Charles H. Schneer(1920-2009)
- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
The son of a jeweller, Charles H. Schneer was chiefly famous for his
collaborations with animator and special effects wizard
Ray Harryhausen. Together, they created
some of the best-loved fantasy and science fiction films to grace the
silver screen between 1956 and 1981. Importantly, Schneer encouraged
Harryhausen's imaginative flights even to the point of exceeding his
budget - unlike many other producers active in the realm of low-budget
film making.
Schneer had initially entered the motion picture industry with Columbia
in New York in 1939. He worked as an assistant there for three years
and then did his wartime service with the U.S. Army Signals Corps
Photographic Unit, turning out training films at the Astoria Studio in
Queens, New York. After the war, he joined
Sam Katzman's B-unit at Columbia as
producer. It was Schneer's original concept of a giant octopus
enveloping the Golden Gate Bridge that led to his introduction to
Harryhausen and their subsequent joint work on
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955).
Despite a minuscule budget, the venture proved to be a notable
box-office success. Their next project together was the seminal science
fiction
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956),
which took Harryhausen's stop motion technique to the next level.
Again, it was Schneer who had provided original background research by
collecting news reports of actual UFO sightings.
By 1957, Schneer had ceased working for Katzman and became co-founder
and president of Morningside Productions as a means of gaining more
creative and financial control for both himself and Harryhausen (who
was henceforth also credited as associate producer). Their subsequent
ventures were based on mythological themes, rather than being simply
'creature features'. These included
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
(in which the three dimensional stop-motion animation process was first
referred to as "Dynamation");
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
and
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
(Schneer's own favourite among his films). In 1960, Schneer moved to
London to form an independent production company, American Films. He
produced several features without the involvement of Harryhausen,
notably a biopic of rocket engineer
Wernher von Braun. They later resumed
working together and had further successes with
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
and
Clash of the Titans (1981),
with its brilliant Medusa sequence.
Schneer retired in the 1980's, once stop-motion work had been somewhat
superseded by cheaper computer-generated special effects. He continued
to reside at his Holland Park home in West London until returning to
the United States just three years prior to his death in 2005.
collaborations with animator and special effects wizard
Ray Harryhausen. Together, they created
some of the best-loved fantasy and science fiction films to grace the
silver screen between 1956 and 1981. Importantly, Schneer encouraged
Harryhausen's imaginative flights even to the point of exceeding his
budget - unlike many other producers active in the realm of low-budget
film making.
Schneer had initially entered the motion picture industry with Columbia
in New York in 1939. He worked as an assistant there for three years
and then did his wartime service with the U.S. Army Signals Corps
Photographic Unit, turning out training films at the Astoria Studio in
Queens, New York. After the war, he joined
Sam Katzman's B-unit at Columbia as
producer. It was Schneer's original concept of a giant octopus
enveloping the Golden Gate Bridge that led to his introduction to
Harryhausen and their subsequent joint work on
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955).
Despite a minuscule budget, the venture proved to be a notable
box-office success. Their next project together was the seminal science
fiction
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956),
which took Harryhausen's stop motion technique to the next level.
Again, it was Schneer who had provided original background research by
collecting news reports of actual UFO sightings.
By 1957, Schneer had ceased working for Katzman and became co-founder
and president of Morningside Productions as a means of gaining more
creative and financial control for both himself and Harryhausen (who
was henceforth also credited as associate producer). Their subsequent
ventures were based on mythological themes, rather than being simply
'creature features'. These included
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
(in which the three dimensional stop-motion animation process was first
referred to as "Dynamation");
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
and
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
(Schneer's own favourite among his films). In 1960, Schneer moved to
London to form an independent production company, American Films. He
produced several features without the involvement of Harryhausen,
notably a biopic of rocket engineer
Wernher von Braun. They later resumed
working together and had further successes with
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
and
Clash of the Titans (1981),
with its brilliant Medusa sequence.
Schneer retired in the 1980's, once stop-motion work had been somewhat
superseded by cheaper computer-generated special effects. He continued
to reside at his Holland Park home in West London until returning to
the United States just three years prior to his death in 2005.