Jump to content

Arthur Marks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arthur Marks
BornAugust 2, 1927
Los Angeles,California,U.S.
DiedNovember 13, 2019(2019-11-13)(aged 92)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Film director
  • writer
  • producer
  • distributor
SpousePhyllis Marie Lehman

Arthur Ronald Marks(August 2, 1927 – November 13, 2019) was an American film and television director, writer, producer and distributor best known for his work in theblaxploitationgenre, directing films such asBonnie's Kids,Detroit 9000,Friday Foster,Bucktown,The Monkey Hu$tleandJ. D.'s Revenge.He also directed and produced numerous episodes of the Americanlegal dramaPerry Mason,as well as episodes ofStarsky & Hutch,Mannix,I Spy,My Friend Tony,The Dukes of Hazzard,Steve Canyon,andYoung Daniel Boone.

Early life and career

[edit]

Arthur Marks was born inLos Angeles,California,in 1927 to parents who had moved toHollywoodto find work in the film industry. His father, David Marks, worked a series of film jobs, from sound man toassistant director,on films likeHell's AngelsandThe Wizard of Oz,spending the last 30 years of his career atMGM.As a child, Marks frequently appeared as an unbilled extra in films such asBoy's TownandThe Good Earthand theAndy Hardyseries. After serving in theMerchant Marines[citation needed]duringWorld War IIand briefly attendingUSCas a journalism major, Marks dropped out of college and took a job with the MGM production department. He did production work on 75 MGM films over the next three years, eventually working as an assistant director at Columbia Studios and doing uncredited reshoots in post-production forThe Lady from ShanghaiandThe Caine Mutiny,as well as numerous other films,Westernsandserials,and numerous feature films before beginning his own career as a director.[1]During the early 1950s, he briefly left Hollywood to serve in theUnited States Navyduring theKorean War.[citation needed]

Directorial career

[edit]

Marks worked as an assistant director on television showsThe Man Behind the Badge,Treasury Men in Action,Casablanca,Broken ArrowandThe 20th Century Fox Hour,before becoming involved with the pilot episode of the legal dramaPerry Mason.He worked as an assistant director on 15 episodes ofPerry Mason,and, starting in the middle of the first season, began working as a director. He would go on to direct 76 episodes of the series, and eventually worked as the producer as well.[1]

Following the conclusion ofPerry Mason,Marks began to move into feature films, beginning with 1970's independently distributedTogethernessstarringGeorge HamiltonandPeter Lawford.[2]Following that film, he directedBonnie's Kids,building on his previous model of independent distribution to turn the film into a lucrativedrive-insuccess. Successful serial-killer filmsThe Centerfold Girls(which he produced but did not direct) andThe Roommatesfollowed, as Marks began exploiting a lack of studio pictures and a strong market for moreexploitation filmsin the drive-in circuit.[3]In the 2010 documentary short,Arthur's Kids,Marks explains that major Hollywood Studios tended to dismiss the drive-in circuit and refused to allow their films to be shown there, creating an opportunity for smaller independent distributors to build a business model based on supplying the drive-ins with cheaply produced, titillating fare.[3]To capitalize on this market, Marks formed GFC (General Film Corporation), an independent distributor through which he produced and distributed his own early films as well as other cult fare (including Guerdon Trueblood'sThe Candy Snatchers,among others).[4]

His positive experience working with actorAlex RoccoonBonnie's Kidsled Marks to cast Rocco inDetroit 9000,a gritty crime story which also featuredHari RhodesandScatman Crothers.[3]The film was written byAcademy Award NomineeOrville H. Hampton(who had worked with Marks previously on episodes ofPerry Mason) and shot inDetroit,featuring numerous local personalities and landmarks. It was a financial success upon its release in 1973, but remained little-remembered until directorQuentin Tarantinochampioned it decades later, re-releasing it theatrically through his short-livedRolling Thunder Picturesin 1998, and on video in 1999.[5]Tarantino also incorporated a line of dialogue from the film into the soundtrack for his ownJackie Brown.[2]

Along with his theatrical output in 1973, Marks also made a return to television, directing two episodes ofThe New Perry Mason,a revival of the character Marks had begun his directorial career working with (now played byMonte Markhaminstead ofRaymond Burr). The series was short-lived, ending mid-season after only 15 episodes.

