Shrewd film producer behind School for Scoundrels and Night of the Demon
Hal E Chester, who has died aged 91, was a juvenile actor, then a producer of low-budget movies in Hollywood, before he moved in 1955 to Britain, where he set up his own production company to take advantage of the lower costs of filming. Over the next 15 years he turned out a wide range of pictures, which often featured American stars such as Mickey Rooney, Dana Andrews, Yul Brynner and Paul Newman. For a period he specialised in British comedies. The first and best of these was School for Scoundrels (1960), loosely based on the popular Gamesmanship books of Stephen Potter. The impressive cast included Alastair Sim, Terry-Thomas and Dennis Price, with Ian Carmichael as the intrepid hero trying to impress Janette Scott.
Small, dynamic and fast-talking, Chester was perhaps a typical example of the shrewd and ambitious Hollywood producer. He...
Hal E Chester, who has died aged 91, was a juvenile actor, then a producer of low-budget movies in Hollywood, before he moved in 1955 to Britain, where he set up his own production company to take advantage of the lower costs of filming. Over the next 15 years he turned out a wide range of pictures, which often featured American stars such as Mickey Rooney, Dana Andrews, Yul Brynner and Paul Newman. For a period he specialised in British comedies. The first and best of these was School for Scoundrels (1960), loosely based on the popular Gamesmanship books of Stephen Potter. The impressive cast included Alastair Sim, Terry-Thomas and Dennis Price, with Ian Carmichael as the intrepid hero trying to impress Janette Scott.
Small, dynamic and fast-talking, Chester was perhaps a typical example of the shrewd and ambitious Hollywood producer. He...
- 4/16/2012
- by Joel Finler
- The Guardian - Film News
Remember last week when Amanda Graystone melted down on live, intergalactic television and told everyone in the 12 worlds that her daughter was the terrorist who blew up Maglev Tran Number 23? Yeah, that hasn't exactly been good PR for Graystone Industries.
Baxter Sarno of the talkshow Backtalk with Baxter is eviscerating Daniel every night; some of the Buccaneers are asking to be traded from his team; Amanda has been fired from her job at the hospital; and people are taking it in turns to throw beer bottles at, and beat the frak out of, Amanda and Daniel in every other scene.
Think Jay Leno, Paris Hilton and Balloon Boy’s parents rolled into one. Yep, that bad.
Sam Adama offers up the fiercest smackdown of all when he accompanies Joseph to Daniel's gym. Sam's goals are simply sucker punches: one for the niece and one for the sister-in-law he lost in the bombing.
Baxter Sarno of the talkshow Backtalk with Baxter is eviscerating Daniel every night; some of the Buccaneers are asking to be traded from his team; Amanda has been fired from her job at the hospital; and people are taking it in turns to throw beer bottles at, and beat the frak out of, Amanda and Daniel in every other scene.
Think Jay Leno, Paris Hilton and Balloon Boy’s parents rolled into one. Yep, that bad.
Sam Adama offers up the fiercest smackdown of all when he accompanies Joseph to Daniel's gym. Sam's goals are simply sucker punches: one for the niece and one for the sister-in-law he lost in the bombing.
- 2/6/2010
- by michael
- The Backlot
It's been a month since Human Zoe, Avatar Zoe and a robotic killing machine collided to form Cylon Zoebot, and everyone's dealing with it in their own way. For her part, Cylon Zoebot keeps flashing on her life as a human/avatar, staring down her sleek metal body in the mirror, and biting off the fingers of her mechanics. That should be a lesson to us all -- be nice to your Dyson vacuum/Tivo/Wii in case it one day achieves sentience.
Daniel is burying himself in his work; Amanda is drowning herself in home videos; and Lacy — the only person who knows that Zoe is alive inside the Cylon — is fighting off Sister Clarice Voldemort at every turn.
On the other side of town, Joseph keeps accidentally driving to his deceased daughter's high school, leaving Willy to fend for himself. The eldest Adama is getting angrier by the...
Daniel is burying himself in his work; Amanda is drowning herself in home videos; and Lacy — the only person who knows that Zoe is alive inside the Cylon — is fighting off Sister Clarice Voldemort at every turn.
On the other side of town, Joseph keeps accidentally driving to his deceased daughter's high school, leaving Willy to fend for himself. The eldest Adama is getting angrier by the...
- 1/30/2010
- by michael
- The Backlot
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