American International Pictures

American International Pictures
Industry Filmed entertainment
Fate Acquired by Filmways
Successor Filmways
Founded 1954
Defunct 1980
Headquarters Los Angeles, California
Key people
James H. Nicholson, Samuel Z. Arkoff

American International Pictures (AIP) was a film production company formed in April 2, 1954 from American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer. It was dedicated to releasing independently produced, low-budget films packaged as double features, primarily of interest to the teenagers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Nicholson and Arkoff formed ARC in 1954,[1] and their first release was The Fast and the Furious.

AIP personnel

Nicholson and Arkoff served as executive producers while Roger Corman and Alex Gordon were the principal film producers and, sometimes, directors. Writer Charles B. Griffith wrote many of the early films, along with Arkoff's brother-in-law, Lou Rusoff, who later produced many of the films he had written. Other writers included Ray Russell, Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. Floyd Crosby, A.S.C. famous for his camera work on a number of exotic documentaries and the Oscar winner, High Noon, was chief cinematographer. His innovative use of surreal color and odd lenses and angles gave AIP films a signature look. The early rubber monster suits and miniatures of Paul Blaisdell were used in AIP's science fiction films. The company also hired Les Baxter[2] and Ronald Stein to compose many of its film scores.

In the 1950s the company had a number of actors under contract, including John Ashley, Fay Spain and Steve Terrell.

Emphasis on teenagers

When many of ARC/AIP's first releases failed to earn a profit, Arkoff quizzed film exhibitors who told him of the value of the teenage market as adults were watching television.[3][4] AIP stopped making Westerns with Arkoff explaining: "To compete with television westerns you have to have color, big stars and $2,000,000".[5]:126

AIP was the first company to use focus groups,[6] polling American teenagers about what they would like to see and using their responses to determine titles, stars, and story content. AIP would question their exhibitors (who often provided 20% of AIP's financing[5]:35) what they thought of the success of a title, then would have a writer create a script for it.[5]:156 A sequence of tasks in a typical production involved creating a great title, getting an artist such as Albert Kallis who supervised all AIP artwork from 1955–73[7] to create a dynamic, eye-catching poster, then raising the cash, and finally writing and casting the film.

The ARKOFF formula

Samuel Z. Arkoff related his tried-and-true "ARKOFF formula" for producing a successful low-budget movie years later, during a 1980s talk show appearance. His ideals for a movie included:

Later the AIP publicity department devised a strategy called "The Peter Pan Syndrome":

a) a younger child will watch anything an older child will watch;
b) an older child will not watch anything a younger child will watch;
c) a girl will watch anything a boy will watch
d) a boy will not watch anything a girl will watch;
therefore-to catch your greatest audience you zero in on the 19-year old male.[8]

The films of the 1950s

Having recognized that other filmmakers were ignoring the lucrative teenage drive-in market, AIP focused on producing scores of low-budget, youth-oriented films released as double features. They exploited the emerging juvenile delinquent genre with movies like Daddy-O, High School Hellcats, Female Jungle, Reform School Girl, Runaway Daughters, and Girls in Prison.

Many of AIP's "wild youth" features also catered to the teenage obsession with cars and drag racing in films such as Hot Rod Gang, Hot Rod Girl (with Chuck Connors), Roadracers, Dragstrip Girl, and the 1959 horror-hybrid Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow – the sequel to 1958's Hot Rod Gang.

Movies centered on rock 'n roll music such as Shake, Rattle & Rock! and Rock All Night were another untapped area mined by AIP. But one of their most unusual innovations was the creation of teen-themed horror films with eye-catching titles like: I Was a Teenage Werewolf (starring Michael Landon), I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, and Roger Corman's science fiction film Teenage Cave Man, with Robert Vaughn.

AIP also capitalized on the popularity of war films with releases such as 1958's Tank Battalion, starring Edward G. Robinson, Jr., backstopped by a bevy of female nurses and barmaids in case the combat scenes failed to interest moviegoers. Made as usual on a very tight budget, the costs of casting meant that the producer could only afford the rental of a single tank for the so-called 'Tank Battalion', and the action scenes were written with this limitation in mind, focusing primarily on the tank's crew and their love interests.

Science fiction and horror films, many directed by Roger Corman and written by Lou Rusoff, were a staple at AIP with titles like It Conquered the World (with Peter Graves and Lee Van Cleef), The She Creature, and War of the Colossal Beast.

