Levy-Gardner-Laven
Encyclopedia
Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions was an American
film production company based in Beverly Hills, California
.
The principals, Jules V. Levy
, Arthur Gardner
, and Arnold Laven
, met while serving in the Air Force's
First Motion Picture Unit
during World War II
. While serving, they decided to form their own production company after the war ended. The three men formed Levy-Gardner-Laven in 1951.
Laven produced
both films and television shows, and he directed
many popular American television shows, including episodes of The A-Team
, CHiPs
, Mannix
, The Big Valley
, The Greatest American Hero
and Hill Street Blues
. Gardner was an actor
prior to World War II, but chose to produce after the company was formed. Along with Levy, who was a script supervisor
prior to the war, Gardner wrote the story for a 1982 movie called Safari 3000. Levy-Gardner-Laven also produced classic T.V. series for Four Star Productions such as The Rifleman
, The Big Valley
, and The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
all for ABC
.
Levy-Gardner-Laven maintains an office in Beverly Hills, but their last production credit was in 1982.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film production company based in Beverly Hills, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The principals, Jules V. Levy
Jules Levy (producer)
for the producer of Frank Buck's film Jacare see Jules LeveyJules Victor Levy was the producer of the popular television series The Rifleman, The Detectives, and The Big Valley. Levy worked in film as well.-Early years:Jules Levy was the son of Joseph L...
, Arthur Gardner
Arthur Gardner (producer)
Arthur Gardner is an American actor and film producer.Gardner was born Arthur Goldberg in Marinette, Wisconsin. He started his show business career as an actor. One of his first roles was as a student in 1930's All Quiet on the Western Front...
, and Arnold Laven
Arnold Laven
Arnold Laven was an American film and television director and producer. He was one of the founders and principals of the American film and television production company Levy-Gardner-Laven. Laven was a producer of, among other things, the long-running western television series The Rifleman and...
, met while serving in the Air Force's
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
First Motion Picture Unit
First Motion Picture Unit
The First Motion Picture Unit was the first unit of the United States Military to be made up entirely of motion picture personnel. It was also the title of a 1943 documentary about the unit.-Organization:...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. While serving, they decided to form their own production company after the war ended. The three men formed Levy-Gardner-Laven in 1951.
Laven produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
both films and television shows, and he directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
many popular American television shows, including episodes of The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
, CHiPs
CHiPs
CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol...
, Mannix
Mannix
Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
, The Big Valley
The Big Valley
The Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
, The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
and Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
. Gardner was an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
prior to World War II, but chose to produce after the company was formed. Along with Levy, who was a script supervisor
Script supervisor
A script supervisor is a member of a film crew responsible for maintaining the motion picture's internal continuity and for recording the production unit's daily progress in shooting the film's screenplay...
prior to the war, Gardner wrote the story for a 1982 movie called Safari 3000. Levy-Gardner-Laven also produced classic T.V. series for Four Star Productions such as The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
, The Big Valley
The Big Valley
The Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
, and The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season...
all for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
Levy-Gardner-Laven maintains an office in Beverly Hills, but their last production credit was in 1982.
Feature films
- Without Warning! (1952)
- Down Three Dark StreetsDown Three Dark StreetsDown Three Dark Streets is a 1954 documentary-style film noir, starring Broderick Crawford and directed by Arnold Laven. The screenplay was written by Gordon and Mildred Gordon, based on their novel Case File FBI.-Plot:...
(1954) - The Monster That Challenged the WorldThe Monster That Challenged the WorldThe Monster That Challenged the World is a science-fiction monster movie, about an army of giant mollusks that emerge from the Salton Sea, California. Directed by Arnold Laven, the film starred Tim Holt and Audrey Dalton....
(1957) - Geronimo (1962 film)Geronimo (1962 film)Geronimo is a 1962 Technicolor Western film made by Levy-Gardner-Laven and released by United Artists, starring Chuck Connors in the title role. The film was directed by Arnold Laven from a screenplay by Pat Fielder and was mostly fimed in Durango, Mexico...
(1962) - The Glory GuysThe Glory GuysThe Glory Guys is a 1965 motion picture based on the novel The Dice of God by Hoffman Birney. Filmed by Levy-Gardner-Laven and released by United Artists, it stars Tom Tryon, Harve Presnell, Senta Berger, James Caan, and Michael Anderson, Jr. The film's screenplay was written by Sam Peckinpah long...
(1965) - ClambakeClambakeClambake is a 1967 musical film starring Elvis Presley, and co-starring Shelley Fabares and Bill Bixby—the last of his four films for United Artists. The movie reached No. 15 on the national weekly box office charts.-Plot:...
(1967) - The ScalphuntersThe ScalphuntersThe Scalphunters is a 1968 American Western film starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis and Telly Savalas. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack, with the score written by Elmer Bernstein...
(1968) - Sam WhiskeySam WhiskeySam Whiskey is a 1969 comedy-western film directed by Arnold Laven and starring Burt Reynolds a decade before he zoomed to superstar status in the late 1970s. Angie Dickinson, Clint Walker and Ossie Davis co-star....
(1969) - The McKenzie BreakThe McKenzie BreakThe McKenzie Break is a 1970 British war drama film directed by Lamont Johnson, starring Brian Keith as Jack Connor, an intelligence officer investigating recent disturbances at a German prisoner of war camp in Scotland...
(1970) - The Hunting PartyThe Hunting Party (1971 film)The Hunting Party is a violent 1971 American western film directed by Don Medford and starring Oliver Reed, Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Simon Oakland and Ronald Howard.-Plot:...
(1971) - Kansas City BomberKansas City BomberKansas City Bomber is a 1972 American drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Jerrold Freedman and starring Raquel Welch.- Plot summary :The film is an inside look at the world of co-ed Roller Derby, then a popular league sport....
(1972) - White LightningWhite Lightning (1973 film)White Lightning is a 1973 American action film from United Artists starring Burt Reynolds as Gator McKlusky. The film, directed by Joseph Sargent and written by William W. Norton, also starred Jennifer Billingsley, Ned Beatty, Bo Hopkins, R.G. Armstrong, and Diane Ladd...
(1973) - McQMcQMcQ is a 1974 crime drama starring John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, and Colleen Dewhurst. The film made extensive use of actual Seattle locations. The beach scenes were filmed on the Pacific coast at Moclips.The film features a young Roger E...
(1974) - BranniganBrannigan (film)Brannigan is a British action film set principally in London, directed by Douglas Hickox, and starring John Wayne and Richard Attenborough...
(1975) - GatorGator (film)Gator is a 1976 action film starring and directed by Burt Reynolds. It is a sequel to White Lightning. Reynolds honored his favorite professor from college, Watson B...
(1976) - Safari 3000Safari 3000Safari 3000 is a 1982 film directed by Harry Hurwitz. The film was shot on location in Africa.-Plot:A reporter follows a stunt driver on a 3000 km race across Africa.-Principal cast:...
(1982)
Television
- The Big ValleyThe Big ValleyThe Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
(1965-1969) - MannixMannixMannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
(1972-1973) - The RiflemanThe RiflemanThe Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
(1959-1963) - The DetectivesThe Detectives Starring Robert TaylorThe Detectives Starring Robert Taylor is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season...
(1959-1962)