Post by Teleadm on Jul 28, 2023 21:49:43 GMT
His real name was Arthur William Lubovsky and even if that's sounds a bit foreign he was born in Los Angeles, California, he changed his name to Lubin in honour of filmmaker Siegmund Lubin.
At first he wanted to be an actor and appeared in many plays and Los Angeles Times called him a "juvenile sensation", as an actor, he specialized in heavy melodrama, in sharp contrast with his later work as a film director.
As an actor he appeared in von Stroheim's The Wedding March 1928.
Over time his interests increasingly leaned towards directing. "On the stage I had a personality I never had in pictures," he said. "That's one of the reasons I got the hell out of acting".
Today most famous for directing several Abbott & Costello films, the Francis the Talking Mule series and created the talking-horse TV series Mister Ed.
He is also known for signing Clint Eastwood's first movie contract.
This year we celebrate his 125th birth date!
Arthur Lubin (1898-1995)
He started directing forgotten movies at Monogram and Republic Pictures, before moving to Universal for more or less his whole directing career, first directing programmers more or less shot in six days.
One of the more successful at that time was Black Friday 1940 starring horror legends Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
His career received a big break when he was assigned to direct the first Abbott and Costello star vehicle, Buck Privates 1941. The movie was a big hit, earning $4 million – he, who was paid $350 a week, was given a $5,000 bonus. "It was very little credit to the director," he said later. "It consisted mainly of fabulous gags that these two wonderful guys knew from years and years of being in burlesque".
He kept on directed movies of this duo, earning another extra $5,000 bonus for each movie and was once considered the most commercially successful director in Hollywood by Variety magazine by 1942.
Asking for more challenging projects he was assigned Eagle Squadron 1942 co-produced by Universal and independent producer Walter Wanger, that became a massive hit.
Then Universal assigned him to direct three Technicolor projects...
White Savage 1943 starring Maria Montez and Jon Hall.
The Phantom of the Opera 1943 starring Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. The highest budget of his career.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 1944, starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Sabu.
All three movies was commercially successful.
Delightfully Dangerous 1945, made for independent producer Hunt Stromberg, starring Jane Powell and Ralph Bellamy.
The Spider Woman Strikes Back 1946 starring Gale Sondergard. contractual obligations programmer noir.
Night in Paradise 1946 starring Merle Oberon and Turhan Bey, was a big budget failure, and he was kicked out from Universal.
While unemployed at a studio he kept himself busy directing plays at Pasadena Playhouse.
New Orleans 1947 a musical romance best known now for having jazz legends in the cast, including Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday.
Impact 1949, a noir starring Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines.
Both New Orleans and Impact was distributed by United Artists originally.
He bought the rights to a series of books about "Francis the Talking Mule" and set up the project as a film at Universal, his old studio.
Francis 1950, the mule got more fan mail than star Donald O'Connor. Lubin got a percentage of profits from all the movies in this series wither he directed them or not, and they where profitable.
Rhubarb 1951 about a cat who inherits a baseball team.
It Grows on Trees 1952, a whimsy that turned out to be Irene Dunne's screen farewell.
South Sea Woman 1953 starring Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo.
Star of India 1954 swashbuckler starring Cornel Wilde.
Footsteps in the Fog 1955, a gaslight noir starring Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger.
Lady Godiva of Coventry 1955 starring Maureen O'Hara.
The First Travelling Saleslady 1956, a movie said to have been so expensive it killed RKO, starring Ginger Rogers, and the other one is Clint Eastwood during his two-year personal contract to Arthur Lubin.
Mister Ed TV-series 1961 - 1966 145 episodes and Lubin directed 131 of them, obviously based on the Francis the mule character.
The Thief of Baghdad 1961, a peplum movie starring muscleman Steve Reeves.
The Incredible Mr. Limpet 1964, starring Don Knotts, directed the live sequences, much of the movie was animated.
Hold On! 1966 starring the at the time hugely popular teen idols Herman's Hermits.
His last movie as director was the little known Rain for a Dusty Summer 1971 staring Ernest Borgnine, and last all together was an episode on ABC Weekend Specials called Arthur the Kid 1981.
Lubin was gay and for many years lived with Frank Burford.
