Coleman C. Francis (January 24, 1919 – January 15, 1973) was an American actor, writer, producer and director. Coleman Francis. After fading into obscurity for decades, Francis' three directed films gained cult status after being featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the mid-1990s. Also, the plots of his scripts often wander inexplicably, so much so that some critics have suggested that it represents an intentional artistic style. 14/08/2020. But Francis isn't remotely as well known as Edward D. Wood, Jr., though not through any lack of effort on his part. Francis was one up on Wood in one very important respect, however, as he seems to have kept his acting career going -- something that Wood never could do -- and was still getting small roles in movies right up until 1970. He was an actor and director, known for Night Train to Mundo Fine (1966), The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) and The Skydivers (1963). Taylor drew seven holding calls within Hollywood the sport, but Dowling wasn’t liable for any of them. It is only the fact of that more limited output, and also the reality that Francis' personal life wasn't highlighted by such elements as transvestism (or a connection to the sexual underworld of the Truman/Eisenhower eras) -- all leading to the Tim Burton biographical film -- that has prevented Francis' discovery by a larger-scale public. Genealogy profile for Coleman Francis Coleman Francis (1814 - 1880) - Genealogy Genealogy for Coleman Francis (1814 - 1880) family tree on Geni, with over … Francis and his films have gained a cult status as a result of their appearances on the comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000, where they became infamous for their poor production values, repetitive plot devices, meandering and incomprehensible storylines, and stilted acting. Coleman Francis was born on January 24, 1919 in Oklahoma, USA. A couple of minutes later, Berg truly doubles again to indicate us security footage from the melee, confirming the worst suspicions about how self-destructive his style has become. The latter -- who may have peripherally identified with (or, more likely, pitied) the actor-turned-writer/director/producer -- used Francis in small roles in Motor Psycho (1965) and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). Coleman Francis. He is a creative black hole that swallows all sound, light, motion and sanity. 14/08/2020. He was an actor and director, known for Night Train to Mundo Fine (1966), The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) and The Skydivers (1963). His films have the moral compass of David Berkowitz. Both were extremely low-budget productions, with seams showing throughout most scenes and shots. He died on January 15, 1973 in Hollywood, California, USA. One of the trademarks of his style as a director was to feature coffee as a central plot point or a focus of conversation. Is interred at the Columbarium of Remembrance at Westwood Village Memoria Park Cemetary in Los Angeles. He was married to Barbara Francis.He died on January 15, 1973 in Hollywood, California, USA. Four were on Bills heart Will Grant and three on left guard Rick Schulte. His major themes are death, hatefulness, death, pain, and death. Francis was born in Greer County, Oklahoma in 1919. Amid these tiny assignments, he also started doing television, including appearances on Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, Dragnet, and Highway Patrol. Coleman Francis is frequently compared to Edward D. Wood, Jr. as a filmmaker, and with good reason: their movies have similar characteristics, and even a couple of overlapping cast members. Several of his acting jobs, albeit mostly minuscule screen appearances, were in pictures made by directors who did attract attention as auteurs: Ray Dennis Steckler and Russ Meyer. Other Works What's more, where Wood sank lower and lower into the periphery of the movie business after 1960, when he ceased making his own movies, Francis somehow managed to remain within the orbit of filmmakers who still had a viable (and even rising) career. Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/12/coleman-francis-the-real-worst-director-in-film-hi.html, "Anthony Cardoza Recalls the Fallout From, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coleman_Francis&oldid=959279523, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 28 May 2020, at 00:23. 0 4 minutes read. Francis wrote and directed the films, while Cardoza handled production duties. By this time, he apparently saw that the real money and control in the business lay in the production end, and he started devising screenplays with the advent of the new decade. The actor-turned-filmmaker started making movies about a decade later than his younger contemporary Wood, and only made three movies as a writer/director/producer. But Francis somehow soldiered on, making the even more amazingly threadbare (and incompetent) The Skydivers (1963) a couple of years later, and Night Train to Mundo Fine (aka, Red Zone Cuba) (1966) three years after that. Official Sites, People on the ground being shot at from light aircraft, Same location in all his films--Yucca Flats, Yucca Mountain and the surrounding area. All of his movies feature characters named "Joe". |  Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed ), memorial page for Coleman Francis (1808–8 May 1880), Find a Grave Memorial no. Coleman Francis was born on January 24, 1919 in Oklahoma, USA. He started turning up in uncredited roles in some low-budget Columbia Pictures titles in the late '40s, and by the early '50s could be glimpsed in small, mostly uncredited roles, primarily in lower-budgeted productions: he's a power plant employee in Killers From Space (1954) and a delivery driver in This Island Earth (1955). He looks like Curly Howard possessed by demons from Hell. Coleman C. Francis (January 24, 1919 – January 15, 1973) was an American actor, writer, producer, and director. 