Curtis Harrington
Encyclopedia
Curtis Harrington was an American film and television director whose work included experimental film
s, horror film
s, and episodic television.
on September 17, 1926, and grew up in Beaumont, California
. His first cinematic endeavors were amateur films he made while still a teenager. He attended Occidental College
and the University of Southern California
and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles
, with a film studies degree.
He began his career as a film critic, writing a book on Josef von Sternberg
in 1948. He directed several avant-garde
short films in the 1940s and '50s, including Fragment of Seeking, Picnic, and The Wormwood Star (a film study of the artwork of Marjorie Cameron
). Cameron also co-starred in his subsequent film Night Tide
(1961) with Dennis Hopper
. Harrington worked with Kenneth Anger
, serving as a cinematographer
on Anger's Puce Moment
and acting in Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
(1954).
He also directed Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?
(1971) with Shelley Winters
, What's the Matter with Helen?
(1972) with Winters and Debbie Reynolds
, and Killer Bees
(1974) with Gloria Swanson
in one of her last film roles.
Harrington had a cameo role in Orson Welles
's unfinished The Other Side of the Wind
. In the 1970s and 1980s, Harrington directed episodes of Dynasty
, Wonder Woman
, The Twilight Zone
, and Charlie's Angels
for television.
Harrington was the driving force in locating the original James Whale
production of The Old Dark House
(Universal Pictures
, 1932). Even though the rights had been sold to Columbia Pictures
for a remake, he got George Eastman House
to restore the negative. On the Kino International
DVD, there is a filmed interview of Harrington explaining why and how this came about. Harrington was an advisor on Bill Condon
's Gods and Monsters
, about the last days of director James Whale, since Harrington had known Whale at the end of his life. Harrington also has a cameo in this film.
Harrington's final film, the short Usher, is a remake of an unreleased film he did while in high school, Fall of the House of Usher.
He died on May 6, 2007, of complications from a stroke he had suffered in 2005. He is interred in the Cathedral Mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. He is considered one of the forerunners of New Queer Cinema
.
House of Harrington a short documentary about the director's life, was released in 2008. It was directed by Jeffrey Schwarz
and Tyler Hubby and filmed several years before Harrington's death. It includes footage of his high school film Fall of the House of Usher.
Experimental film
Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
s, horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s, and episodic television.
Biography
Harrington was born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on September 17, 1926, and grew up in Beaumont, California
Beaumont, California
Beaumont is a city in Riverside County, California, United States in the Greater Los Angeles area.Now a growing, community planned city, the population was 36,877 at the 2010 census, and expected to be up to 125,000 projected by 2040, making Beaumont as California's next, newest fastest-growing...
. His first cinematic endeavors were amateur films he made while still a teenager. He attended Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
and the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, with a film studies degree.
He began his career as a film critic, writing a book on Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austrian-American film director. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich.-Youth:Von Sternberg was born Jonas Sternberg to a Jewish...
in 1948. He directed several avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
short films in the 1940s and '50s, including Fragment of Seeking, Picnic, and The Wormwood Star (a film study of the artwork of Marjorie Cameron
Marjorie Cameron
Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel was an artist, occultist, actress, and wife of rocket pioneer and occultist Jack Parsons. Cameron played a major role in the 1946 Babalon Working ritual.-Biography:...
). Cameron also co-starred in his subsequent film Night Tide
Night Tide
Night Tide is a 1961 thriller film, written and directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Dennis Hopper. It premiered in 1961, but was held up from general release until 1963...
(1961) with Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
. Harrington worked with Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
, serving as a cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
on Anger's Puce Moment
Puce Moment
Puce Moment is a short 6 minute film by Kenneth Anger, author of the Hollywood Babylon books, filmed in 1949. Puce Moment resulted from the unfinished short film Puce Women. The film opens with a camera watching 1920's style flapper gowns being taken off a dress rack. The dresses are removed and...
and acting in Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome is a short 38 minute film by Kenneth Anger, filmed in 1954. Anger created two other versions of this film in 1966 and the late 1970s. According to Anger, the film takes the name "pleasure dome" from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's atmospheric poem Kubla Khan...
(1954).
He also directed Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? is a 1971 British horror-thriller film directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Ralph Richardson, Shelley Winters and Mark Lester...
(1971) with Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
, What's the Matter with Helen?
What's the Matter with Helen?
What's the Matter With Helen? is a 1971 thriller film starring Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters.-Plot:The movie starts with a Hearst Metrotone newsreel from the 1930s that tells of the Iowa murder of Ellie Banner by Leonard Hill and Wesley Bruckner...
(1972) with Winters and Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
, and Killer Bees
Killer Bees (1974 film)
Killer Bees is a 1974 made for TV horror movie featuring Gloria Swanson that originally aired on ABC on February 26, 1974. The film, which was directed by Curtis Harrington, had a very small cast, including Kate Jackson, Craig Stevens, John Getz, and Edward Albert.-Plot:Madame von Bohlen , a...
(1974) with Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
in one of her last film roles.
Harrington had a cameo role in Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
's unfinished The Other Side of the Wind
The Other Side of the Wind
The Other Side of the Wind is an unfinished film directed by Orson Welles, shot between 1969 and 1976, and starring John Huston, Bob Random, Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg and Oja Kodar.-Summary:...
. In the 1970s and 1980s, Harrington directed episodes of Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
, Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, and Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
for television.
Harrington was the driving force in locating the original James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
production of The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House is an American comedy horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein, also released by Universal Studios.-Background:...
(Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, 1932). Even though the rights had been sold to Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
for a remake, he got George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
to restore the negative. On the Kino International
Kino International
Kino International is a film and video distributor, founded by Bill Pence in 1977. Donald Krim bought Kino just months after its founding and served as president of the company until his death from cancer in 2011. Kino, based in New York City, specializes in art house films, such as low-budget...
DVD, there is a filmed interview of Harrington explaining why and how this came about. Harrington was an advisor on Bill Condon
Bill Condon
William "Bill" Condon is an American screenwriter and director. Condon is best known for directing and writing the critically acclaimed films Gods and Monsters, Chicago, Kinsey, and Dreamgirls. In 1998, Condon debuted as a screenwriter in Gods and Monsters, which won him his first Academy Award....
's Gods and Monsters
Gods and Monsters
Gods and Monsters is a 1998 drama film that recounts the last days of the life of troubled film director James Whale, whose homosexuality is a central theme. It stars Ian McKellen as Whale, along with Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, and David Dukes...
, about the last days of director James Whale, since Harrington had known Whale at the end of his life. Harrington also has a cameo in this film.
Harrington's final film, the short Usher, is a remake of an unreleased film he did while in high school, Fall of the House of Usher.
He died on May 6, 2007, of complications from a stroke he had suffered in 2005. He is interred in the Cathedral Mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. He is considered one of the forerunners of New Queer Cinema
New Queer Cinema
New Queer Cinema is a term first coined by the academic B. Ruby Rich in Sight & Sound magazine in 1992 to define and describe a movement in queer-themed independent filmmaking in the early 1990s...
.
House of Harrington a short documentary about the director's life, was released in 2008. It was directed by Jeffrey Schwarz
Jeffrey Schwarz
Jeffrey Schwarz is President & CEO of Automat Pictures, a Los Angeles based entertainment company specializing in the production of studio EPKs , Blu-ray and DVD content, original television programming, and feature films....
and Tyler Hubby and filmed several years before Harrington's death. It includes footage of his high school film Fall of the House of Usher.
Filmography as director
- Fall of the House of Usher (1942)- unreleased 8mm short. Some footage appears in documentary House of Harrington.
- Fragment of Seeking (1946)
- Picnic (1948)
- On the Edge (1949)
- The Assignation (1952)
- The Wormwood Star (1955)
- Night TideNight TideNight Tide is a 1961 thriller film, written and directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Dennis Hopper. It premiered in 1961, but was held up from general release until 1963...
(1961) [not released widely until 1963] - Voyage to the Prehistoric PlanetVoyage to the Prehistoric PlanetVoyage to the Prehistoric Planet is a 1965 science fiction film directed by Curtis Harrington. The film is an American adapted and edited version of the Russian science fiction movie Planeta Bur directed by Pavel Klushantsev, with Curtis Harrington filming extra scenes featuring Basil Rathbone and...
(1965) - Queen of BloodQueen of BloodQueen of Blood horror/science fiction film released by American International Pictures. The director, Curtis Harrington, crafted this B-movie with footage from the Russian films Mechte Navstrechu and Nebo Zovyot. It was released as part of a double bill with the AIP movie Blood Bath...
(1966) - GamesGames (film)Games is a 1967 psychological thriller, directed by Curtis Harrington and starring James Caan, Katharine Ross, and Simone Signoret.-Plot:...
(1967) - How Awful About AllanHow Awful About AllanHow Awful About Allan is a 1970 television film thriller, directed by Curtis Harrington, his second collaboration with writer Henry Farrell, and starring Anthony Perkins and Julie Harris...
(1970) (TV) - What's the Matter with Helen?What's the Matter with Helen?What's the Matter With Helen? is a 1971 thriller film starring Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters.-Plot:The movie starts with a Hearst Metrotone newsreel from the 1930s that tells of the Iowa murder of Ellie Banner by Leonard Hill and Wesley Bruckner...
(1971) - Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? is a 1971 British horror-thriller film directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Ralph Richardson, Shelley Winters and Mark Lester...
(1971) - The Killing KindThe Killing Kind (1973 film)The Killing Kind is a 1973 film by Curtis Harrington. It is based on a screenplay by Tony Crechales, whose screenplay was revised by producer George Edwards, an associate producer on Harrington's previous film, What's the Matter with Helen?...
(1973) - The Cat Creature (1973) (TV)
- Killer BeesKiller Bees (1974 film)Killer Bees is a 1974 made for TV horror movie featuring Gloria Swanson that originally aired on ABC on February 26, 1974. The film, which was directed by Curtis Harrington, had a very small cast, including Kate Jackson, Craig Stevens, John Getz, and Edward Albert.-Plot:Madame von Bohlen , a...
(1974) (TV) - The Dead Don't Die (1975) (TV)
- RubyRuby (1977 film)Ruby is a 1977 horror drama film directed by Curtis Harrington, which was one of his last horror films. The film centres around a woman named Ruby Claire who is the mother of a deaf-mute girl...
(1977) - Devil Dog: The Hound of HellDevil Dog: The Hound of HellDevil Dog: The Hound of Hell is a 1978 television movie directed by Curtis Harrington. The story centers around a suburban family and the harrowing experiences they endure from a possessed dog they innocently adopt...
(1978) (TV) - Mata HariMata Hari (1985 film)Mata Hari is a 1985 film produced by Golan-Globus featuring Sylvia Kristel in the title role of exotic dancer Mata Hari, executed for espionage during World War I...
(1985) - Usher (2002) (short film)