Jack Arnold

'Jack Arnold' (qv) reigns supreme as one of the great directors of 1950s science-fiction features. His films are distinguished by moody black and white cinematography, solid acting, smart, thoughtful scripts, snappy pacing, a genuine heartfelt enthusiasm for the genre and plenty of eerie atmosphere.Arnold was born on October 14, 1916, in New Haven, Connecticut. He began his show business career as an actor in both on- and off-Broadway stage productions in the late 1930s and early 1940s; among the plays he appeared in are "The Time of Your Life," "Juke Box Jenny," "Blind Alibi," "China Passage," and "We're on the Jury." Arnold served in the US Army in the Signal Corps during World War II. He apprenticed under famous documentary filmmaker 'Robert J. Flaherty' (qv). Following his tour of duty Jack started making short films and documentaries. One short, _With These Hands (1950)_ (qv), was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature. Arnold made his theatrical movie debut with the B picture _Girls in the Night (1953)_ (qv). He then did his first foray into the science-fiction genre: the supremely spooky _It Came from Outer Space (1953)_ (qv). Jack achieved his greatest enduring cult popularity with _Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)_ (qv), a scary yet poetic reworking of "Beauty and the Beast". _Revenge of the Creature (1955)_ (qv) was a worthy sequel. _Tarantula (1955)_ (qv) was likewise a lot of fun. _The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)_ (qv) rates highly as Arnold's crowning cinematic achievement; it's an intelligent and entertaining classic that's lost none of its potency throughout the years.Arnold's final two genre entries were the enjoyable _Monster on the Campus (1958)_ (qv) and the offbeat _The Space Children (1958)_ (qv). His other movies are a pretty varied and interesting bunch, including the hugely successful _The Mouse That Roared (1959)_ (qv) (which helped to establish 'Peter Sellers' (qv) as an international star), the teen exploitation gem _High School Confidential! (1958)_ (qv), the superior 'Audie Murphy' (qv) western _No Name on the Bullet (1959)_ (qv), the goofy comedy _Hello Down There (1969)_ (qv) and the silly softcore romp _The Bunny Caper (1974)_ (qv).In addition to his film work, Arnold also directed episodes of such TV shows as _Science Fiction Theatre (1955)_ (qv), _Peter Gunn (1958)_ (qv), _Perry Mason (1957)_ (qv), _Rawhide (1959)_ (qv), _Gilligan's Island (1964)_ (qv), _Mod Squad (1968)_ (qv), _Wonder Woman (1975)_ (qv), _The Love Boat (1977)_ (qv), _Die sieben Millionen Dollar Frau (1976)_ (qv) and _Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)_ (qv).The father of producer/casting director 'Susan Arnold' (qv), 'Jack Arnold' (qv) died at age 75 on March 17, 1992.::woodyanders (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)