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Irving Allen
Irving Allen
Irving Allen
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Irving Allen (born Irving Applebaum; November 24, 1905 – December 17, 1987) was an Austro-Hungarian–born American theatrical and cinematic producer and director.[1]

Key Information

He received an Academy Award in 1948 for producing the short movie Climbing the Matterhorn. In the early 1950s, he formed Warwick Films with partner Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and relocated to England to leverage film making against a subsidy offered by the British government.[2] Through the 1950s, they each became known as one of the best independent film producers of the day, as the two men would sometimes work in tandem, but more often than not on independent projects for their joint enterprise producing multiple projects in a given year.[citation needed]

Biography

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Born in Lemberg (Austro-Hungary), Allen entered the film industry as an editor at Universal, Paramount and Republic in 1929. During the 1940s, he made a sequence of shorts, including the Academy Award-nominated Forty Boys and a Song (1941), which he directed.[3] His short films often won more acclaim than his low-budget features. He later said "for two years after that Oscar I was out of work. Then I decided there was no profit in being a genius."[4]

In the late 1940s, Allen started concentrating more fully on being a producer.

Warwick Films

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In the early 1950s, he led Warwick Films as the 'name producer', making films in both the US and England, with Albert R. Broccoli something of a junior partner. In 1957–1958, his partnership with Broccoli was strained both by Broccoli's family health crises (his second wife became terminally ill, soon after adopting one child and with a newborn) and to a lesser extent their disagreement over the film potential of the James Bond novel series. Broccoli was very interested, believing the novels could lead to a high quality series of films, and Allen was not, eschewing the potential of Broccoli's vision of Bond in favor of older established forms. The partners met with Bond author Ian Fleming separately in 1957, Cubby from New York where he'd retreated to care for his wife, but in the London meeting with Fleming arranged by Broccoli, Allen all but insulted Fleming, declaring that Fleming's novels weren't even "good enough for television". Broccoli mired in his troubles in New York, only knew that no deal had occurred until pre-production meetings with Fleming which resulted in the decision to make the Dr. No, as the first film project by Eon Productions.[2]

In 1959, captivated by the historical importance and a good script Warwick undertook the risky project of producing, funding, and distributing The Trials of Oscar Wilde, which was released in 1960. Ahead of the times, its frank unprejudiced depiction of homosexual issues ran into a ratings stone wall in the United States all but preventing any sort of advertising, and the company lost its large investment, Broccoli and Allen fell out, and the partnership became moribund, being dissolved officially in a 1961 bankruptcy liquidation.

Thus the two partners each turned into solo producers in late 1960. Broccoli went on to found Danjaq, S.A. and Eon Productions with Harry Saltzman beginning the Bond films on a shoestring budget, and Allen occupied himself with other projects.

Other Allen Projects

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Without Broccoli, Allen produced The Hellions (1961) in South Africa, and The Long Ships (1964) and Genghis Khan (1965) in Yugoslavia.[2]

In 1965 he announced he would make Clive of India with director Terence Young but it was not made.

Matt Helm

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Some years later, Allen cast about for his own spy series. He acquired the rights to Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm novels. Allen was responsible for the Matt Helm film series, The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row (1966), The Ambushers (1967), and The Wrecking Crew (1969).[2]

In July 1967, Allen said "At this stage I"m only interested in making money. I'm not interested in kudos or getting good reviews - I've had all that. I'm just concerned with getting the greatest number of people into theatres."[5] "I've done practically everything," he said. "There's no place I haven't been in the business. The only thing I can't do is write."[5]

Allen's Helm series had one major effect on Broccoli's Bond movies (produced at the time in partnership with Harry Saltzman). To get Dean Martin on board as Matt Helm, Allen had to make the actor a partner in the enterprise. Dean Martin ended up making more money on The Silencers (1966) than Sean Connery made on Thunderball (1965). This did not go unnoticed by Connery.

Other Allen films included The Desperados (1969).

Allen was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood, California.

