How delightful that Albert Zugsmith (1910-1993) shares a birthday with William Castle (1914-1977), for they have so much in common. Both became famous as independent, low-budget schlockmeisters, though both had plenty of legit Hollywood studio credits, and both even worked with Orson Welles (Castle was an associate producer on The Lady from Shanghai; Zusgmith produced Touch of Evil). Yet their voices are very different: Castle's niche was silly horror; Zugsmith's was sex and exploitation. We've had occasion to mention many of his films here, so we thought we'd give him a nod today.
Born in Atlantic City, he was the younger brother of left-wing Depression era novelist and journalist Leane Zugsmith (1903-1969), a cohort of people like Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett. Albert also started out as a journalist, although he quickly discovered he had an affinity with the opposite side of the trade, being the guy who promoted things TO journalists. He represented major public figures like Paul Whiteman and Al Capone, all while making a fortune brokering the sale of newspaper, radio and tv properties. He was also a lawyer, and represented famous clients, such as Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman.
Zugsmith became a movie producer in 1952. In addition to making films through his own American Pictures Corporation, he was associated with several major studios in turn: RKO, Columbia, Universal, and MGM. Apart from Touch of Evil, his most critically distinguished film as producer is probably Douglas Sirk's Written on the Wind (1956). He's also known for the Phil Silvers musical Top Banana (1954), which was an experiment in 3-D, as well as the horror-sci-fi classic The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), Slaughter on 10th Avenue (1957), and melodramas like Paris Model (1953) and Female on the Beach (1955).
Towards the late '50s, Zugsmith became focused on exploitation pictures, many of them starring Mamie Van Doren, and the kind of thing AIP would replicate. These titles include High School Confidential (1958), The Beat Generation (1959), Girls Town (1959), Platinum High School (1960), College Confidential (1960), Six Kittens Go to College (1960), and The Private Lives of Adam Eve (1960).
For Allied Artists, Zugsmith produced and directed a critically panned adaptation of the comic strip Dondi (1961). This was followed by the screen adaptation of Confessions of an Opium Eater (1963) starring Vincent Price, and Russ Meyer's 1964 adaptation of Fanny Hill. Ah, literature!
As the '60s progressed Zugsmith's oeuvre got racier to match the times. Films of this period include The Incredible Sex Revolution (1966); Psychedelic Sexualis (1966), Movie Star, American Style or; LSD, I Hate You (1966) The Chinese Room (1968); Sappho Darling (1968); Two Roses and a Golden Rod (1969), and The Very Friendly Neighbors (1969). After The Phantom Gunslinger (1970) with Troy Donahue and Sabrina, he made Tom Jones Rides Again (1971). Under the pseudonym "Kentucky Jones" he made the The Cult a.k.a. House of Bondage a.k.a. The Manson Massacre (1971). Zugsmith's last film, Violated (1975) was another "snatched from the headlines" quickie about a serial rapist.
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