Phil Karlson
Directing
Born 1908-07-02
Died 1985-12-12
Chicago, Illinois
64 credits
Read biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phil Karlson (July 2, 1908, Chicago, Illinois – December 12, 1985, Los Angeles, California) was a film director known for his no-nonsense film noirs. Karlson directed 99 River Street, Kansas City Confidential and Hell's Island all with actor John Payne in the early 1950s. Other films include Rocky (1948), The Phenix City Story (1955), 5 Against the House (1955) and The Young Doctors (1961).
Phil Karlson was the son of popular Irish actress Lillian O'Brien.
He studied painting at Chicago's Art Institute, and law, at his father's request, at Loyola Marymount University in California.
Karlson got into the film industry working as a prop man while a law student. After working a number of film jobs, including being an assistant director for a number of Abbott and Costello films, Karlson directed his first film in 1944 and in 1948 directed the first film starring Marilyn Monroe, Ladies of the Chorus. He worked on a number of low-budget projects for Monogram Pictures and Eagle-Lion Films before making his mark in 1950. It was then that he was known for directing tough, realistic and sometimes violent gritty crime films. In the 1960s the quality of his directed films declined, which included working on Kid Galahad (1962) with Elvis Presley and two Dean Martin Matt Helm spy films, including The Wrecking Crew (1969) co-starring Sharon Tate and Elke Sommer. He had his biggest success in 1973 when he directed the hit film, Walking Tall. The film made the director a rich man many times over, thanks to the fact that he owned a huge part of the movie.
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Filmography
— top 60 of 64
Directing
49 credits
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Walking Tall
Kid Galahad
Kansas City Confidential
The Silencers
The Wrecking Crew
The Texas Rangers
Gunman's Walk
Ben
Louisiana
A Time for Killing
Ladies of the Chorus
Hornets' Nest
The Secret Ways
Scandal Sheet
5 Against the House
Tight Spot
Key Witness
Alexander The Great
Live Wires
99 River Street
Lorna Doone
The Brothers Rico
Framed
They Rode West
Hell's Island
Kilroy Was Here
Hell to Eternity
The Big Cat
Rocky
The Brigand
Rampage
Black Gold
The Scarface Mob
Wife Wanted
Down Memory Lane
The Missing Lady
The Shanghai Cobra
The Phenix City Story
Mask of the Avenger
Behind the Mask
The Iroquois Trail
Adventures in Silverado
There Goes Kelly
The Young Doctors
Swing Parade of 1946
Bowery Bombshell
A Wave, a WAC and a Marine
Other credits
10 credits
The Invisible Man Returns
Werewolf of London
Seven Sinners
The Flame of New Orleans
Manhattan Moon
In the Navy
It Started with Eve
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Romance in the Rain
Great Expectations
Acting
1 credit
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