Saul David (producer)
Encyclopedia
Early life
Born in Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, he won an art competition and received a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
, which he attended from 1937 to 1940. After graduation he worked at a radio station in York, Pennsylvania
York, Pennsylvania
York, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...
and on a newspaper in Port Huron
Port Huron
Port Huron is the name of a city and a township in St. Clair County, Michigan. See:* Port Huron, Michigan* Port Huron Township, MichiganSee also:* Port Huron Statement...
, Michigan. During World War II, David enlisted in the US Army where he wrote for Yank, the Army Weekly
Yank, the Army Weekly
Yank, the Army Weekly was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II. The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White, who had worked on Stars and Stripes during World War I. He proposed the idea to the Army in early 1942, and accepted a commission as Lieutenant...
and the Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
in North Africa and Europe.
Bantam Books
From 1950 to 1960 David worked at Bantam, starting as a publisher's readerPublisher's reader
A publisher's reader or first reader is a person paid by a publisher or book club to read manuscripts from the slush pile, and to advise their employers as to quality and marketability of the work. They can exercise considerable influence over the offerings of the publishers for whom they worked,...
then advancing to editorial director and editor in chief. He had known Bantam's president Oscar Dystel during their time working on Stars and Stripes in Cairo. Whilst at Bantam David lured Ross MacDonald
Ross MacDonald
David Ross MacDonald is a Canadian sailor. He began sailing at the age of 11....
away from Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
and hired artist James Avati
James Avati
James Avati was an American illustrator and paperback cover artist. His father was a professional photographer in New York City. His mother died shortly after Jim's birth. He was raised by his aunt and eventually, his father married her...
. Rather than reprint several hardcover Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
authors, David thought of hiring and promoting one author to write three original books for Bantam every year. Out of a shortlist of five authors, David chose Louis L'Amour
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
who had been disillusioned with Fawcett
Fawcett
Fawcett may refer to:*Fawcett City, a fictional DC Comics city*Fawcett Comics*Fawcett Publications*Fawcett Society*Fawcett Stadium*Fawcett Street, Sunderland*Fawcett...
publishing.
Hollywood
David left Bantam to try his luck in Hollywood working for Columbia PicturesColumbia 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...
and Warner Brothers. Whilst at Warners David acquired Helen Gurley Brown
Helen Gurley Brown
Helen Gurley Brown , is an author, publisher, and businesswoman. She was editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for 32 years.-Personal life and career:...
's book Sex and the Single Girl
Sex and the Single Girl
Sex and the Single Girl was written in 1962 by Helen Gurley Brown, as an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before or without marriage...
for the studio. When one studio executive told him the book had no plot, David replied "I told you that a hundred thousand dollars ago"; the studio had purchased a title, not a plot.
He became a producer at 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
with the World War II prisoner of war adventure Von Ryan's Express
Von Ryan's Express
Von Ryan's Express is a 1965 World War II adventure film starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard, based on a novel by David Westheimer, and directed by Mark Robson.-Plot:...
filmed on location in Italy with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and a strong cast. He then produced three spy-fi
Spy-fi
-Definition and characteristics:It often uses a secret agent or superspy whose mission is a showcase of science fiction elements such as technology and ideas used for extortion, plots for world domination or world destruction, futuristic weapons, gadgets and fast vehicles that can travel on land,...
films, Our Man Flint
Our Man Flint
Our Man Flint is a 1966 action film that parodies of James Bond genre. The film was directed by Daniel Mann, written by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr, and starring James Coburn as master spy Derek Flint...
, Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby.Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it....
, and In Like Flint
In Like Flint
In Like Flint is a 1967 film directed by Gordon Douglas, the sequel to the parody spy film Our Man Flint . It posits an international feminist conspiracy to depose the ruling American patriarchy with a feminist matriarchy. To achieve and establish it, they kidnap and replace the U.S. President,...
.
The plot of In Like Flint concerns a missing three minutes in the life of the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. Ironically, when Fox edited out three minutes of In Like Flint that added more depth to the film, David left the studio. Years later David was enraged when watching ten to fifteen minutes cut out of Our Man Flint during a television showing that "was not so much reedited as lobotomised into senselessness". He wrote to California Senator George Murphy
George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy was an American dancer, actor, and politician.-Life and career:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and Nora Long. He was educated at Peddie School, Trinity-Pawling School, and...
to say that as a publisher had to inform readers they were buying and reading an abridged works so should television stations inform their viewers they were watching abridged films.
David produced Skullduggery
Skullduggery (film)
Skullduggery is a 1970 science fiction film starring Burt Reynolds, Susan Clark and Edward Fox.The screenplay is based on the French novel Les Animaux dénaturés by Jean Bruller.-Plot:...
originally for ABC Pictures, but after a disagreement the film and David went to 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...
. Though he announced a busy production schedule of five films, none were made.
Still interested in science fiction David recalled the book Logan's Run
Logan's Run
Logan's Run is a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, it depicts a dystopic ageist future society in which both population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by requiring the death of everyone reaching a particular age...
and produced the film. MGM hired David to produce a television version of the film but then fired him. He died of congestive heart failure
Congestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
in Culver City, California.
Filmography
- Von Ryan's ExpressVon Ryan's ExpressVon Ryan's Express is a 1965 World War II adventure film starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard, based on a novel by David Westheimer, and directed by Mark Robson.-Plot:...
(1964) - Our Man FlintOur Man FlintOur Man Flint is a 1966 action film that parodies of James Bond genre. The film was directed by Daniel Mann, written by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr, and starring James Coburn as master spy Derek Flint...
(1965) - Fantastic VoyageFantastic VoyageFantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby.Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it....
(1966) - In Like FlintIn Like FlintIn Like Flint is a 1967 film directed by Gordon Douglas, the sequel to the parody spy film Our Man Flint . It posits an international feminist conspiracy to depose the ruling American patriarchy with a feminist matriarchy. To achieve and establish it, they kidnap and replace the U.S. President,...
(1967) - SkullduggerySkullduggery (film)Skullduggery is a 1970 science fiction film starring Burt Reynolds, Susan Clark and Edward Fox.The screenplay is based on the French novel Les Animaux dénaturés by Jean Bruller.-Plot:...
(1970) - Logan's Run (1976)