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Filmways

Filmways
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Foundation date 1 january 1958

Filmways, Inc. (also known as Filmways Pictures and Filmways Television) was a television and film production company founded by both American film executive Martin Ransohoff and Edwin Kasper in 1952. It is probably best remembered as the production company of CBS’ “rural comedies” of the 1960s, including The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres, as well as the comedy-drama The Trials of O'Brien, the western Dundee and the Culhane, the adventure show Bearcats!, the police drama Cagney & Lacey, and the sitcoms Mr. Ed and The Addams Family. Notable films the company produced include The Sandpiper, The Cincinnati Kid, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Ice Station Zebra, Summer Lovers, The Burning, King and Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill and Blow Out.

Filmways acquired famous companies throughout the years, such as Heatter-Quigley Productions, Ruby-Spears Productions and American International Pictures. It was also the owner of the film distributor Sigma III Corporation (Closely Watched Trains, Hi, Mom!).

Best films

Death Wish II
Death Wish II
(1982) Dressed to Kill
Dressed to Kill
(1980) Topkapi
Topkapi
(1964) The Sandpiper
The Sandpiper
(1965) Save the Tiger
Save the Tiger
(1973) The Fearless Vampire Killers
The Fearless Vampire Killers
(1967)
See more : Wikipedia

Filmography of Filmways (57 films)

Display filmography as list

Production

Blow Out
Blow Out (1981)
, 1h47
Directed by Brian De Palma
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Horror, Crime
Themes Assassinat, Films about films, Serial killer films, Political films
Actors John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz, John McMartin, Bernie Rachelle

While in post-production on a low-budget exploitation film, Philadelphia sound technician Jack Terry (Travolta) is told by his producer that he needs a more realistic sounding scream and better wind effects. After leaving the studio to record potential sound effects at a local park, he sees a car careen off the road and plunge into a nearby creek. Jack dives into the water to help, discovering a dead man and a young woman, still alive, trapped inside the submerged car. He pulls her to safety and accompanies her to a local hospital. Jack learns that the driver of the car was the governor (and a presidential hopeful); the girl was an escort named Sally (Allen). Associates of the governor attempt to whitewash the incident by concealing that Sally was in the car, and they convince Jack to smuggle Sally out of the hospital with him.
The Babysitter
The Babysitter (1980)
, 1h36
Directed by Peter Medak
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller
Actors William Shatner, Patty Duke, Stéphanie Zimbalist, John Houseman, Quinn Cummings, David Wallace

Dr. Jeff Benedict (Shatner) and his wife Liz (Duke Astin) have relocated to Seattle from Chicago. They have a 12-year old daughter Tara (Cummings), and Liz feels that she needs some help with childcare and housekeeping. She happens to meet an 18-year old girl named Joanna Redwine (Zimbalist). Without consulting her husband, Liz hires Joanna as a live-in nanny. She weans Tara off of TV and engages her in outdoor activities.
Two-Minute Warning
Two-Minute Warning (1976)
, 1h55
Directed by Larry Peerce
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Sports films, American football films
Actors Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Martin Balsam, Beau Bridges, David Janssen, Jack Klugman

An unknown sniper (Warren Miller) positions himself at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum prior to a professional football championship (dubbed as "Championship X") similar to The Super Bowl. He is spotted by a Goodyear Blimp camera. Police and SWAT team are immediately called in by the stadium manager Sam McKeever (Martin Balsam).
The White Dawn
The White Dawn (1974)
, 1h50
Directed by Philip Kaufman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Historical
Actors Warren Oates, Timothy Bottoms, Louis Gossett Jr.

When three whalers become stranded in Northern Canada’s Arctic in 1896, they are rescued by Inuit. In the beginning, the Inuit accept the strangers' European ways, but as this increasingly influences and affects their customs, things slowly fall apart and cultural tension grows until the climax.
Save the Tiger
Save the Tiger (1973)
, 1h40
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, Norman Burton, Laurie Heineman, Patricia Smith, Thayer David

The film's main character is Harry Stoner (Jack Lemmon), an executive at an apparel company close to ruin. With no legal way to keep the company from going under, Stoner considers torching his warehouse for the insurance settlement. The arson is agreed to very reluctantly by his partner (Jack Gilford), a stable family man who watches Harry's decline with alarm. Through it all, Harry drinks, laments the state of the world, and tries his best to keep the business rolling as usual. This last task is complicated when a client has a heart attack in the arms of a prostitute provided by Stoner. With nerves still shaky, Stoner takes the stage at the premiere of his company's new line, only to be overcome by war memories. He ends the day spontaneously deciding to go home with a young, free-spirited girl hitchhiker, whose ignorance of his generation underscores his isolation from the world around him.
Fuzz
Fuzz (1972)
, 1h32
Directed by Richard Colla
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Action, Crime
Themes Buddy films
Actors Burt Reynolds, Jack Weston, Tom Skerritt, Yul Brynner, Raquel Welch, Dominic Chianese

