Bert I. Gordon

Bert Ira Gordon (born September 24, 1922) is an American filmmaker and visual effects artist. He is best known for writing and directing science fiction and horror B-movies such as King Dinosaur (1955), The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), Earth vs. the Spider (1958), Village of the Giants (1965), and Empire of the Ants (1977).

Bert I. Gordon
Born	Bert Ira Gordon (1922-09-24) September 24, 1922 Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Film director
Spouse(s)	Flora Gordon a.k.a. Flora Lang (divorced 1979)
Children	3 including Susan Gordon (deceased)
Website	www.bertigordon.com

Most of Gordon's work is in the idiom of giant monster films, for which he used rear-projection to create the special effects. He was nicknamed "Mr. B.I.G." by Forrest J Ackerman, a reference to both his initials and his films' tendency to feature super-sized creatures.[1]

Career

Gordon was born in 1922 in Kenosha, Wisconsin[2][3][4] and began making home movies in 16mm after his aunt gave him a camera for his 13th birthday. He dropped out of college to join the Army Air Forces in World War II. After the war, he married and he and his wife began making television commercials. He later edited British feature films to fit half-hour time slots and became a production assistant on Racket Squad and camera man on Serpent Island (1954).[5]

In 1955, Gordon made his first feature, King Dinosaur, followed by The Cyclops in 1957, which co-starred Lon Chaney Jr. In 1957, he began his prolific association with American International Pictures, beginning with The Amazing Colossal Man and its 1958 sequel, War of the Colossal Beast. AIP also distributed some of his other late-50s opuses, such as Earth vs the Spider, Beginning of the End, and Attack of the Puppet People.

After filming Tormented (1960), he wrote, produced and directed The Boy and the Pirates, starring active and popular child star of the time Charles Herbert and Gordon's own daughter, Susan Gordon (who died in 2011 from thyroid cancer). All three appeared together in the celebrity lineup at the 2006 Monster Bash, held June 23–25 at the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Airport Four Points. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a Midnite Movies double DVD set with the rarely seen The Boy and the Pirates, and Crystalstone (1987), on June 27, 2006.[6]

Gordon holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[7]

Gordon has regularly appeared in the celebrity lineup of the annual Monster Bash convention held in the Pittsburgh region. In 2012, he hosted and moderated a screening of The Amazing Colossal Man in Dallas, Texas.[8]

Personal life

Gordon was married for more than 30 years to Flora Gordon, who went by the name Flora Lang in the latter part of her professional career; the two divorced in 1979. They had children Susan Gordon, who predeceased them, Carol Gordon, and Patricia Gordon.[9]

Filmography

As director-producer. Source for credits, years and primary titles:[10]

Year	Title	Comments
1954	Serpent Island	Producer, screenwriter, and co-director with Tom Gries[11]
1955	King Dinosaur
1957	The Cyclops	Also screenwriter, special effects
1957	The Amazing Colossal Man	Also screenwriter, special effects
1957	Beginning of the End	Also special effects
1958	Earth vs. the Spider	a.k.a. The Spider[12]
1958	War of the Colossal Beast	a.k.a. Terror Strikes. Also screenwriter, special effects
1958	Attack of the Puppet People	Also screenwriter
1960	Tormented	Also special effects
1960	The Boy and the Pirates
1962	The Magic Sword
1965	Village of the Giants	Based on "The Food of the Gods" by H. G. Wells. Also special effects
1966	Picture Mommy Dead	a.k.a. Color Mommy Dead[13]
1970	How to Succeed with Sex	Director and screenwriter only
1972	The Witching	a.k.a. Necromancy.[14] Also screenwriter.
1972	The Mad Bomber	a.k.a. Detective Geronimo, The Police Connection[15]
1976	The Food of the Gods	Also screenwriter. Based on "The Food of the Gods" by H. G. Wells
1977	Empire of the Ants	Also screenwriter, special effects.
1981	Burned at the Stake	a.k.a. The Coming.[16] Director only
1982	Let's Do It!	Director only
1985	The Big Bet	Also screenwriter
1990	Satan's Princess	a.k.a. Heat from Another Sun, Princess of Darkness, Malediction.[17] Also producer
2014	Secrets of a Psychopath	Also screenwriter

Of these titles, King Dinosaur, The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth Vs. The Spider, War of the Colossal Beast, The Magic Sword, Tormented, Beginning of the End and Village of the Giants were featured on the film-spoofing series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Later, Attack of the Puppet People was featured on the sister series to Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax, as well as a redux of The Magic Sword.

References

1. Don Glut (18 June 2007). I Was a Teenage Movie Maker: The Book. McFarland. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-7864-3041-3.
2. Dixon, Wheeler W. Lost in the Fifties: Recovering Phantom Hollywood. SIU Press. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-0-8093-8844-8.
3. Dennis Fischer (17 June 2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895–1998. McFarland. pp. 241–. ISBN 978-0-7864-8505-5.
4. "Bert I. Gordon". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
5. McGee, Mark (1996). Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures. McFarland & Co. p. 105.
6. kiddiematinee.com / The Boy and the Pirates Archived 2005-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
7. Bert I. Gordon from Gary Westfahl Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Films
8. Dallas! "AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN" in 35mm and meet fantasy film legend Bert I. Gordon tonight! Archived September 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
9. Barnes, Mike (January 28, 2016). "Flora Gordon, Wife of Sci-Fi Director Bert I. Gordon, Dies at 90". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
10. "Bert I. Gordon Filmography". AllMovie.com. Retrieved February 15, 2016. Note: Source erroneously lists Gordon as co-screenwriter of The One and Only, solely written by Steve Gordon.
11. Serpent Island Cast & Crew at AllMovie.com. Retrieved on February 15, 2016.
12. Earth vs. the Spider at AllMovie.com. Retrieved on February 15, 2016.
13. Picture Mommy Dead at AllMovie.com. Retrieved on February 15, 2016.
14. The Witches Releases at AllMovie.com. Retrieved on February 15, 2016.
15. The Mad Bomber (1972) at AllMovie.com. Retrieved on February 15, 2016.
16. Burned at the Stake at AllMovie.com. Retrieved on February 15, 2016.
17. Variety Television Reviews, Vol. 17 (1991-92). Routledge. 1994. p. 19, Title Index. ISBN 978-0824037963.

External links

• Bert I. Gordon on IMDb