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Arkoff International Pictures was a film production company set up by Samuel Z. Arkoff, co-founder of American International Pictures (AIP). Arkoff sold AIP to Filmways in 1979, which he later described as "a giant mistake ...
He began his career in Hollywood as a producer of The Hank McCune Show, a seminal sitcom produced in 1951. In 1954, James H. Nicholson founded the American Releasing Corporation, which later became known as American International Pictures, and made Arkoff the vice-president.
Dec 14, 2012 · Samuel Z. Arkoff, who in some ways invented modern Hollywood, died Sunday of natural causes in a Burbank hospital. The co-founder of American-International Pictures and the godfather of the beach party and teenage werewolf movies was 83.
It was formed on April 2, 1954, as American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by former Realart Pictures Inc. sales manager James H. Nicholson and entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff [2] and their first release was the 1953 UK documentary film Operation Malaya.
- Day The World Ended
- I Was A Teenage Werewolf
- The Pit and The Pendulum
- Reptilicus
- Black Sabbath
- Wild in The Streets
- The Abominable Dr. Phibes
- The Amityville Horror (1979) and The End of AIP
Day the World Ended is a terrific start to our list because it combines three elements integral to AIP’s early years: Roger Corman, Paul Blaisdell, and a monster. Corman, a young independent filmmaker, had produced a race car movie called The Fast and The Furious in 1954 – the title of which he eventually licensed to Universal in 2001 for their fam...
As the ‘50s wore on, AIP went from strength to strength releasing horror and exploitation double bills to great success. The culmination of their teen awareness and monster savvy arrived in one of AIP’s very best: I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Michael Landon plays Tony, a troubled young man who explodes into violent rage at the slightest provocation. H...
Following the black-and-white monster cycle of the 1950s, Roger Corman would once again influence AIP’s next steps. Arkoff and Nicholson had approached the producer about doing another pair of black-and-white horrors for $100,000, but Corman instead asked if he could make one film for double the cost in widescreen and colour. This initiated an eigh...
Reptilicusis a marvellous giant monster film. A drilling team digs up the remains of a reptilian tail, which eventually regenerates into a complete giant monster: Reptilicus. The beast makes its way through the Danish countryside before ravaging Copenhagen. The film is an example of how AIP had branched out, looking to overseas productions to impor...
From the late ‘50s onwards, AIP also turned to Italy to import expensive-looking pictures for inexpensive costs with significant profits. As with Reptilicus, AIP didn’t keep itself to just importing, and several Italian co-productions appeared in the early 1960s. In 1961, AIP had imported Mario Bava’s sensational black-and-white horror Black Sunday...
Wild in the Streets perhaps demonstrates AIP’s finger on the cultural pulse at its finest. The film asks the question every generation poses: what if young people were in charge? Wild in the Streetsfollows Max Frost, a millionaire 20-something rockstar whose public image sees him catapulted to the highest office in the land. As President, Frost and...
One of AIP’s most peculiar releases given its modus operandi was a 1970 adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Though the film wasn’t a great success, director Robert Fuest had impressed Nicholson and Arkoff, paving the way for his involvement in arguably one of Vincent Price’s best horror films. The Abominable Dr. Phibes is a tour de force of gorgeous p...
It seems fitting that one of AIP’s last hurrahs – and one of its most successful films – was a horror picture. The Amityville Horror remains as effective as ever, a haunted house horror triumph. Starring Margot Kidder and James Brolin, The Amityville Horrortells the supposedly true story of the haunting of the Lutz family, whose new home seems poss...
American International Pictures founder Samuel Z. Arkoff had wanted to be a part of the motion picture industry since boyhood. It took him almost twenty years to fulfill his dream. After serving in World War II, he moved to Los Angeles, where he attended law school on the G.I. Bill.
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After Nicholson's 1972 resignation, Arkoff assumed full control of the company and remained in charge until the 1979 merger with Filmways prompted his own departure. He then became the head of Arkoff International Pictures.