No biographies or autobiographies seems to have been published. He also must have been camera shy since it damn near impossible to find pictures of him.
Thanks for watching!
Opinions of all kinds are welcome!
At first he wanted to be an actor and appeared in many plays and Los Angeles Times called him a "juvenile sensation", as an actor, he specialized in heavy melodrama, in sharp contrast with his later work as a film director.
As an actor he appeared in von Stroheim's The Wedding March 1928.
Over time his interests increasingly leaned towards directing. "On the stage I had a personality I never had in pictures," he said. "That's one of the reasons I got the hell out of acting".
Today most famous for directing several Abbott & Costello films, the Francis the Talking Mule series and created the talking-horse TV series Mister Ed.
He is also known for signing Clint Eastwood's first movie contract.
This year we celebrate his 125th birth date!
Arthur Lubin (1898-1995)
He started directing forgotten movies at Monogram and Republic Pictures, before moving to Universal for more or less his whole directing career, first directing programmers more or less shot in six days.
One of the more successful at that time was Black Friday 1940 starring horror legends Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
His career received a big break when he was assigned to direct the first Abbott and Costello star vehicle, Buck Privates 1941. The movie was a big hit, earning $4 million – he, who was paid $350 a week, was given a $5,000 bonus. "It was very little credit to the director," he said later. "It consisted mainly of fabulous gags that these two wonderful guys knew from years and years of being in burlesque".
He kept on directed movies of this duo, earning another extra $5,000 bonus for each movie and was once considered the most commercially successful director in Hollywood by Variety magazine by 1942.
Asking for more challenging projects he was assigned Eagle Squadron 1942 co-produced by Universal and independent producer Walter Wanger, that became a massive hit.
Then Universal assigned him to direct three Technicolor projects...
White Savage 1943 starring Maria Montez and Jon Hall.
The Phantom of the Opera 1943 starring Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. The highest budget of his career.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 1944, starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Sabu.
All three movies was commercially successful.
Delightfully Dangerous 1945, made for independent producer Hunt Stromberg, starring Jane Powell and Ralph Bellamy.
The Spider Woman Strikes Back 1946 starring Gale Sondergard. contractual obligations programmer noir.
Night in Paradise 1946 starring Merle Oberon and Turhan Bey, was a big budget failure, and he was kicked out from Universal.
While unemployed at a studio he kept himself busy directing plays at Pasadena Playhouse.
New Orleans 1947 a musical romance best known now for having jazz legends in the cast, including Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday.
Impact 1949, a noir starring Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines.
Both New Orleans and Impact was distributed by United Artists originally.
He bought the rights to a series of books about "Francis the Talking Mule" and set up the project as a film at Universal, his old studio.
Francis 1950, the mule got more fan mail than star Donald O'Connor. Lubin got a percentage of profits from all the movies in this series wither he directed them or not, and they where profitable.
Rhubarb 1951 about a cat who inherits a baseball team.
It Grows on Trees 1952, a whimsy that turned out to be Irene Dunne's screen farewell.
South Sea Woman 1953 starring Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo.
Star of India 1954 swashbuckler starring Cornel Wilde.
Footsteps in the Fog 1955, a gaslight noir starring Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger.
Lady Godiva of Coventry 1955 starring Maureen O'Hara.
The First Travelling Saleslady 1956, a movie said to have been so expensive it killed RKO, starring Ginger Rogers, and the other one is Clint Eastwood during his two-year personal contract to Arthur Lubin.
Mister Ed TV-series 1961 - 1966 145 episodes and Lubin directed 131 of them, obviously based on the Francis the mule character.
The Thief of Baghdad 1961, a peplum movie starring muscleman Steve Reeves.
The Incredible Mr. Limpet 1964, starring Don Knotts, directed the live sequences, much of the movie was animated.
Hold On! 1966 starring the at the time hugely popular teen idols Herman's Hermits.
His last movie as director was the little known Rain for a Dusty Summer 1971 staring Ernest Borgnine, and last all together was an episode on ABC Weekend Specials called Arthur the Kid 1981.
Lubin was gay and for many years lived with Frank Burford.
No biographies or autobiographies seems to have been published. He also must have been camera shy since it damn near impossible to find pictures of him.
Thanks for watching!
Opinions of all kinds are welcome!