A New Film by Bert I Gordon!

Bert I GordonIt’s quite a day for birthdays. Jim Henson would be 78 today. And F Scott Fitzgerald would be 118. It is technically possible! But I wrote about them both to a decent degree last year, Tender Is F Scott Fitzgerald. Instead of either of these two unquestionably great artist, I picked simply a unique artist.

Today is Bert I Gordon‘s 92nd birthday! He is known for his low budget films, especially those with giant and miniature characters. His best known film is The Amazing Colossal Man, which I remember thinking was pretty cool when I was a little kid. I still think it is pretty awesome. But after making Satan’s Princess in 1990, he stopped making films. Until, that is, last year when Fangoria reported, Bert I Gordon returns to directing with “PSYCHOPATH”! The film is actually called, Secrets of a Psychopath. And according to IMDb, it is finished. I’ve got to see it when it comes out.

Gordon’s work was not always that great. He was an exploitation filmmaker. And mostly what he exploited was his ability to do rear projection. The funny thing is that if you look at his rear projection, it is far better than Hitchcock’s, who overused it out of what seems to have been just plain laziness. But almost three years ago, I took Gordon to task for his film, Attack of the Puppet People. But my problem with that film was primarily the script. His films were always competently put together.

Gordon is also known for Earth vs the Spider. It is not one of his best films, but it works well enough. I bring it up only because I so love this short hosted segment from Mystery Science Theater 3000 where Crow has written a screenplay, “Earth vs Soup.” I think it is one of the funniest things ever:

Meanwhile, we will be waiting for Secrets of a Psychopath. I hope Gordon lives to be 118 years old and makes many more films.

Happy birthday Bert I Gordon!

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