0 4 minutes read. He was best known for his film trilogy consisting of The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961), The Skydivers (1963) and Red Zone Cuba (1966), all three of which were filmed in the general vicinity of Santa Clarita, California. They had two sons, Alan and Ronald, who appeared as Art and Randy Radcliffe in The Beast of Yucca Flats and the spectator's sons in The Skydivers. Alas, Francis had developed a serious weight problem by the 1960s that he was never able to get under control, and he died in 1973, officially of natural causes, although there seem to be conflicting accounts of the precise circumstances. Coleman Francis is an un-movie maker, a person who does not create film but uncreates it. The Beast of Yucca Flats, by virtue of its being science fiction, did make it to television in the early/middle 1960s, mostly on late-late-show programs by small stations outside of the major markets. In 1958, he got his first credited part, as a detective, in Irvin Kershner's Stakeout on Dope Street. Francis married Barbara Francis, and while the two had divorced prior to the filming of The Beast of Yucca Flats,[2] she was cast as Lois Radcliffe in Beast and appeared as the wife of a spectator (played by Coleman) in its follow-up, The Skydivers. His reputation, such as it is, has outlived him, however, mostly by virtue of The Beast of Yucca Flats; that and the other two movies he directed all turned up on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which greatly boosted his name recognition starting 25 years after his death. The movie was so ineptly made that a major part of a book could have been written about the errors in any given scene; indeed, next to Johnson's earlier films for Wood, much of The Beast of Yucca Flats had the look of a bad home movie. Some critics have characterized Francis as being the worst director of all-time, even suggesting that he may surpass Ed Wood in terms of ineptitude.[1]. |  In point of fact, Coleman Francis' three movies make parts of Wood's work look, by comparison, almost polished, and mostly well devised and executed. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. Though arteriosclerosis is listed as the official cause of death, Cardoza says Francis' body was found in the back of a station wagon at the Vine Street Ranch Market with "a plastic bag over his head and a tube going into his mouth or around his throat". In 1959, Francis formed a partnership with Anthony "Tony" Cardoza, a welder by trade, and together they created three films: The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961), The Skydivers (1963) and Red Zone Cuba (1966). 1958 brought his first credited role, Stakeout on Dope Street, where he played a detective. He played minor parts in several films from the late 1940s to early 1970s, often without credit, including Blondie's Reward, Scarlet Angel, The Girl in White, This Island Earth, She Couldn't Say No, Twilight for the Gods, P. J. and Motorpsycho. In the 1940s, Francis headed for Hollywood to start an acting career. Coleman C. Francis (January 24, 1919 – January 15, 1973) was an American actor, writer, producer and director. During the Great Depression, he moved to Texas. Francis' movies, with their incoherent plots, absurd characters, and portrayals (if that's the word; he mostly seems to have used friends in his movies, another point of comparison with Wood), and haphazard editing and assembly, were never taken seriously. Francis was born in Oklahoma in early 1919, and later moved to Texas, and finally, in the 1940s, journeyed to California, with the intent of joining the movie business. Small and stocky and able to bench press greater than 500 pounds, Schulte had no hesitation squaring off towards Taylor. Francis died in California on January 15, 1973 at the age of 53. The first tangible result was The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961), a hopelessly amateurish sci-fi/horror film starring Wood alumnus Tor Johnson in the title role (and featuring Conrad Brooks, also a Wood player, in a small part). Coleman Francis uses edits like blunt instruments. His last work in the film industry was in 1970, when he played a drunk in Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. 117614186, citing Mooresville Cemetery, Mooresville, Morgan County, Indiana, USA ; Maintained by dhf1`49 (contributor 47342976) . Coleman Francis is frequently compared to Edward D. Wood, Jr. as a filmmaker, and with good reason: their movies have similar characteristics, and even a couple of overlapping cast members.

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