Gordon Hessler obit

RIP: Gordon Hessler

 He was not on the list.

Gordon Hessler, the British feature film and television director, passed away in his sleep on Sunday, January 19, 2014 after an undisclosed illness. He was 88, although most sources erroneously list him as being born in 1930. The news was confirmed by Douglas Dunning of Cinema Epoch, who was a good friend of Mr. Hessler’s. In addition to director, Mr. Hessler was also a screenwriter and a producer.

Although he was born and raised in England, he and his family moved to the United States during his adolescence. He got behind the camera for a series of short films and then progressed to documentaries before working for Universal Studios as a story reader and story editor on Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

He got into feature film Making with The Woman Who Wouldn’t Die (1965), The Last Shot You Hear (1969), and a series of well-known horror films: The Oblong Box (1968), Scream and Scream Again (1970), Cry of the Banshee (1970), and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971). The Golden Voyage of Sinbad followed in 1974, along with much television work such as The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977) and the infamous KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978).

Arguably considered to be his best work (yours truly agrees) is his often maligned 1988 film adaptation of Richard Adam’s 1980 novel The Girl in a Swing, a romantic ghost story which stars Meg Tilly in the title role and Rupert Frazier as the man who falls for her. The film was released unrated here in the States by Millimeter Films, a subsidiary of Miramax, and received a VHS and laserdisc release. Truncated and marred by the addition of a voiceover by actor Frazer in an effort to fill in the blanks, the uncut version has remained largely unseen. It is my hope that it finds its way to Blu-ray and is rediscovered by a new generation of fans who have never heard of it because it deserves to be seen.

THE GIRL IN A SWING His last film, Journey of Honor (1991), was released on laserdisc here in the States. It was also known under the titles of Kabuto, Mayeda, and Shogun Warrior.  Below is a photo of Mr. Hessler next to Douglas Dunning and Sho Kosugi at the world premiere of the film, which was titled Shogun Mayeda, in January 1991.

Hessler was born in Germany, the son of a Danish mother and an English father. Educated in England, he moved to the US while in his late teens and spent several years working in documentaries. At Universal, "I guess because I had an English accent", Hessler was placed under contract to Alfred Hitchcock and went to work on the master director's TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), climbing the ladder from story reader to associate producer and finally to producer in the series' final year. A novelette rejected for the show became the basis for The Woman Who Wouldn't Die (1965), Hessler's first feature film as director. When production of the AIP Edgar Allan Poe series was shifted to Britain, Hessler collaborated with producer Louis M. Heyward and horror enthusiast/ screenwriter Christopher Wicking on three Poe films and on the sci-fi shocker Scream and Scream Again (1970). Carrying on in the fantasy field, he also directed the Ray Harryhausen stop-motion swashbuckler The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) and additional small-screen suspensers like the Psycho (1960)-inspired Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) with Bette Davis.

Director

Ramayan: The Supreme Adventure

Director

1995

 

Journey of Honor (1991)

Journey of Honor

5.4

Director

1991

 

Out on Bail (1989)

Out on Bail

5.2

Director

1989

 

Edward Woodward in The Equalizer (1985)

The Equalizer

7.8

TV Series

Director (directed by)

1989

1 episode

 

Meg Tilly in The Girl in a Swing (1988)

The Girl in a Swing

5.3

Director

1988

 

Rage of Honor (1987)

Rage of Honor

5.4

Director

1987

 

The Misfit Brigade (1987)

The Misfit Brigade

5.7

Director

1987

 

Shô Kosugi in Pray for Death (1985)

Pray for Death

5.7

Director

1985

 

Tales of the Unexpected (1979)

Tales of the Unexpected

7.6

TV Series

Director

1985

1 episode

 

Lee Van Cleef, Shô Kosugi, and Timothy Van Patten in The Master (1984)

The Master

4.5

TV Series

Director

1984

3 episodes

 

California Cowboys (1983)

California Cowboys

5.1

Director

1983

 

Shannon (1981)

Shannon

6.3

TV Series

Director

1981–1982

2 episodes

 

Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox in CHiPs (1977)

CHiPs

6.5

TV Series

Director

1978–1982

12 episodes

 

Tales of the Haunted (1981)

Tales of the Haunted

6.2

TV Movie

Director

1981

 

The Secret War of Jackie's Girls (1980)

The Secret War of Jackie's Girls

5.7

TV Movie

Director

1980

 

Lynda Carter in Wonder Woman (1975)

Wonder Woman

7.0

TV Series

Director

1978

2 episodes

 

Puzzle (1978)

Puzzle

5.9

TV Movie

Director

1978

 

Vincent Baggetta in The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978)

The Eddie Capra Mysteries

7.0

TV Series

Director

1978

1 episode

 

Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley, and KISS in Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978)

Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park

4.6

TV Movie

Director

1978

 

Secrets of Three Hungry Wives (1978)

Secrets of Three Hungry Wives

5.3

TV Movie

Director

1978

 

Little Women (1978)

Little Women

6.7

TV Mini Series

Director

1978

 

Kam Fong, Al Harrington, Jack Lord, and James MacArthur in Hawaii Five-O (1968)

Hawaii Five-O

7.4

TV Series

Director

1976–1977

2 episodes

 

Karen Black in The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977)

The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver

5.6

TV Movie

Director

1977

 

3-Way Split (1976)

3-Way Split

3.7

Director

1976

 

Spencer's Pilots (1976)

Spencer's Pilots

7.0

TV Series

Director

1976

1 episode

 

The Blue Knight (1975)

The Blue Knight

6.8

TV Series

Director

1976

2 episodes

 

Brenda Vaccaro in Sara (1976)

Sara

7.2

TV Series

Director

1976

2 episodes

 

Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner in Switch (1975)

Switch

7.1

TV Series

Director

1975

1 episode

 

Kung Fu (1972)

Kung Fu

7.6

TV Series

Director

1975

2 episodes

 

Jessica Walter in Amy Prentiss (1974)

Amy Prentiss

6.4

TV Series

Director

1975

1 episode

 

Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)

Kolchak: The Night Stalker

8.4

TV Series

Director

1974

1 episode

 

Amanda Blake and Tisha Sterling in Betrayal (1974)

Betrayal

5.8

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

David Hartman in Lucas Tanner (1974)

Lucas Tanner

6.8

TV Series

Director

1974

2 episodes

 

A Cry in the Wilderness (1974)

A Cry in the Wilderness

6.3

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

Hitchhike! (1974)

Hitchhike!

5.9

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

Skyway to Death (1974)

Skyway to Death

5.7

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

John Phillip Law and Caroline Munro in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

6.8

Director

1973

 

Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973)

Scream, Pretty Peggy

6.1

TV Movie

Director (directed by)

1973

 

George Hamilton, Cameron Mitchell, and Luciana Paluzzi in Medusa (1973)

Medusa

2.7

Director

1973

 

Embassy (1972)

Embassy

5.0

Director (directed by)

1972

 

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)

Murders in the Rue Morgue

5.1

Director

1971

 

Cry of the Banshee (1970)

Cry of the Banshee

5.5

Director

1970

 

Scream and Scream Again (1970)

Scream and Scream Again

5.5

Director

1970

 

The Oblong Box (1969)

The Oblong Box

6.0

Director

1969

 

The Last Shot You Hear (1969)

The Last Shot You Hear

5.2

Director

1969

 

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963)

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

7.4

TV Series

Director

1967

1 episode

 

The Woman Who Wouldn't Die (1965)

The Woman Who Wouldn't Die

6.2

Director

1965

 

Alfred Hitchcock in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

8.5

TV Series

Director

1961

1 episode

 

Writer

Meg Tilly in The Girl in a Swing (1988)

The Girl in a Swing

5.3

writer

1988

 

Producer

Cry of the Banshee (1970)

Cry of the Banshee

5.5

executive producer

producer: US release prints

1970

 

The Oblong Box (1969)

The Oblong Box

6.0

producer

1969

 

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963)

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

7.4

TV Series

producer

1966

1 episode

 

Ben Gazzara in Run for Your Life (1965)

Run for Your Life

7.6

TV Series

producer

1966

7 episodes

 

Alfred Hitchcock in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

8.5

TV Series

producer

associate producer

1962–1965

69 episodes

 

Second Unit or Assistant Director

Bad Blood (1994)

Bad Blood

4.6

second unit director

1994

 

Thanks

Biography (1987)

Biography

7.7

TV Series

special thanks

1993

1 episode

 

Self

John Phillip Law in The Swinging Lust World of John Phillip Law (2007)

The Swinging Lust World of John Phillip Law

Self - Narrator (voice)

2007

 

Ray Harryhausen in Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection (2005)

Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection

8.0

Video

2005

 

Christopher Lee in 100 Years of Horror (1996)

100 Years of Horror

7.0

TV Series

Self

Self - Director, 'Scream and Scream Again'

Self - Director ...

1996

4 episodes

 

100 Years of Horror: The Walking Dead

6.4

Video

Self

1996

 

100 Years of Horror: The Monster Makers

6.1

Video

Self

1996

 

100 Years of Horror: Witchcraft and Demons

6.7

Video

Self

1996

 

Biography (1987)

Biography

7.7

TV Series

Self

1993

1 episode

 

Archive Footage

Gentleman Gothic: Gordon Hessler at American International Pictures (2015)

Gentleman Gothic: Gordon Hessler at American International Pictures

Video

Self (archive footage)

2015