Director Robert Butler put stamp on 'Batman,' other landmark series - Los Angeles Times
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Director Robert Butler put stamp on ‘Batman,’ other landmark series

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Before there was Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando and James Dean, there was John Garfield. The New York theater actor brought a brooding intensity and realism to his roles in such films as 1938’s “Four Daughters†and 1947’s “Body and Soul†(he earned Oscar nominations for both) and 1945’s “The Postman Always Rings Twice.†Warner Archive’s recently released six of his movies on DVD: 1939’s “Dust Be My Destiny†and “Blackwell’s Islandâ€; 1940’s “Flowing Gold,†“Saturday’s Childrenâ€â€™ and “East of the River; and 1941’s “Dangerously They Live.†A victim of the blacklist, Garfield died of a heart attack at age 39 in 1952. Pictured: American movie star John Garfield, left, testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee on April 23, 1951, accompanied by his lawyers, Louis Hizey, center, and Sidney Davis.  (Bob Mulligan / AFP / Getty Images)
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One of Lon Chaney’s greatest cinematic feats was playing Victor Hugo’s tragic Quasimodo in the lavish 1923 Universal silent “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.†His poignant performance made Chaney one of the major players in Hollywood. No expense was spared to bring this classic to the big screen. Acres of Universal’s back lot were transformed into 15th century Paris, including the elaborate facade of the Notre Dame Cathedral. The production took six months to film, using 750 crew members and more than 2,000 extras. Now Flicker Alley in association with Blackhawk Films Collection has released the Blu-ray of this seminal silent. Since the film apparently did not survive in 35mm, the digital restoration was made from a multi-tinted 16mm print that had been struck from the original camera negative in 1926. This edition also features a new symphonic score arranged by Donald Hunsberger and conducted by Robert Israel. For more information go to http://www.flickeralley.com. Pictured: Lon Chaney as Quasimodo in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,†directed by Wallace Worsley, 1923.  (Universal Pictures / Getty Images)
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Lewis Allen’s 1944 “The Uninvited†is one of the best ghost stories you probably have never seen. Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey play a London-based brother and sister who fall in love with a beautiful, abandoned seaside house during a vacation to the British coast. They are surprised when they are able to buy the house for a very low price, but they soon find out why they got it for such a bargain. A favorite of directors Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro, “The Uninvited†also stars Donald Crisp and Gail Russell. And Victor Young’s lush score produced the hit “Stella by Starlight,†based on the film’s main theme. Criterion has just released the new digital restoration of “The Uninvited†on Blu-ray.  (Keystone / Getty Images)
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John Cherry, partner and head of the creative department at Carden and Cherry Advertising in Nashville, hit pay dirt in the 1980s with a series of quirky commercials starring the late rubber-faced Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell, an unwelcome pest of an unseen neighbor named Vern. Ernest’s catchphrases, “Hey, Vern†and “Know WhutImean?,†quickly became part of the pop lexicon. Ernest proved so popular with kids that Varney and Cherry took the character to the big screen for several films, starting with 1987’s “Ernest Goes to Camp†to television with the 1988 CBS kids’ show, “Hey Vern, It’s Ernest.†Cherry has written a memoir which he points out is not for children about his experiences called “Keeper of the Clown: My Life With Ernest,†available on Amazon, at bookstores and at http://www.HeyVernItsErnest.com.m.  (Mark Humphrey / Associated Press)
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Over the last few years cinema and TV buffs have become addicted to Warner Archive, which has released classics, rarities and vintage TV series and movies on DVD. Now cineastes can get access to even more classic product on the Warner Archive Instant pay streaming service. The service isn’t available on iPad or IPhone, but it can be accessed on computers or by using a Roku2 or 3 set-top box hooked up to an HDTV. Selections are added weekly. Some available titles that aren’t yet on DVD include the TV series “77 Sunset Strip†and “Hawaiian Eye.†For more information go to http://instant.warnerarchive.com. Pictured, Edd “Kookie†Byrnes from “77 Sunset Strip,†circa 1960.  (Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images)
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Will Hutchins of “Sugarfoot†in 1958. Hutchins starred as a clumsy cowboy in the ABC series. The first season of the genial western TV series “Sugarfoot†has moseyed onto DVD thanks to Warner Archive. Will Hutchins starred in the ABC series, which alternated on the network with “Cheyenne,†from 1957 to ’59 and “Bronco†from 1959 to ’60. Hutchins played Tom “Sugarfoot†Brewster, a young correspondence-school law student from the east who heads west for adventure and excitement only to discover he’s a pretty clumsy cowboy. Among the guest stars appearing on the series were Dennis Hopper, Charles Bronson and Martin Landau. “Sugarfoot,†which was based on the 1954 film “The Boy From Oklahoma,†rode off into the sunset in 1961.  (Cloyd Teter / Denver Post via Getty Images)
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In 50 years, he made more than 400 films and worked with Douglas Fairbanks, Shirley Temple and John Wayne.