Filmography

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References

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Irving Allen

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Irving Allen is an American film producer and director known for winning an Academy Award for producing the short film Climbing the Matterhorn (1947), for co-founding Warwick Films with Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli in the early 1950s, and for producing adventure and spy films including the Matt Helm series in the 1960s. Born Irving Applebaum on November 24, 1905, in Austria-Hungary, Allen began his film career in 1929 as an editor before transitioning to directing short subjects in the 1940s, where he achieved recognition for his work on documentary-style shorts. His production of Climbing the Matterhorn earned him the Academy Award for Best Two-Reel Short Subject in 1948. In the early 1950s, he relocated to England with Broccoli to form Warwick Films, capitalizing on British government subsidies to produce a string of independent adventure and action pictures throughout the decade, establishing them as prominent independent filmmakers of the era. After parting ways with Broccoli, Allen continued as a solo producer in the 1960s, most notably bringing Donald Hamilton's secret agent character Matt Helm to the screen with Dean Martin in a series of spy comedies, including The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row (1966), The Ambushers (1967), and The Wrecking Crew (1969). He died on December 17, 1987, in Encino, California.

Early life and education

Birth and early years

Irving Allen was born Irving Applebaum on November 24, 1905, in Austria-Hungary. Little information is available about his family background, childhood, or education in reliable sources.

Education and entry into the film industry

Irving Allen entered the film industry as a film editor.

Early career

Film editing work

Irving Allen began his career in the film industry as an editor in 1929, working at Universal, Paramount, and Republic studios. During the 1930s, he continued in film editing roles at these studios, contributing to the post-production process on various projects as he gained experience in the industry. Specific feature credits from this period are limited in available records, reflecting his early position in the field before he moved into directing and producing short subjects in the following decade.

Producing short subjects

Irving Allen joined Columbia Pictures in the early 1940s, where he produced and directed two-reel short subjects across various genres including travelogues, sports, and light documentaries. He created numerous shorts during the 1940s, with his work emphasizing high production values for the format, often featuring adventurous or educational content. Among his notable productions was "Climbing the Matterhorn" (1947), a documentary-style short that he directed and produced, which captured mountaineering feats and won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) at the 20th Academy Awards in 1948. Allen also received Academy Award nominations for other short subjects during this era, including for "Forty Boys and a Song" (1941), which he directed. His success with short subjects built his reputation as a reliable producer and director and set the stage for his transition to feature film production at Columbia.

Columbia Pictures era

Transition to feature production

Irving Allen transitioned to producing feature-length films at Columbia Pictures in 1951, after more than a decade of producing short subjects for the studio. His initial feature credits consisted of low-budget B-movies, primarily westerns, adventure pictures, and occasional horror or drama entries intended for the lower half of double bills. His first feature productions arrived in quick succession in 1951, beginning with the western The Longhorn, starring Wild Bill Elliott, followed by the psychological drama The Magic Face, the horror-themed The Son of Dr. Jekyll, and another western, New Mexico. These films exemplified Columbia's B-unit output, characterized by modest budgets, familiar genre tropes, and quick production schedules. In 1952, Allen continued this pace with additional B-pictures, including the swashbuckling adventure The Golden Hawk and the western Montana Territory. These projects represented a significant step up in scope from his short film work, though they remained firmly within Columbia's economy-conscious feature slate. Allen's experience during this period laid the groundwork for his subsequent move to independent production in the United Kingdom.

Warwick Films

Formation and partnership with Albert R. Broccoli

In 1951, Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli founded Warwick Films in London as an independent production company. The partners established the venture to capitalize on financial advantages available in the United Kingdom, including tax incentives, government subsidies, lower production costs relative to Hollywood, weaker union restrictions, and the ability to utilize frozen funds while accessing diverse European locations for shooting. Warwick Films operated with Columbia Pictures as its primary backer and distributor, securing financing and release for most of its output. Allen and Broccoli functioned as collaborative producers, often working in tandem or separately on projects under the shared banner, establishing themselves as prominent independent filmmakers during the decade. The partnership endured into the early 1960s, when creative differences—including disagreement over pursuing the James Bond film rights—strained their working relationship and led to its eventual dissolution.