Marks's next film, 1975'sBucktown,starringFred WilliamsonandPam Grier,found considerable financial success and established Marks as a director in theBlaxploitationgenre. It attracted the attention ofJames NicholsonandSamuel Arkoff'sAmerican International Pictures,which distributed the picture and subsequently distributed most of Marks' later films.[3]

Following the success ofBucktown,Marks acquired the rights to the comic stripFriday Foster,adapting it into a1975 filmstarring Pam Grier. The script, co-written with Hampton, adds themes of black political unity into a more traditional mystery structure.[6]He then moved on to the blaxploitation/horror filmJ.D.'s Revengeand the ensemble comedyThe Monkey Hu$tle(which starredYaphet Kottoand featuredRudy Ray Moore), both in 1976.

Following his work in film, Marks moved back to television, directing numerous episodes ofMannix,Starsky & Hutch,The Dukes of HazardandI Spy,as well as working to develop several new TV series withCBS,none of which never came to fruition.[3]Marks also was called upon to "Doctor" a number of feature films that needed a reshoot, or a rewrite or a professional approach. He died at his home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles on November 13, 2019.[7]

Legacy

[edit]

Quentin Tarantino's 1998 re-release ofDetroit 9000garnered positive reviews.The New York TimescriticLawrence Van Gelderclaimed "In general release,Detroit 9000illustrates the wisdom of the adage "better late than never," and praised the film's complex racial politics,[8]while theA.V. Club'sNathan Rabinopined that, while the film was flawed, it was also an "interesting, thoroughly watchable film, and considering its genre and origins, that's something of an achievement."[9]

Marks's work in Blaxploitation has led several scholars of the genre to examine his films at length, including Mikel J. Koven in his 2010 bookBlaxploitation Filmsand Yvonne D. Sims in her 2006 bookWomen of Blaxploitation: How the Black Action Film Heroine Changed American Popular Culture.Critic David W. Steece Jr. has noted that Marks's films are distinct from other Blaxploitation fare due to their unusual focus on character and frequent ensemble structure which seems to regard an entire community as the focus of the film, rather than a single main character. He points out that, a "lack of agency characterizes most of Marks’s leads. The people with the most screen time in his films are always at the whim of off-screen forces that are typically the real heart of the story."[10]

Black Dynamitestar and co-writerMichael Jai Whitehas cited Marks's 1976The Monkey Hu$tleas a major influence, telling theLos Angeles Times,"It was just brash, unlike anything I'd ever seen... I remember these bigger-than-life characters, who reminded me of my uncles, and it was the first time I saw anything familiar in my life on the big screen."[11]

Filmography

[edit]

As director

Others

References

[edit]
  1. ^abKliph Nesteroff (April 15, 2012)."An Interview with Arthur Marks".Archivedfrom the original on February 21, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 20,2014.
  2. ^abValdez, Joe (11 February 2011)."9000, Officer In Trouble".This Disracted Globe.Archivedfrom the original on 17 May 2014.Retrieved7 March2014.
  3. ^abcdeElijah Drenner (director) (June 29, 2010).Arthur's Kids: A Conversation with Arthur Marks(short documentary).Archivedfrom the original on May 17, 2014.RetrievedFebruary 21,2014.
  4. ^The Candy Snatchers (1974) Cast and Production.[1]Archived2016-03-05 at theWayback MachineThe New York Times
  5. ^Staff report (April 9, 1999).New Video Releases.The New York Times
  6. ^Pelto, Charles (8 January 2013)."Friday Foster".Museum of Uncut Funk.Archivedfrom the original on 6 May 2014.Retrieved7 March2014.
  7. ^"Arthur Marks, Producer and Director on 'Perry Mason' and a Blaxploitation Maverick, Dies at 92".The Hollywood Reporter.22 November 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-11-23.Retrieved2019-11-24.
  8. ^Van Gelder, Lawrence (October 9, 1998).FILM REVIEW; Detective Buddies and Racial Boundaries.The New York Times
  9. ^Rabin, Nathan (31 May 2002)."Detroit 9000".The A.V. Club.Archivedfrom the original on 17 May 2014.Retrieved7 March2014.
  10. ^Steece Jr., David W. (7 March 2011)."J.D.'s Revenge—Arthur Marks—1976".Randomatic.Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2015.Retrieved7 March2014.
  11. ^Beale, Lewis (11 October 2009)."1970s blaxploitation films: a lot has changed, but much has stayed the same".Los Angeles Times.Los Angeles.Archivedfrom the original on 3 February 2014.Retrieved7 March2014.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Bogle, Donald. (2001)Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films.Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Koven, Mikel. (2010).Blaxploitation Films.Oldcastle Books. (pg 111–112)
  • Lawrence, Novotny. (2007).Blaxploitation Films of the 1970s: Blackness and Genre.Routledge.
  • Sims, Yvonne D.(2006)Women of Blaxploitation: How the Black Action Film Heroine Changed American Popular Culture.McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.(pg 196–197)
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arthur_Marks&oldid=1240345009"