AIP's 1960s output

Based in rented office space at the Chaplin Studios, during the early 1960s AIP concentrated on horror films inspired by the Poe cycle. In 1962 Arkoff said AIP were in a position similar to Columbia Pictures just before they made Submarine and Dirigible:

Before that they were on poverty row. Our better position will enable us to obtain more important writers, perhaps more important producers as well. We're a privately owned company at the moment but perhaps within two or three years we will become a public company.[9]

Beginning with 1963's Beach Party, AIP created a new genre of beach party films featuring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. The original idea and the first script were Lou Rusoff's. The highly successful and often imitated series ended in 1966 with the 7th film, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Many actors from the beach films also appeared in AIP's spy-spoofs such as Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) and car racing sagas like Fireball 500 (1966) and Thunder Alley. During this time AIP also produced or distributed most of Roger Corman's famous horror B movies, including such films as X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes, The Raven, and The Terror.

In 1966, the studio released The Wild Angels starring Peter Fonda, based loosely on the real-life exploits of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. This film ushered in AIP's most successful year and kicked off a subgenre of motorcycle gang films that lasted almost ten years and included Devil's Angels, The Glory Stompers with Dennis Hopper and The Born Losers—the film that introduced the Billy Jack character.

In 1968 AIP launched a $22 million film program.[10] The psychedelic and hippie scenes of the late '60s were also exploited with films like The Trip, also with Peter Fonda, Riot on Sunset Strip, Wild in the Streets, Maryjane, Gas-s-s-s, and Psych-Out with Jack Nicholson. These "social protest" films were also highly successful. Horror movies also enjoyed a revival of popularity in the late 60s.[11]

American International International

In the United Kingdom, AIP struck up a film making partnership with Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy's Anglo-Amalgamated.

On a trip to Italy, Arkoff met Fulvio Lucisano, an Italian screenwriter and producer who eventually headed Italian International Film,[12] which co-produced 25 films in Italy for AIP.[13] The "International" in American International Pictures presumably lived up to its name. Due to importing completed productions from other foreign countries being cheaper and more simpilistic than producing their own in-house studio films in America, AIP had released many giallo, sword and sandal (or "peplum)", Eurospy and Macaroni Combat war films featuring many American stars and Italian stars such as the comedy team of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia. However, AIP released no spaghetti westerns, perhaps recalling their failure of Westerns in the 1950s. Many of these films were edited, rewritten with different (dubbed English) dialogue, usually by Arkoff's nephew Ted Rusoff, and sometimes rescored by Les Baxter.

AIP through Henry G. Saperstein is well known for being the major U.S. distributor for Toho's Godzilla and Daiei's Gamera (kaiju) movies of the '60s and '70s. AIP also distributed other Japanese science fiction movies like Frankenstein Conquers the World, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet, and the South Korean production Yonggary, Monster from the Deep as well as two Japanese animated features from Toei Animation, Alakazam the Great and Jack and the Witch. AIP also released a pair of Japanese spy thrillers redubbed as a comedy co-written by Woody Allen called What's Up Tiger Lily?.[14]

The studio also released edited and English-dubbed versions of several Eastern Bloc science fiction films, that had the dialogue rewritten for the American market and in some cases had additional scenes filmed with American and British actors. These include the Soviet film Planeta Bur (Planet of Storms) which was released by AIP in two different English-dubbed versions, as Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women and the highly regarded 1963 Czech science fiction film Ikarie XB-1, which was retitled Voyage to the End of the Universe.

The Corman-Poe cycle

In the early 1960s, AIP gained some kudos by combining Roger Corman, Vincent Price and the stories of Edgar Allan Poe into a series of visually impressive horror films, with scripts by Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Ray Russell, R. Wright Campbell and Robert Towne. This series of movies made AIP an American counterpart to the British studio Hammer Films and its famous Hammer Horror line featuring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

The original idea, usually credited to Corman and Lou Rusoff, was to take Poe's story "The Fall of the House of Usher", which had both a high name-recognition value and the merit of being in the public domain, and thus royalty-free, and expand it into a feature film. Corman convinced the studio to give him a larger budget than the typical AIP film so he could film the movie in widescreen and color, and use it to create lavish sets as well.[15] The success of House of Usher led AIP to finance further films based on Poe's stories. The sets and special effects were often reused in subsequent movies (for example, the burning roof of the Usher mansion reappears in most of the other films as stock footage) making the series quite cost-effective. All the films in the series were directed by Roger Corman, and they all starred Price except The Premature Burial, which featured Ray Milland in the lead. It was originally produced for another studio, but AIP acquired the rights to it.[16]

As the series progressed, Corman made attempts to change the formula. Later films added more humor to the stories, especially The Raven, which takes Poe's poem as an inspiration and develops it into an all-out farce starring Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre; Karloff had starred in a 1935 film with the same title. Corman also adapted H. P. Lovecraft's short novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward in an attempt to get away from Poe, but AIP changed the title to that of an obscure Poe poem, The Haunted Palace, and marketed it as yet another movie in the series. The penultimate film in the series, The Masque of the Red Death, was filmed in England with an unusually long schedule for Corman and AIP. The film, inspired by Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, looks much more opulent than the rest of the series. Many critics agree that this film is the best in the "Poe Cycle."

