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1-11 of 11
- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Scott Nimerfro was born on 12 July 1961 in Richfield, Minnesota, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for X-Men (2000), Pushing Daisies (2007) and Hannibal (2013). He died on 17 April 2016 in Woodbury, Minnesota, USA.- Animation Department
- Director
- Art Department
Charlie Downs was born on 22 March 1927 in Richfield, Idaho, USA. He was a director, known for Heavy Metal (1981), The Black Cauldron (1985) and Dino-Riders (1988). He was married to Paulette Rothstein and Margie Ruth Britt. He died on 21 July 2008 in Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Lloyd Bremseth was born on 27 July 1948 in Richfield, Minnesota, USA. He is an actor, known for Salvage 1 (1979), MacGyver (1985) and Police Story (1973).
- Mary Thurman was born Mary Christiansen on April 27, 1895, in Richfield, Utah. She was one of seven children raised in the Mormon faith. Sadly her father passed away when she was nine. Mary attended the University of Utah and got a job as a teacher. In 1915 she took a trip to Hollywood. A talent scout saw her and she became one of the famous Mack Sennett bathing beauties. She also began appearing in Sennett's comedy shorts. Mary started out as an extra and quickly worked her way up to leading lady. Between 1916 and 1918 she made more than twenty films. Mary married her childhood sweetheart Victor E. Thurman but the couple divorced in 1919. Mary costarred with Rosco "Fatty" Arbuckle in Leap Year and with William Desmond in The Prince And Betty.
Although she had become a popular comedienne she dreamed of being a serious actress. She signed with producer Allan Dwan who cast her in the 1920 drama In The Heart Of A Fool. Her performance got rave reviews. Allan would direct Mary in several more films including The Sin of Martha Queed and A Broken Doll. Off screen Mary and Allan fell in love and were engaged for a short time. In the fall 1925 she began work on the movie Down Upon The Suwanee River. While filming in Florida she came down with a serious case of pneumonia. She struggled with the illness for months and passed away on December 22, 1925. Mary was only thirty years old. Her mother and her best friend, actress Juanita Hansen, were by her side when she died. Mary was buried in Richfield City Cemetery in her hometown of Richfield, Utah. - Chris Shelton was born in 1982 in Richfield, Utah, USA. He is an actor, known for Informer 3838 (2020), The Apprentice (2004) and The Beat with Ari Melber (2017).
- Actress
Miriam Marlin was born on 16 July 1905 in Richfield, Utah, USA. She was an actress. She died on 14 January 1989.- Jake Garn was born on 12 October 1932 in Richfield, Utah, USA.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Frank Pixley was born on 21 November 1867 in Richfield, Ohio, USA. He was a writer, known for The Prince of Pilsen (1926). He was married to Isabelle Margaret McRoy. He died on 30 December 1919 in San Diego, California, USA.- James Moore was born on 5 November 1976 in Richfield, Minnesota, USA. He is an actor, known for Mystery Science Theater 3000 (2007).
- Jonreed Lauritzen was born on 22 January 1902 in Richfield, Utah, USA. Jonreed was a writer, known for Kiss of Fire (1955) and Zane Grey Theatre (1956). Jonreed was married to Verda Judd. Jonreed died on 8 August 1979 in Chatsworth, California, USA.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
When writer-producer-director Dennis F. Stevens asked his father to guarantee completion on his first feature motion picture, "The Harrad Experiment" (1973), Frank W. Stevens did not hesitate. He trusted his son. By this time the son had already built somewhat of a track record in the film industry, first as a writer for Dick Powell and Four Star Productions; and secondly as an aerial cinematographer for Air Log and the Department of Defense.
Frank Stevens posted the ubiquitous completion bond, thus personally guarantying payment of the production's outstanding liabilities; which payments, among others, included the deferred laboratory, equipment, dubbing and scoring costs.
Fortunately the picture was a major hit and these deferred costs were timely paid out of box office receipts. But that didn't mean that everything was kosher between father and son.
