Gordon Hessler
{{short description|British film director, producer and screenwriter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gordon Hessler
| image =
| alt = Black and white portrait
| caption = Gordon Hessler in 1974
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1925|12|12}}
| birth_place = Berlin, Germany
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2014|01|19|1925|12|12}}
| death_place = London, England
| nationality = German-British
| other_names =
| occupation = film and television director
| years_active = 1950-2014
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Gordon Hessler (12 December 1925 – 19 January 2014) was a German-born British film and television director, screenwriter, and producer.{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/13311|title=Gordon Hessler|website=Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk|access-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101184800/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/13311|archive-date=1 January 2014|url-status=dead}}
Biography
=Early years=
Born in Berlin, Germany,Katz, Ephraim. The Film Encyclopedia, Harper Perennial, 1994, 2nd Edition, pg. 622. {{ISBN|978-0-06-273089-3}} he was raised in England and studied at the University of Reading. While a teenager, he moved to the United States and directed a series of short films and documentaries.McGee, Mark Thomas. Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland & Company, Inc., 1996, pgs. 278–281. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-0137-6}}
=Television=
Universal Studios hired Hessler as a story reader for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series. He became story editor for two seasons (1960–1962) for that series, then served as the associate producer for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour from 1962 until its cancellation in 1965. He also directed episodes of that series.
Hessler then directed his first feature, a low budget thriller The Woman Who Wouldn't Die (1965), aka Catacombs.
He returned to television producing Run for Your Life (1966) and directing episodes of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre.Michael Rennie Signed for Role
Los Angeles Times 29 Dec 1966: C12.New York Actor to Join Gazzara
Los Angeles Times 12 Nov 1965: c17.
He directed The Last Shot You Hear with filming started in 1967 but it was not released until 1969, which was the last film from Robert L. Lippert.'Last' to end lippert association with 20th. (1968, Feb 23). Los Angeles Times
=AIP=
American International Pictures asked Hessler to step in to produce and direct The Oblong Box (1969), starring Vincent Price, when Michael Reeves became unavailable.[http://www.dvddrive-in.com/hessler.htm "AIP Memories: An Interview with Gordon Hessler", DVD Drive In] accessed 11 March 2014 It was written by Christopher Wicking with whom Hessler would make four more movies.Christopher Wicking
Anonymous. The Times; 1 Nov 2008: 70.
AIP liked Hessler's work and called him in to do some uncredited directing on De Sade (1969), then reteamed him with Price and Wicking in Scream and Scream Again (1970), this time co starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.[http://www.dvddrive-in.com/hessler.htm George G. Reis, "An Interview with Gordon Hessler", DVD Drive In] accessed 27 February 2014
Hessler did a third with Price and Wicking for AIP, Cry of the Banshee (1970). Price was meant to be in Hessler's (and Wicking's) next film, a version of Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971), but clashed with AIP so Jason Robards played the lead instead.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiHsmPeAIgY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211217/LiHsmPeAIgY |archive-date=2021-12-17 |url-status=live|title=Interview with Gordon Hessler|website=You Tube}}{{cbignore}} In an article in Sight and Sound it was said Hessler "has an almost instantly recognisable visual style, perhaps dating from his documentary days, which gives all his films a suggestion of the surreal. His fluid camera... stalks and encircles the characters like a sadistic probe, and the result is somehow both evocative and unnerving."New Blood
Pirie, David. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 40, Iss. 2, (Spring 1971): 73.
Hessler directed a thriller Embassy (1972), then Medusa (1973) with George Hamilton, the last movie he made written by Wicking.CHRISTOPHER WICKING
John, Jeremy. The Independent 25 Oct 2008: 50.
Hessler did a TV movie with Bette Davis, Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) then made the Ray Harryhausen adventure The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974).
=Television=
Despite the success of Sinbad Hessler focused on television movies: Skyway to Death (1974), Hitchhike! (1974), A Cry in the Wilderness (1974), and Betrayal (1974).
He also directed episodes of Lucas Tanner, Amy Prentiss, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Kung Fu, Switch, The Blue Knight, Spencer's Pilots, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, Wonder Woman, CHiPs, and Hawaii Five-O.
He directed Little Women (1978), Secrets of Three Hungry Wives (1978), Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, Puzzle (1978), The Secret War of Jackie's Girls (1980), Tales of the Haunted (1981), California Cowboys (1983), Pray for Death (1985), The Misfit Brigade (1987) and Rage of Honor (1988) as well as episode of Shannon, The Master, Tales of the Unexpected and The Equalizer.
=Later career=
Hessler wrote and directed The Girl in a Swing (1988) starring Meg Tilly, an adaptation of Richard Adams's novel. His later films include Out on Bail (1989) and Journey of Honor (1990).
Hessler died in his sleep on 19 January 2014.{{cite web|url=http://horrornews.net/81195/rip-gordon-hessler/|title=RIP: Gordon Hessler - HNN|website=Horrornews.net|date=24 May 2014 |access-date=1 December 2017}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0381638|name=Gordon Hessler}}
{{Gordon Hessler}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:English film directors
Category:English screenwriters
Category:English male screenwriters
Category:English film producers
Category:Film directors from Berlin