Although Corman and Lou Rusoff are generally credited with coming up with the idea for the Poe series, in an interview on the Anchor Bay DVD of Mario Bava's Black Sabbath, Mark Damon claims that he first suggested the idea to Corman. Damon also says that Corman let him direct The Pit and the Pendulum uncredited. Corman's commentary for Pit mentions nothing of this and all existing production stills of the film show Corman directing.

List of Corman-Poe films

Of eight films, seven feature stories that are actually based on the works of Poe.

  1. House of Usher (1960) (based on the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher")
  2. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) (based on the short story of the same name)
  3. The Premature Burial (1962) (based on the short story of the same name)
  4. Tales of Terror (1962) (based on the short stories "Morella", "The Black Cat", "The Cask of Amontillado", and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar")
  5. The Raven (1963) (based on the poem of the same name)
  6. The Haunted Palace (1963) (based on H.P. Lovecraft's novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, using the title from Poe's 1839 poem)
  7. The Masque of the Red Death (1964) (based on the short story of the same name with another Poe short story, "Hop-Frog", used as a sub-plot.)
  8. The Tomb of Ligeia (1965) (based on the short story "Ligeia")

Occasionally, Corman's 1963 film The Terror (produced immediately after The Raven) is recognized as being part of the Corman-Poe cycle, although the film's story and title are not based on any literary work.

AIP-TV

In 1964, AIP became one of the last film studios to start its own television production company, American International Productions Television (a.k.a. American International Television or AIP-TV).[17] AIP-TV at first released many of their 1950s films to American television stations, then filmed unsuccessful television pilots for Beach Party and Sergeant Deadhead. The company then made several colour horror/science fiction television movies by Larry Buchanan that were remakes of black-and-white AIP films, and sold packages of many dubbed European, Japanese, and Mexican films produced by K. Gordon Murray and foreign-made live-action and animated TV series (including Prince Planet). The best known animated series AIP-TV distributed was Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt.

In order to allay the fears of cinema owners who feared current releases would soon end up being shown on television, AIP issued a statement retroactive to 1963 that the company would not release any of their films to television until five years after cinema release unless the film had not made back its original negative costs.[18] AIP-TV also filmed specials of promotion of AIP films such as The Wild Weird World of Dr. Goldfoot (1965, ABC) and An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1972, syndication), both with Vincent Price.

In 1978, AIP-TV distributed the pop music series Twiggy's Jukebox. For several years around this time, AIP-TV also distributed several British TV series, including The Avengers, to U.S. stations.

AIP Records

AIP started their own record label, American International Records in 1959[19] to release tunes used in their movies. There were a number of soundtrack albums as well.[20]

AIP Records was once distributed by MGM Records,[21] the record label owned by AIP's successor-in-interest MGM.

Later years

In 1969 AIP went public to raise extra capital, issuing 300,000 shares.[22][23]

In 1970 they entered into an agreement with Commonwealth United Productions to issue their films.[24] In 1971 they released 31 films, their greatest number to date, and were seen as one of the most stable companies in Hollywood.[25] Despite their exploitation roots they did not concentrate on X or R rated filmmaking during this period.[26]

Resignation of Nicholson

In 1972 James H. Nicholson resigned from AIP to set up his own production company working out of 20th Century Fox, called Academy Pictures Corporation; its first and only release was The Legend of Hell House.[27][28] AIP bought out over 100,000 of Nicholson's shares.[29] He died shortly after of a brain tumor.[30]

Arkoff alone

Arkoff continued on at AIP as president until the end of the decade. Heads of production during the 1970s included Larry Gordon[31] and Jere Henshaw.

By the early 1970s AIP felt the horror movie cycle was in decline, and so switched to other genres, such as kung fu and gangsters.[32] Notably they produced some of that decade's blaxploitation films like Blacula, and Foxy Brown. In a throwback to the old "studio days", the company is credited with making Pam Grier a household name, as the majority of her early '70s films were made under contract to American International.

In the mid to late 1970s, AIP began to produce more mainstream films such as Bunny O'Hare, Cooley High, The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday, The Amityville Horror, Love at First Bite, Meteor, Force 10 from Navarone, Shout at the Devil, The Island of Dr. Moreau and C.H.O.M.P.S.[33] The increased spending on these projects, though they did make some money, contributed to the company's downfall. In the meantime, the studio imported and released its final foreign film, an Australian film, Mad Max, dubbed into American English.

