Sidney W. Pink

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Sidney W. Pink
Born
Sidney William Pink

(1916-04-06)April 6, 1916
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
DiedNovember 12, 2002(2002-11-12) (aged 86)
Pompano Beach, Florida, United States
Occupation(s)Film director, producer

Sidney W. Pink was an American film producer and occasional director.[1] He has been called the father of feature-length 3-D movies. He is also noted for producing early Spaghetti Westerns and low-budget science-fiction films, and for his role in actor Dustin Hoffman's transition from stage to screen.

Early life

Pink was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1916, the second of Philip and Rose (née Ehrenworth) Pink's two sons.[2] After playing the film producer in his high school's production of Merton of the Movies, he realized this was the profession he would ultimately pursue, calling it his life's ambition.[3] He worked as a projectionist in a movie theater owned by his wife's family and earned a degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

He worked for years running theatres.[4] Sometimes he presented stage shows in cinemas.[5]

Film production career

In 1952, Pink produced Bwana Devil, a feature-length color film that was the first widely-shown 3-D film to use the polarized 3-D method rather than the red-and-blue-glasses anaglyph 3-D occasionally used for short films. It was made using the Natural Vision system, which employed two separate but interlocked cameras and required two specially modified projectors. The film premiered in late November and started a brief but intense 3-D fad that peaked in mid-1953, faltered in the fall, rallied, then faded away almost completely during 1954.

In 1959, Pink produced The Angry Red Planet, using a new film processing technique he named CineMagic to create an unreal, otherworldly "Martian" effect in some sequences.

Foreign productions

In 1960, Pink wrote, directed and produced The Greeneyed Elephant for Saga Studios in Denmark. He also co-produced and co-directed the American version of Saga Studios' Reptilicus, a "giant-monster-on-the-loose" film. Pink also wrote, directed and produced Gateway Gaza, filmed in Cairo, Egypt. All three films were released by American International Pictures.[6]

Later films

In 1965, Pink co-wrote and directed the western movie Finger on the Trigger (also known as Blue Lightning), starring Rory Calhoun. The movie was filmed in Spain. Victor Mature was set to be the movie's star, but he didn't fulfill his contract and did not appear. Pink later sued Mature for $1.1 million dollars.[7]

In 1966, Pink discovered Dustin Hoffman in an off-Broadway stage production in New York City and cast him in the lead in Madigan's Millions, which was filmed in Italy and Spain. The film was not released until 1969, two years after Hoffman achieved stardom with his role in the 1967 film The Graduate. All told, Pink produced a total of more than 50 films.

Movie theatre owner

In the early 1970s, Pink built and owned movie theaters in the southeastern United States, including the Bainbridge Triple Mall Cinemas (now the closed Bainbridge Mall Cinemas) in Bainbridge, Georgia,[8] as well as theatres in Puerto Rico and Florida.

Death

Pink died in 2002 in Pompano Beach, Florida, following a long illness.

Partial filmography

References

  1. ^ Pink, Sidney (1989). So You Want to Make Movies: My Life As an Independent Film Producer. Pineapple Press, Inc. pp. 3. ISBN 0-910923-77-9.
  2. ^ "Pennsylvania, U.S., Marriages, 1852-1968 for Rose Pink". Ancestry.com. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  3. ^ Pink, Sidney (1989). So You Want to Make Movies: My Life As an Independent Film Producer. Pineapple Press, Inc. pp. 3. ISBN 0-910923-77-9.
  4. ^ A.H. Weiler (Mar 30, 1947). "RANDOM NOTES ABOUT PICTURES AND PEOPLE". New York Times. ProQuest 107996424.
  5. ^ "Stage, cinema bill proffered". Los Angeles Times. Dec 25, 1947. ProQuest 165835536.
  6. ^ "Pink to Film Three More in Denmark". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. November 8, 1960.
  7. ^ "Producer Sues Victor Mature for $1.1 Million". Los Angeles Times. Dec 8, 1964. p. 24.
  8. ^ "Bainbridge Mall Cinemas". Ancestry.com. Retrieved August 31, 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sidney_W._Pink&oldid=1107924029"