Director Allan Dwan’s career spanned from the early silent era in 1911 through 1961. He made more than 400 films including Douglas Fairbanks’ 1922 “Robin Hood†and 1929’s “The Iron Mask,†Shirley Temple’s 1937 melodrama “Heidi†and the John Wayne 1949 war film “Sands of Iwo Jima.†Called the “last pioneer†by Peter Bogdanovich, he’s the subject of an exhaustive book, “Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios†by Frederic Lombardi. The richly detailed study of Dwan coincides with the Museum of Modern Art’s upcoming retrospective of the director’s work.  (Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
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Silent screen star John Gilbert stands out in ‘Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 6.’ Warner Archive’s new “Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 6†includes such pre-Code goodies as 1932’s “The Wet Parade†and 1934’s “Mandalay†and “Massacre.†But the pièce de résistance of the set is 1932’s delectable melodrama “Downstairs,†starring John Gilbert, who also wrote the story. The silent screen star struggled in talkies after the disastrous 1929 melodrama “His Glorious Night,†but “Downstairs,†in which he gives one of his most daring performances as a charming but manipulative chauffeur, proves that Gilbert had the chops for the sound era.  (Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
By Susan King
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Emmy Award-winning director Robert Butler was looking over his list of credits recently in preparation for the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s “Evening With Robert Butler†celebration Thursday at the Billy Wilder Theater.

“I won’t be coy,†confessed the 86-year-old Butler. “I looked at the list and was staggered. I never really totaled them up.â€

FOR THE RECORD:
Robert Butler: An article in the Jan. 19 Calendar section about TV director Robert Butler says that UCLA Film & Television Archive’s “An Evening With Robert Butler†will be Jan. 23 at the Billy Wilder Theater. The event will take place the evening of Jan. 24. The error was discovered after the section went to press. —

In a career that spanned more than five decades, Butler directed the pilot episodes of such landmark series as “Hogan’s Heroes,†“Batman,†“Star Trek,†“Hill Street Blues†(for which he won one of his three Emmy Awards), “Remington Steele,†which he created with Michael Gleason, and “Moonlighting.â€

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Along the way, he helmed episodes of such beloved TV series as “The Fugitive,†“Gunsmoke,†“I Spy,†“The Dick Dyke Show†and “The Untouchables.†He also directed several TV movies, winning two Emmys for the 1973 four-hour police drama “The Blue Knight†with William Holden.

And Disney fans know him as the director of such feature comedies as 1969’s “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes†and 1971’s “The Barefoot Executive,†both starring then-teen idol Kurt Russell.

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“Given his numerous contributions to pop culture, he should be a household name,†said Mark Quigley, manager of the archive’s Research and Study Center, who will be chatting with Butler on Thursday. Screening that evening will be “The Cage,†the original 1965 pilot of “Star Trek†starring Jeffrey Hunter as Capt. Christopher Pike that was rejected by NBC for being too cerebral, and “Publish or Perish,†a 1974 installment of the NBC mystery series “Columbo†starring Peter Falk.

“There really is no parallel when it comes to the breadth of iconic TV programs he worked on and the number of TV pilots he directed,†said Quigley. “A director like Butler was able to come in and help establish motifs that allowed these series to be embraced by audiences. If you look at the scope and scale, from ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ to ‘Moonlighting,’ it shows a real ease across genres.â€

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There’s a real ease to Butler himself. He’s a genial and funny raconteur during a recent interview in his expansive Westwood home. The key to directing, Butler said, “is about winning as many arguments as you can.†And as he got more control, Butler won a lot of arguments.

A UCLA alum with a degree in English, Butler said he was “trained in the best kindergarten†for aspiring directors in the 1950s — CBS Television City.

“I was an usher for three weeks and a receptionist for two weeks, a production clerk for couple of years, a stage manager for a couple of years and an associate director for a few years,†he recalled.

“Seven years at CBS TV City taught me the alphabet,†said Butler, who during that period worked on classic anthology series such as “Playhouse 90.â€

His first directing job was in 1959 on the Jackie Cooper series “Hennesey,†in which he directed a young Ron Howard. Butler’s work on that series led to him directing the top shows of the day.

Butler’s first pilot assignment was the World War II sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes,†which aired on CBS from 1965-1971. “That was an accident, because the director dropped out,†said Butler.

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Next, he put the Pop Art touches (BAM!, POW!) into the pilot of ABC’s campy cult fave “Batman†with Adam West and Burt Ward; it ran from 1966-1968.

But it was his work on the 1980s series “Hill Street Blues†that changed the look of police procedural dramas. In fact, the pilot was groundbreaking on many levels. It was naturalistic, gritty and grimy. The use of hand-held cameras gave it a documentary feel.

His friend Grant Tinker, co-founder of MTM Enterprises, sent Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll’s pilot script for “Hill Street Blues†to Butler to read. Surprisingly, Butler had his reservations.

“My first thought was, ‘Do we need another cop show?’ †said Butler. “I had a good amount of directorial disdain, which is always helpful. I realized it was quite comedic. We met, we talked. I mentioned the comedy. I got offered it.â€

With the pilot, Butler wanted to shake things up. “We lit too much, we were too clean and orderly,†he said. “I told the cinematographer to make it look bad, and he would whisper to me, ‘It looks really bad,’ and I would say, ‘Make it look worse!’ â€

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Susan King

Susan King is a former entertainment writer at the Los Angeles Times who specialized in Classic Hollywood stories. She also wrote about independent, foreign and studio movies and occasionally TV and theater stories. Born in East Orange, N.J., she received her master’s degree in film history and criticism at USC. She worked for 10 years at the L.A. Herald Examiner and came to work at The Times in January 1990. She left in 2016.

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