James Nicholson's first wife Sylvia was still a major shareholder of the company. She sued AIP for mismanagement but this was resolved in 1978 when AIP bought out her shares.[34]

Merger with Filmways

By the late 1970s costs of making movies continued to rise, AIP's tactic of moving into bigger budgeted quality pictures was not paying off at the box office, and Arkoff began to think of merging the company. "We've been the Woolworths of the movie business but Woolworths is being out priced," said Arkoff.[35] Talks began with Filmways Incorporated. Negotiations stalled for a while[36] but resumed a number of months later.[37] In 1979 AIP was sold to Filmways, Inc. for $30 million and became a subsidiary production unit thereof renamed Filmways Pictures in 1980.[38][39]

Arkoff was unhappy with the direction of the company and resigned to set up his own production company, receiving a pay out worth $1.4 million.[40][41]

AIP-TV was absorbed as the wholly owned program syndication arm of Filmways Television. Filmways was later bought by Orion Pictures Company in 1982 and Filmways was later renamed to Orion Pictures Corporation, but retained the distribution arm. This allowed Orion to establish its own distribution after utilizing Warner Bros. for distribution which still has distribution rights to Orion films Warner distributed. Today, a majority of the AIP library is owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's subsidiary Orion Pictures Corporation. The American International name is still a registered trademark owned by MGM's Orion Pictures unit.[42][43]

List of American International Pictures films

1950s

Release Date Title Notes
as American Releasing Corporation
1955 Operation Malaya
February 15, 1955 The Fast and the Furious
April 15, 1955 Five Guns West
May 15, 1955 Outlaw Treasure
June 15, 1955 The Beast with a Million Eyes
September 15, 1955 Apache Woman
December 1955 Day the World Ended
December 1955 The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues
June 15, 1956 The Oklahoma Woman
June 15, 1956 'Female Jungle
June 1956 Gunslinger
as American International Pictures
July 15, 1956 It Conquered the World
July 1956 Girls in Prison
July 1956 Hot Rod Girl
August 1956 The She Creature
September 25, 1956 Flesh and the Spur
November 1956 Runaway Daughters
November 1956 Shake, Rattle & Rock!
1957 The Astounding She-Monster
January 1957 Naked Paradise
March 1, 1957 Voodoo Woman
April 24, 1957 Dragstrip Girl
April 1957 Rock All Night
March 1957 The Undead
June 19, 1957 I Was a Teenage Werewolf
June 1957 Invasion of the Saucer Men
August 1957 Naked Africa
August 1957 Reform School Girl
August 1957 The Tommy Steele Story
August 1957 The White Huntress
September 1957 Cat Girl
October 22, 1957 Motorcycle Gang
October 25, 1957 The Amazing Colossal Man
October 1957 Sorority Girl
November 23, 1957 I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
November 1957 Blood of Dracula
December 1957 The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent
January 1958 The Screaming Skull
January 1958 Terror from the Year 5000
February 1958 Jet Attack
February 1958 Suicide Battalion
March 1958 The Cool and the Crazy
March 1958 Daddy-O
March 1958 Dragstrip Riot
April 1958 Attack of the Puppet People
May 28, 1958 The Bonnie Parker Story
May 1958 Machine-Gun Kelly
June 1958 High School Hellcats
June 1958 Hot Rod Gang
July 1, 1958 How to Make a Monster
July 30, 1958 War of the Colossal Beast
July 1958 Hell Squad
July 1958 Tank Battalion
July 1958 Teenage Cave Man
August 1958 Night of the Blood Beast
August 1958 She Gods of Shark Reef
September 1958 The Brain Eaters
September 1958 Earth vs. the Spider
December 1958 Submarine Seahawk
February 1959 Paratroop Command
March 1959 Operation Dames
March 1959 Roadracers
March 1959 Tank Commandos
April 29, 1959 The Headless Ghost
April 29, 1959 Horrors of the Black Museum
July 1959 Diary of a High School Bride
July 1959 Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow
September 23, 1959 Sheba and the Gladiator
October 21, 1959 A Bucket of Blood
October 1959 Attack of the Giant Leeches
November 23, 1959 The Angry Red Planet
November 1959 Goliath and the Barbarians