Major Warwick productions

Warwick Films, the production company formed by Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli, focused primarily on adventure, action, and war-themed features throughout the 1950s, often utilizing American stars in British-shot productions to capitalize on government subsidies and international appeal. The company's major output began with The Red Beret (1953), starring Alan Ladd as a Canadian paratrooper in a World War II story, marking Warwick's entry into feature filmmaking. This was followed by two more Alan Ladd vehicles: Hell Below Zero (1954), an Antarctic adventure involving salvage operations, and The Black Knight (1954), a medieval action tale set in England. The mid-1950s saw continued expansion with Safari (1956), starring Victor Mature and Janet Leigh in an African big-game adventure. Fire Down Below (1957) featured a high-profile cast including Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum, and Jack Lemmon in a Caribbean-set drama of rivalry, smuggling, and romance. Later Warwick productions included The Long Haul (1957), with Victor Mature and Diana Dors in a tense story of truckers and crime, No Time to Die (1958; also released as Tank Force), starring Victor Mature in a World War II POW escape narrative, and Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959), featuring Robert Taylor in an African railway-building adventure. Alan Ladd's recurring role in three early Warwick films helped define the company's initial commercial strategy of pairing Hollywood stars with British production values. These titles constituted a core part of Warwick Films' output before the Allen-Broccoli partnership concluded.

Later career

Independent film productions

After the dissolution of his partnership with Albert R. Broccoli and Warwick Films in 1961, following the commercial failure of their final joint project The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), Irving Allen transitioned to independent film production. The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), directed by Ken Hughes, was a biographical drama starring Peter Finch as Oscar Wilde. The film was self-financed by Warwick Films due to its controversial subject matter and inability to secure external funding, but its financial loss contributed to the end of the Allen-Broccoli partnership. Allen continued with large-scale adventure films, producing The Long Ships in 1964, directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier in a quest for a golden bell. This international co-production blended action and spectacle. In the mid-1960s, Allen found commercial success with the Matt Helm series, a tongue-in-cheek spy franchise starring Dean Martin as the playboy secret agent Matt Helm, adapted from Donald Hamilton's novels. The films parodied the James Bond phenomenon with humor, gadgets, and glamorous settings, including The Silencers (1966), directed by Phil Karlson; Murderers' Row (1966); The Ambushers (1967); and The Wrecking Crew (1969), directed by Phil Karlson. These pictures were produced under Allen's Meadway Productions banner and represented his most sustained independent series. Allen's later independent work included additional films such as Genghis Khan (1965) and Cromwell (1970), though he produced fewer high-profile features in subsequent years. He remained active in production into the early 1970s.

Directing credits

Irving Allen's directing credits are limited, as his career primarily emphasized producing and developing projects rather than directing them himself. He had no feature directing credits in his later career after the early 1950s.

Television production

In the later stages of his career, Irving Allen shifted focus to television production. His most prominent television credit was as executive producer on Matt Helm (1975), an American mystery series aired on ABC that adapted Donald Hamilton's novels into a lighter, episodic format starring Tony Franciosa as the titular former secret agent turned private detective and photographer. The show, produced by Columbia Pictures Television, emphasized action and intrigue across its single season. Following this, Allen's production activity wound down.

Personal life and death

Family and personal life

Little information about Irving Allen's marital status, children, or personal residences is documented in reliable public sources. Born Irving Applebaum on November 24, 1905, in Austria-Hungary, Allen lived much of his adult life in California.

Death and legacy

Irving Allen died on December 17, 1987, in Encino, California, at the age of 82. No specific cause of death was publicly reported in contemporary accounts or biographical records. Allen's legacy endures primarily through his instrumental role in developing British-American co-productions during the 1950s and early 1960s via Warwick Films, the independent production company he formed with Albert R. Broccoli. This partnership produced a series of commercially successful adventure and action films shot largely in the United Kingdom, helping to establish a model for transatlantic filmmaking that combined Hollywood financing and talent with British locations and crews. The collaboration ended in the early 1960s when Allen disagreed with Broccoli's desire to produce the James Bond films, after which Broccoli partnered with Harry Saltzman to launch the James Bond franchise with Dr. No (1962). Allen's work helped popularize the adventure genre in international markets and contributed to the growth of independent production structures that became more prevalent in later decades of the film industry.
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