Bert I. Gordon, whose mutant monster movies featured giant rats, giant grasshoppers, giant chickens and 30-foot teenagers, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. he was 100 years old.
Gordon’s death was confirmed to the New York Times by his daughter, Patricia Gordon.
Patricia Gordon told The Hollywood Reporter that she died of complications after her father collapsed at home.
A staple of drive-ins in the 1950s and 1960s, Burt Gordon’s B-movies include low-budget films like Cyclops (1957), The Amazing Giant (1957), and The Beginning of the End. was included. (1957), “Earth vs. Spiders” (1958), “Puppet People Attack” (1958), “Tormented” (1960), “Boys and Pirates” (1960), “Picture Mommy Dead” (1966) ), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Variety, his films Necromancy (1972) starred Orson Welles and Food of the Gods (1976) starred Ida Lupino.
Gordon’s film, which was filled with improbable plot lines, ridiculous dialogue and crude special effects, was a hit at drive-in theaters, reported The Times.
According to the newspaper, some plots included a giant rat hovering over a girl in a negligee, Lupino being eaten by a mealworm, and locusts attacking a city.
Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin on September 24, 1922, Gordon was given a 16mm motion picture camera at a young age, Variety reported.
Gordon’s films sometimes took as little as two weeks. According to The Times, he used animal rear-projection magnification with a normal person in the foreground.
Since 1955, Gordon has produced, directed and written about 25 films, according to the paper.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gordon starred in four of his films in low-budget films with his first wife, Flora Lang, and their daughter, Susan Gordon.
Nicknamed “Mr. BIG,” Gordon was able to convince prominent actors to star in his films. In addition to Wells and Lupino, the roster includes Don Ameche, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Peter Graves, Basil Rathbone, Beau Bridges and Ron Howard, the entertainment news outlet reported.