1960s

Release Date Title Notes
June 22, 1960 House of Usher
June 1960 The Jailbreakers
June 1960 Why Must I Die?
July 1960 The Amazing Transparent Man
July 1960 Beyond the Time Barrier
August 31, 1960 Circus of Horrors
October 1960 The Indian Tomb
October 1960 The Tiger of Eschnapur
November 1960 Goliath and the Dragon
February 15, 1961 Black Sunday
March 22, 1961 The Hand
March 22, 1961 Konga
April 19, 1961 La Dolce Vita
April 1961 Beware of Children
May 3, 1961 The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
May 1961 Master of the World
July 14, 1961 Alakazam the Great
August 12, 1961 The Pit and the Pendulum
December 6, 1961 Portrait of a Sinner
December 7, 1961 Five Minutes to Live
December 12, 1961 The Continental Twist
December 13, 1961 Assignment Outer Space
December 13, 1961 The Phantom Planet
December 28, 1961 Flight of the Lost Balloon
December 1961 Guns of the Black Witch
1962 Battle Beyond the Sun
1962 A House of Sand
1962 Duel of Fire
March 7, 1962 The Premature Burial
March 10, 1962 Journey to the Seventh Planet
April 25, 1962 Burn, Witch, Burn
May 20, 1962 Invasion of the Star Creatures
June 1962 The Prisoner of the Iron Mask
July 4, 1962 Tales of Terror
July 5, 1962 Panic in Year Zero!
August 10, 1962 The Brain That Wouldn't Die
August 1962 Marco Polo
September 1962 White Slave Ship
November 18, 1962 A Story of David
December 1962 Maciste at the Court of the Great Khan
January 20, 1963 Reptilicus
January 25, 1963 The Raven
March 3, 1963 California
March 26, 1963 Operation Bikini
April 24, 1963 Free, White and 21
May 1, 1963 The Mind Benders
June 6, 1963 Night Tide
June 12, 1963 Erik the Conqueror
June 17, 1963 The Terror
August 7, 1963 Beach Party
August 28, 1963 The Haunted Palace
September 18, 1963 X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes
September 25, 1963 Dementia 13
December 18, 1963 Samson and the Slave Queen
December 25, 1963 Goliath and the Sins of Babylon
1964 Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon
1964 Swingers' Paradise
January 22, 1964 The Comedy of Terrors
January 22, 1964 Pyro... The Thing Without a Face
March 8, 1964 The Last Man on Earth
March 12, 1964 Summer Holiday
March 25, 1964 Muscle Beach Party
March 1964 Under Age
April 1, 1964 Commando
April 1, 1964 Torpedo Bay
April 1964 Unearthly Stranger
May 6, 1964 Black Sabbath
May 20, 1964 The Evil Eye
June 24, 1964 The Masque of the Red Death
June 1964 Some People
July 22, 1964 Bikini Beach
September 17, 1964 Godzilla vs. the Thing
September 1964 Diary of a Bachelor
October 29, 1964 The Time Travelers
November 11, 1964 Pajama Party
November 25, 1964 Navajo Run
November 25, 1964 Voyage to the End of the Universe
December 29, 1964 T.A.M.I. Show
1965 The Eye Creatures
January 20, 1965 The Tomb of Ligeia
January 27, 1965 Operation Snafu
March 3, 1965 The Lost World of Sinbad
March 11, 1965 Atragon
March 1965 Rome Against Rome
April 14, 1965 Beach Blanket Bingo
April 20, 1965 The Pawnbroker
April 28, 1965 The Fool Killer
April 1965 I tabú
May 19, 1965 Go Go Mania
May 26, 1965 War-Gods of the Deep
June 30, 1965 Ski Party
July 8, 1966 Frankenstein Conquers the World
July 14, 1965 How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
August 1, 1965 Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
August 18, 1965 Sergeant Deadhead
October 27, 1965 Die, Monster, Die!
October 27, 1965 Planet of the Vampires
November 6, 1965 Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
November 30, 1965 King & Country
1966 Zontar, the Thing from Venus
1966 Curse of the Swamp Creature
January 12, 1966 Secret Agent Fireball
January 1966 Conquered City
January 1966 Spy in Your Eye
March 1966 Queen of Blood
March 2, 1966 Blood Bath
April 12, 1966 The Girl-Getters
April 13, 1966 The Dirty Game
April 1966 Man from Cocody
April 1966 What's Up, Tiger Lily?
April 1966 The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
May 1966 The Great Spy Chase
June 7, 1966 Fireball 500
July 1966 Tarzan and the Valley of Gold
July 20, 1966 The Wild Angels
November 9, 1966 Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs
December 28, 1966 Trunk to Cairo
1967 Mars Needs Women
1967 In the Year 2889
1967 Creature of Destruction
January 18, 1967 War Italian Style
March 18, 1967 Riot on Sunset Strip
March 22, 1967 Thunder Alley
April 1967 Devil's Angels
May 17, 1967 The Million Eyes of Sumuru
August 23, 1967 The Trip
November 22, 1967 The Glory Stompers
1968 Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women
January 18, 1968 The Born Losers
January 24, 1968 Maryjane
May 1968 The Mini-Skirt Mob
May 1968 The Savage Seven
May 15, 1968 Witchfinder General
May 29, 1968 Wild in the Streets
September 22, 1968 Psych-Out
November 1968 Killers Three
December 20, 1968 Three in the Attic
1969 'It's Alive!'
March 18, 1969 The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots
April 16, 1969 Hell's Belles
May 1969 God Forgives... I Don't!
June 11, 1969 The Oblong Box
July 23, 1969 Spirits of the Dead
August 19, 1969 Angel, Angel, Down We Go
August 27, 1969 De Sade
September 8, 1969 The Honeymoon Killers
September 10, 1969 Hell's Angels '69

