ryanbrennan wrote:
In that linked article Richard Edlund is quoted as saying, "Ray was used by Charles Schneer who produced these lame movies that were badly written and cut and that took advantage of Ray's incredible stop-motion talent."  I've never heard anyone before imply that Schneer was an opportunist preying on a gifted artist.  Other than Schneer being called tight with a dollar or being a bit slow to give Harryhausen screen credit as a co-producer, I've not seen much criticism of him.  Or am I reading too much into "used" and "took advantage?'
Ditto what Ernie said.

The Edlund statement is insultingly ludicrous. To which "lame movies" is he referring ? Earth Vs.,  which does what George Pal did at Paramount with less than a third of the budget?  7th Voyage? (Schneer sure crapped that one up, didn't he?)  First Men "In" the Moon? Mysterious Island? Gwangi?

Cheap, penny-pinching, yes, which was the only way those things ever would have been given a go-ahead, even by Columbia. Loyal to a fault, yes.  Aspirations to do something more than kiddie fantasy?  Sure.  Teller of tall, self-serving tales? You bet-- like any producer.

Oh, if only that talentless Schneer would've gotten some real movie composers instead of those nonentities he'd always use.  And some decent cameramen instead of those ancient hacks or two-bit film students just out of USC.  Or some writers who could actually manage to put some interesting characters between the mandatory every-ten-minute animation scenes.

Edlund is a poo-poo head.

  

Last Edited By: Ted Newsom May 18 13 9:10 PM. Edited 1 times.