Crown International Pictures was an independent film studio and distribution company formed in 1959 by Newton P. Jacobs. They were one of the first franchise distributors for American-International Pictures and like that studio, they specialized in low-budget junk. In other words, perfect movies for the drive-in. Crown was all over the place in what they […]
Also known as Pick-Up Summer and Flipper Girls in Germany, this Canadian film comes after the Crown International beach movies and before Porky’s. Most of the action revolves around a place called Pete’s, an arcade that is hosting a pinball competition, which also has a Miss Pinball pageant, which I really hope was a thing at some point. […]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Upton is an American (non-werewolf) writer/editor in London. She currently works as a ghostwriter of personal memoirs for Story Terrace London and writes for several blogs on topics as diverse as film history, punk rock, women’s issues, and international politics. For links to her work, please visit https://www.jennuptonwriter.com or send her a Tweet @Jennxldn […]
Crown International Forever. Directed by Robert Anderson* (Cindy and Donna), who wrote this with Terry Anderson and Dave Dixon, this movie starts off with high school senior Mindy Evans (Patricia Wymer, The Babysitter) dumping her boyfriend Bill (Gary Rist, who went on to compose the music for Lifepod) and hooking up with very married photographer […]
Crown International Pictures serving up that sweet, sweet movie sugar that I love so much, with Stella Stevens (The Silencers) and Stuart Whitman (Demonoid) as a Vegas couple looking to get out by pulling a scam. Stevens is Lucky, who is being ordered by a man in the shadows to use two of her friends, […]
Also known as Planet of the Dead and Spaceship Venus Does Not Reply, this is really the East German/Polish film Milcząca Gwiazda / Der Schweigende Stern, which would mean The Silent Star in English. It’s based on Stanislaw Lew’s 1951 novel The Astronauts. The author — who also was the man behind Solaris — was critical of the final film, saying, “It […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Terrified! was first on Chiller Theater on Saturday, February 19, 1977 at 11:30 p.m. It also aired on August 11, 1979; July 26, 1980 and October 10, 1981. I’m echoing what nearly every article about this movie says, if only because it’s true. The first two minutes of this movie are better than anything that […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Hostage was first on Chiller Theater on Saturday, February 5, 1977 at 11:30 p.m. It also aired on the show on August 18, 1979, January 31, 1981 and February 27, 1982. Lots of Henry Farrell’s stories got turned into movies. Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Such A Gorgeous Kid Like Me, How Awful About Allan, The House That […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Malibu Beach was on USA Up All Night so many times: June 7 and November 11, 1989; April 6 and 7 and October 6, 1990 and April 12 and August 24, 1991. Malibu Beach is not Malibu Bikini Shop, Malibu Hot Summer, Malibu Summer and it most certainly is not Malibu High, one of the most deceptively […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Almost Hollywood was on USA Up All Night on February 9, 1996. After this movie, Crown International Pictures took nine years off. I will tell you that that is not because this is a good movie and they felt they’d done all they could do. Quite the opposite. However, in my endless quest to watch […]
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