1970s

Release Date Title Notes
1970 Strawberries Need Rain
1970 Pacific Vibrations
January 1970 The Savage Wild
January 1970 Scream and Scream Again
January 14, 1970 The Dunwich Horror
March 24, 1970 Bloody Mama
April 15, 1970 The Haunted House of Horror
May 8, 1970 Lola
June 1970 A Bullet for Pretty Boy
June 10, 1970 Count Yorga, Vampire
July 29, 1970 Cry of the Banshee
September 2, 1970 Angel Unchained
September 9, 1970 Venus in Furs
October 22, 1970 The Vampire Lovers
February 17, 1971 Gas-s-s-s
February 18, 1971 Wuthering Heights
March 17, 1971 Blood and Lace
April 22, 1971 The Hard Ride
April 28, 1971 The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant
May 18, 1971 The Abominable Dr. Phibes
August 20, 1971 Swedish Fly Girls
September 29, 1971 Chrome and Hot Leather
October 6, 1971 Murders in the Rue Morgue
October 13, 1971 A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
October 18, 1971 Bunny O'Hare
October 27, 1971 Some of My Best Friends Are...
October 1971 1,000 Convicts and a Woman
December 22, 1971 Kidnapped
January 19, 1972 Together
February 2, 1972 The Return of Count Yorga
February 1972 Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster
March 10, 1972 Frogs
March 15, 1972 Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?
April 1972 Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
May 17, 1972 Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
May 1972 Pickup on 101
Wild in the Sky
The Bloody Judge
June 14, 1972 Boxcar Bertha
July 19, 1972 The Thing with Two Heads
July 21, 1972 F.T.A.
July 1972 Dr. Phibes Rises Again
August 16, 1972 Slaughter
August 25, 1972 Blacula
August 1972 Deathmaster
The Sandpit Generals
September 1972 Tam-Lin
October 10, 1972 Baron Blood
November 10, 1972 Unholy Rollers
November 22, 1972 Prison Girls
January 17, 1973 The Dirt Gang
January 19, 1973 Black Mama White Mama
January 1973 Manson
February 7, 1973 Black Caesar
March 27, 1973 Sisters
April 1973 Cannibal Girls
May 4, 1973 Deep Thrust
June 13, 1973 Coffy
June 27, 1973 Scream, Blacula, Scream
June 1973 Little Cigars
July 20, 1973 Dillinger
August 8, 1973 Heavy Traffic
August 31, 1973 Slaughter's Big Rip-Off
September 1973 Death Line
October 31, 1973 The Italian Connection
October 1973 The Screaming Tiger
November 21, 1973 Battle of the Amazons
December 1973 Hell Up in Harlem
January 30, 1974 The Bat People
February 13, 1974 Bamboo Gods and Iron Men
February 1974 Secret Life of a Schoolgirl Wife
March 6, 1974 Deranged
March 20, 1974 Sugar Hill
April 5, 1974 Foxy Brown
May 15, 1974 Truck Stop Women
May 22, 1974 Madhouse
June 5, 1974 Thriller: A Cruel Picture
Dirty O'Neil
June 26, 1974 The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat
Truck Turner
July 17, 1974 Golden Needles
July 1974 Savage Sisters
August 8, 1974 Macon County Line
August 18, 1974 Act of Vengeance
October 1974 Hangup
November 22, 1974 Sunday in the Country
December 25, 1974 Abby
1975 Vampira
February 1975 Super Stooges vs the Wonder Women
March 26, 1975 Sheba, Baby
March 1975 House of Whipcord
War Goddess
The Wild Party
April 25, 1975 The Reincarnation of Peter Proud
May 21, 1975 Cornbread, Earl and Me
The Wild McCullochs
May 1975 What Have You Done to Solange?
June 11, 1975 Murph the Surf
June 25, 1975 Cooley High
July 2, 1975 Bucktown
July 31, 1975 Hennessy
August 13, 1975 The Land That Time Forgot
September 3, 1975 Return to Macon County
September 28, 1975 Walking Tall Part 2
December 17, 1975 Sixpack Annie
December 25, 1975 Friday Foster
January 14, 1976 Killer Force
March 1976 Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw
One Summer Love
April 21, 1976 Crime and Passion
May 1976 Annie
June 18, 1976 The Food of the Gods
June 23, 1976 The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday
I Don't Want to Be Born
July 9, 1976 A Small Town in Texas
July 30, 1976 Squirm
July 1976 At the Earth's Core
Special Delivery
August 13, 1976 Futureworld
August 25, 1976 J.D.'s Revenge
September 17, 1976 Street People
October 7, 1976 A Matter of Time
October 8, 1976 Scorchy
November 24, 1976 Shout at the Devil
December 24, 1976 The Monkey Hustle
The Town That Dreaded Sundown
December 1976 Escape from Angola
January 23, 1977 The Day That Shook the World
February 2, 1977 Chatterbox
February 11, 1977 Shadows in an Empty Room
March 4, 1977 Death Weekend
April 1, 1977 Breaker! Breaker!
June 15, 1977 Tentacles
June 29, 1977 Empire of the Ants
July 6, 1977 The People That Time Forgot
July 13, 1977 The Island of Dr. Moreau
August 10, 1977 The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
August 17, 1977 Joyride
August 31, 1977 Walking Tall: Final Chapter
October 14, 1977 Rolling Thunder
December 28, 1977 Grayeagle
December 1977 The Incredible Melting Man
The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover
February 1978 Record City
March 1978 Last Cannibal World
April 19, 1978 Holocaust 2000
May 13, 1978 Jennifer
May 24, 1978 Youngblood
May 26, 1978 Here Come the Tigers
High-Ballin'
May 1978 Our Winning Season
June 6, 1978 Cracking Up
June 22, 1978 Matilda
June 1978 Who Can Kill a Child?
July 14, 1978 Mean Dog Blues
October 5, 1978 The Norsemen
December 8, 1978 Force 10 from Navarone
April 18, 1979 The Evictors
April 27, 1979 Love at First Bite
June 1, 1979 Sunnyside
July 27, 1979 The Amityville Horror
September 14, 1979 California Dreaming
September 1979 Seven
October 5, 1979 Something Short of Paradise
October 19, 1979 Meteor
November 1979 Jaguar Lives!
December 21, 1979 C.H.O.M.P.S.