Frank Stevens, a devout Mormon, felt that his son had deceived him as to the film's "R" rating and in an effort to redeem himself gave a good deal of his share of profits to the Church. As further redemption, he and his wife (Fern Lee) volunteered for an eighteen month mission with the Church, serving in the Holbrook (Arizona) Mission.
The son, Dennis, was devastated. As a typical Hollywood liberal of the time, he hadn't taken into account the effect the film would have on his conservative parents. However, he needed his father to post completion on the sequel film, "Harrad Summer" (1974), otherwise production would be unduly delayed or possibly even canceled.
Father and son negotiated terms. The bottom line was Frank's name would not be on the credits and the sequel would not be an "R" rated film, which it wasn't. On the other hand, in box office receipts, at a time when low budgeted "R" rated pictures were doing very well, the sequel did only sixty percent of the original. Fortunately, that was still enough to return profits to everyone involved.
But despite the profit, Frank was not satisfied with the content of the sequel. He felt that it still contained elements that put him in conflict with the teachings of his religion. He informed his son that in the future he would only post completion guarantees on "G" rated films. Fortunately today, twenty plus years after "The Harrad Experiment," family films are doing very well at the box office. But in the early 1970s, such films were considered unreleasable.
This left the son with a dilemma. He could either find another completion guarantor, which would cost about twice the guarantor fee he was paying his father, or find a script that could be produced as a successful and releasable "G" rated film. Further complicating the matter was that major completion companies, such as Film Finance, required full funding plus ten percent. Dennis had made both of the Harrad pictures by deferring most of the production costs so that they could be paid from receipts generated from the picture's exploitation, rather than by investors. The downside of this arrangement is, of course, that should the film fail, the guarantor would be personally liable for not only the film's completion but the deferments, as well.
The son's instincts told him to stick to the "R" rated product. But in deference to his father's wishes he acquiesced and went with a "G" rated murder comedy entitled "I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?," written by Mickey Rose.
Dennis admired Mickey's collaborations with Woody Allen, including "Take the Money and Run," and "Bananas," and he loved the "Killing Her Now" screenplay. He sent the script to Peter Sellers' CMA agent, Mike Wise, with the result that Sellers agreed to do the film.
The budget was set at $1.2 million, of which the laboratory, equipment and musical scoring costs would be deferred. Father and son were elated at how smoothly things were going. But then the hammer fell. The insurance company, not to be confused with the completion guarantor, informed the production company that Peter Sellers had failed to pass the physical exam and thus could not be insured. Did the production company, Cinema Arts Productions, Inc., wish to proceed with Sellers, sans insurance? Unfortunately, that was a gamble Frank W. Stevens was unwilling to make.
In hindsight, it was a decision both father and son lived to regret. Peter Sellers went on to make seven subsequent films before he died on 24 July 1980. But for the most part, these films were self insured by the studios, a risk that an independent company like Cinema Arts could not afford to take.
With the loss of Peter Sellers, the majority of the investors in "I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now" bailed out. The question was, could a lower budget film be made with the remaining funds? And, if so, would Frank Stevens still post completion? The answer was "yes," and "yes."
Unfortunately, due to the drastic budget cuts, the subsequent version could not live up to the quality of the original script despite a gallant effort by director Steven H. Stern. Too many key scenes were cut and casting compromises made. Ironically, neither Mickey Rose nor Steve Stern held Dennis F. Stevens responsible for the film's box-office failure, although it was Stevens' decision to green-light the project at the lower budget. Stern could have withdrawn from the project but chose to stick it out.
Obviously the competitive desire to get a feature film project into production clouded the judgment of an otherwise rational producer. Was this the end of the father-son relationship? Hardly.
Frank W. Stevens went on to executive produce and post completion for the "Ad Lib" (1981) television series, as well as "The Rocky Road" television series of the same year. And, yes: both series were "G" rated fare distributed to the Black Entertainment Network (BET) and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS), respectively.