOWS PREFERENCES IN PUBLICITY MATERIAL Hollywood — American International Pictures, as a result of a spot survey of entertainment editors in 50 daily newspapers, henceforth “will lean toward carefully prepared press kits with a different style of news release,” Milton Moritz, AIP national director of advertising and publicity, revealed this week. The survey found that entertainment editors rarely use a story from a motion picture press book, Moritz said, adding, “They think pressbooks are old tea bags returned too often to the pot.” The majority of editors, the survey shows, prefer short news stories and behind-the-scenes features with action or off-stage photographs. Interview-type stories with good quotes from actors are also sought.
Soon, the teenage angst would give way to teenage rebellion, leading to movies centered around LSD, motorcyle gangs, and “protest, soap opera, and action in order to attract today’s young audience.” Roger Corman would also stop directing for AIP after they cut his film, GAS-S-S-S, without his knowledge, ending a successful relationship for both parties. By the 1970s, Nicholson would leave the company and the relationship between him and Arkoff soured for personal reasons. A few Hammer Horror and British movies later, AIP and Filmways merged, but Arkoff eventually parted ways and resigned from the company.
Through all the movies, quotes, and publicity blurbs, Smith provides commentary, here and there, filling out the history of AIP, their approach to movie-making and distribution, and their evolution to always keep their young audience in mind so their movies would make money. Along the way, they influenced a lot of creative people and annoyed critics by making profits off of budget product they knew would sell in spite of the morality squads and parent brigades. Perhaps most important of all, they showed that, at a time when the movies were taking a beating from television and lowered A-list production from the major studios, the little players could make a buck and keep the theaters and drive-ins alive and profitable with B-list fare all on its own.
I would love to make a film about Milt Moritz, the genius behind all the AIP marketing and the great pressbooks. He has great stories to tell including his movie theater owning family financing THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS. Does his last name sound familiar? His son produces the contemporary F&F films.