1980s

Release Date Title Notes
February 15, 1980 Mad Max
March 14, 1980 Defiance
March 14, 1980 The Visitor
March 28, 1980 Nothing Personal
May 1, 1980 Gorp
July 11, 1980 How to Beat the High Cost of Living

Unmade Films

The following films were announced for production by AIP but never made:

Financial earnings

Notes

  1. Johnson, John Cheap Tricks and Class Acts, 1996, McFarland, p.265
  2. http://www.artistinterviews.eu/?page_id=54&parent_id=22
  3. Shocker Pioneers Tell How to Make Monsters: Want to Make a Monster? Experts Tell How It's Done Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] September 17, 1958: E1.
  4. Samuel Z Arkoff Biography, Fancast.
  5. 1 2 3 Doherty, Thomas (1988), Teenagers and Teenpics, Unwin-Hyman.
  6. Booker, M. Keith. Historical dictionary of American cinema. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-8108-7192-0.
  7. Albert Kallis – bio, Learn about movie posters.
  8. Bean, Robin and Austen, David U.S.A. Confidential p.215 Films and Filming November 1968 quoted in p.157 Doherty, Thomas Teenagers and Teenpics Unwin-Hyman 1988
  9. Who Needs High Salaried Stars? Horrors! Film Makers Find Audiences Prefer Action Alpert, Don. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 15 July 1962: A8.
  10. AIP Reveals Its 1968 Film Program Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 13 Jan 1968: b7.
  11. Bye, Bye, Beach Bunnies: Bye, Bye, Beach Bunnies By VINCENT CANBY. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 02 Mar 1969: D1
  12. Italian International Film at the Internet Movie Database
  13. p.96 + p.214 Arkoff, Sam & Trubo, Richard Flying Through Hollywood by the Seat of My Pants 1990 Carol Publishing
  14. "International Secret Police". tokyo street report. 2009-04-16. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  15. Corman, Roger How I Made 100 Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime 1998 DaCapo Press
  16. Corman, Roger & Jerome, Jim How I Made Over a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime 1998 DaCapo Press
  17. American-International Television (AIP-TV) [us]
  18. Heffernan, Kevin Ghouls Gimmicks and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 2004, Duke University Press, p.167
  19. Billboard – Google Books. 1959-06-08. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  20. "American International Records – CDs and Vinyl at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  21. "Together/AIR Album Discography". Bsnpubs.com. 2000-04-12. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  22. American International Pictures Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 03 June 1969: 29
  23. American International Pictures Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 10 July 1969: 27
  24. American International Pictures Enters Film Accord Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 10 Apr 1970: 22.
  25. 30 FEATURES SET: AIP ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR BUSIEST FILM YEAR Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 28 Jan 1971: g11.
  26. X-Rated Movies: On the Downswing? The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973) [Washington, D.C] 31 Mar 1971: B4
  27. Nicholson to Quit American International Pictures Post Wall Street Journal (1923–Current file) [New York, N.Y] 17 January 1972: 18.
  28. Nicholson Plans Own Film Firm Los Angeles Times (1923–Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif.] 22 January 1972: b6
  29. California Film Maker Buys Own Stock From Ex-Officer Wall Street Journal (1923–Current file) [New York, N.Y] 19 September 1972: 43.
  30. J.H. Nicholson, Film Maker, Dies of Cancer. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif.] 11 December 1972: 26
  31. LARRY GORDON ROLLS HIS DICE Taylor, Clarke. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 08 Oct 1978: n35
  32. 1 2 The dime-store way to make movies-and money By Aljean Harmetz. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 04 Aug 1974: 202.
