TALK’S CHEAP, ACTION’S EXPENSIVE: THE FILMS OF ROBERT L. LIPPERT (paperback)
ISBN 9781593935580
Superman and the Mole-Men (1951) with George Reeves. The Fly (1958) with VincentPrice. The Last Man on Earth (1964). These low-budget films earnedbig-profit bonanzas, and the man behind the yields was Robert L. Lippert.
When Spyros Skouras was forced to resignas commander in chief of 20th Century Fox, Darryl F. Zanuck was persuaded toreturn to the studio to take charge. As the studio was on the brink ofdisaster, Zanuck put the brakes on every project in the works and fired justabout everyone on the lot, except for one man, the only one working for thestudio who made their bread-and-butter pictures which, at this point in time,was the only kind of movies the studio could afford to make—and he was RobertL. Lippert.
Lippert produced over 200 movies tailoredto the small town exhibitors that had to change their program two or threetimes a week. They loved him for it. Kansas theater owner Bill Leonard told hisfellow exhibitors to “. . . just line up with these Lippert pictures and youand your patrons will be happy.” James Clavell—author of Shogun, AndrewMcLaglen—director of McLintock, and Sam Fuller—director of Pickup onSouth Street, got their first breaks in the business from Lippert.
Read about his battle with the ScreenActors Guild, his stormy marriage, and, of course, his movies.
"Compelling, a good read. I found ithard to put down." -Western Clippings
"McGee has performed an invaluableservice in rounding up RL's wild celluloid herd into a single corral." -Videoscope