Detectives Steve Carella (Reynolds), Meyer Meyer (Weston), Eileen McHenry (Welch) and Bert Kling (Skeritt) are part of the 87th Precinct's team, investigating a murder-extortion racket run by a mysterious deaf man (Brynner). While attempting to investigate and prevent the murders of several high-ranking city officials, they also must keep track of the perpetrators of a string of robberies. Further complicating matters is a rash of arson attacks on homeless men.
What's the Matter with Helen?
What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)
, 1h41
Directed by Curtis Harrington
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Musical, Crime, Romance
Actors Debbie Reynolds, Shelley Winters, Dennis Weaver, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Dean Stanton, Peggy Rea

Leonard Hill and Wesley Bruckner are seen being loaded into a paddywagon to face life sentences in prison for the Iowa murder of Ellie Banner. Their mothers, Helen Hill (Shelley Winters) and Adelle Bruckner (Debbie Reynolds) fight a crowd to their car.
10 Rillington Place
10 Rillington Place (1971)
, 1h51
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Biography, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Prison films, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry, Films about capital punishment
Actors Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt, Jimmy Gardner, Isobel Black, André Morell

The film begins in 1944 with John Christie murdering his neighbor Muriel Eady: he lures her to his flat in 10 Rillington Place by promising to cure her bronchitis with a "special mixture", then incapacitates her with carbon monoxide gas, strangles her with a piece of rope, and has (implied) sex with her corpse. He buries her in his flat block's communal garden, where a dog uncovers one of his previous victims.
See No Evil
See No Evil (1971)
, 1h29
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about disabilities, La cécité
Actors Mia Farrow, Dorothy Alison, Robin Bailey, Norman Eshley, Paul Nicholas, Michael Elphick

After being blinded in a horse riding accident, Sarah (Mia Farrow) visits her uncle's home. Out on a date with her boyfriend Steve (Norman Eshley), she escapes the fate of her relatives (Dorothy Alison, Robin Bailey, and Diane Grayson), who are murdered at their home by a psychotic killer. Sarah returns from her date and spends the night in the house, unaware that three of her family members' corpses are strewn about the house.
Catch-22
Catch-22 (1970)
, 2h2
Directed by Mike Nichols, Andrew Marton
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Military humor in film, Transport films, Aviation films, Political films, United States Armed Forces in films
Actors Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford, Buck Henry

Captain Yossarian (Alan Arkin), a U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bombardier, is stationed on the Mediterranean base on Pianosa during World War II. Along with his squadron members, Yossarian is committed to flying dangerous missions, and after watching friends die, he seeks a means of escape.
The Moonshine War
The Moonshine War (1970)
, 1h40
Directed by Richard Quiney
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Crime, Western
Actors Patrick McGoohan, Alan Alda, Richard Widmark, Teri Garr, Will Geer, Melodie Johnson Howe

A man called Son Martin makes moonshine whiskey, owning and operating a profitable still in Prohibition-era Kentucky. One day, he gets a visit from an old Army acquaintance, Frank Long, who is now an Internal Revenue agent.
Castle Keep
Castle Keep (1969)
, 1h45
Directed by Sydney Pollack
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Comedy, Action, Historical, Romance
Themes Political films
Actors Burt Lancaster, Bruce Dern, Patrick O'Neal, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Peter Falk, Astrid Heeren

The film opens with long, beautiful shots of ancient European art and sculptures being blown to pieces amidst the sounds of war and dissonant screams; a lone narrator begins his tale of "eight American soldiers" as the scene abruptly flashes back to a few weeks beforehand. Prior to the Battle of the Bulge, a ragtag squad of American soldiers (strongly implied to be some sort of convalescent or disciplinary outfit), led by one-eyed Major Falconer (Burt Lancaster) and including Sgt. Rossi (Peter Falk), art expert Captain Beckman (Patrick O'Neal), and the highly intelligent narrator and sole African- American, Pvt. Allistair Benjamin (Al Freeman, Jr.), takes shelter in an ancient Belgian castle, the Maldorais, containing many priceless and irreplaceable art treasures. Although Falconer begins an affair with the young and beautiful Countess, he is surprised to find the Count (Jean-Pierre Aumont) encouraging him; in fact, the impotent nobleman hopes the Major will impregnate the Countess so that his line may continue. Meanwhile, Beckman begins to butt heads with Falconer over both the value of the art (in the context of either saving or destroying it in the event of a German assault) as well as Beckman's own unrequited attraction to the Countess, who seems to symbolize the beauty and majesty of the European art he studied before the war. The enlisted men seek their own pleasures in the brothel of the nearby town, the psychedelic "Red Queen" run by a mystical madam, whilst Beckman marvels at the castle's artworks, many of which are stored beneath the castle for safekeeping. Sgt. Rossi, a baker before the war, falls in love with a baker's widow and decides to go AWOL, resuming his pre-war life; another soldier falls in love with a Volkswagen Beetle; his affection for the foreign vehicle borders on paraphilia and becomes a long running and anachronistic gag throughout the entire movie.