  33. Policy Shift Set by American International Pictures Inc. Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 25 May 1972: 7.
  34. American International Pictures Buys Shares From Sylvia Nicholson Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 19 Apr 1978: 36.
  35. Filmways Inc. Signs Accord in Principle For Movie Maker Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 10 Oct 1978: 48
  36. merican International Pictures, Filmways Inc. Terminate Merger Plan By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter. Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 11 Dec 1978: 20.
  37. May Revive Merger Talks With Filmways, AIP Says Jones, John A. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 12 Feb 1979: d12.
  38. Filmways Says Assets Were Overstated For American International Pictures Inc. By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter. Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 03 Dec 1979: 8.
  39. AIP BITES DUST AS FILMWAYS RENAMES STUDIO Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 13 Mar 1980: f3.
  40. President of Filmways' American International Pictures Resigns Post Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 06 Dec 1979: 30.
  41. Filmways Inc. Pays Ex-Aide $1.4 Million Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 08 July 1980: 8
  42. http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=4010:i6p96l.3.5
  43. How Accountants Helped Orion Pictures Launch Its Financial Comeback Welles, Chris. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 15 May 1983: f1.
  44. Smith p 97
  45. Smith p98
  46. Smith p99
  47. Smith p 114
  48. 1 2 Smith p 118
  49. Smith p 159
  50. 1 2 3 4 Smith p 249
  51. Smith p 161
  52. Smith p 188, 230
  53. Smith p 188
  54. Smith p 192
  55. First Kiss January 1962 Charlton Comics
  56. pp.219-220 Palmer, Randy Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker: A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist McFarland, 1 Jan 1997
  57. 1 2 Grand Guignol Set at Vine St. Cabaret: Huston 'Sells' Kipling Yarn; Sinatra, AIP Think Young Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 12 July 1963: D11.
  58. 1 2 3 Smith p 208
  59. 1 2 AIP Millions for Poe, Beach Parties: 'Flowers' Oscar Hopeful; Burton Buys, May Direct Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 02 Jan 1964: C11.
  60. Hollywood To Make A Big Silent Film." Times [London, England] 3 Mar. 1965: 15. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 15 June 2014.
  61. Howard Hughes, Aide Part Company Dorothy Kilgallen:. The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973) [Washington, D.C] 11 June 1964: E22.
  62. Smith p 262
  63. 1 2 Smith p 289
  64. American Film Executive On Study Visit South China Morning Post & the Hongkong Telegraph 15 Sep 1965: 7.
  65. MOVIE CALL SHEET: Spiegel to Film 'Swimmer' Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 19 Mar 1965: D13.
  66. 1 2 3 American International Expanding Operations Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 04 May 1966: e13.
  67. Smith p 315
  68. American International Pictures' Profit Steady: Company Says Results for Third Fiscal Quarter Were About the Same as for Year-Ago Period Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 12 Oct 1971: 37.
  69. American International Pictures Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 09 May 1973: 19.
  70. Horror or Horrid Films, AIP Quickies Score at Box Office: FILMS Getze, John. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 20 Feb 1974: d10. Turn on hit highlighting for speaking browsers
  71. Stockholder Meeting Briefs Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 26 June 1973: 35
  72. American International Will Be 'Happy' if Net Matches Fiscal 1975's Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 27 Oct 1975: 18.
  73. AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL EPIC: CHINESE BOOK U.S. FILM 'FUTUREWORLD' Bry, Barbara. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 05 Jan 1979: d16.

References

External links

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