Robert Fellows
Encyclopedia
Robert Fellows or Robert M. Fellows (August 23, 1903, Los Angeles
-May 11, 1969, Hollywood) was an American film producer
who was once a production partner with John Wayne
and later Mickey Spillane
.
in 1928 often working with Tay Garnett
and was later a production manager for several films. He became an associate producer with Warner Brothers. He went to Universal Pictures
as an associate producer on the movie Pittsburgh
that starred Marlene Dietrich
, Randolph Scott
, and John Wayne
, three clients of the producer and agent Charles K. Feldman
.
Fellows was hired by RKO Radio Pictures as a producer with his first film being Bombardier
a topical but fictional account of the Doolittle Raid
starring Scott. His next film was The Fallen Sparrow
, an account of the Spanish Civil War
. Fellows fought pressure to change the setting to Occupied France from Spain at a time when the United States government was seeking friendly relations with the Francisco Franco
regime.
Other films Fellows produced for RKO were Tall in the Saddle
and Back to Bataan
starring John Wayne and a few starring Pat O'Brien
.
As a producer Fellows again worked with director Tay Garnett on Wild Harvest
and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
for Paramount Pictures
.
In 1952, Wayne and Fellows teamed up to start their own production company Wayne-Fellows Productions with several films starring Wayne; the first one being Big Jim McLain
(1952). Wayne had seen the venture as a way to produce and direct his own film version of the battle of the Alamo
that led to Wayne to buy Fellows out to start his own Batjac Productions
.
One of the Wayne-Fellows films was Ring of Fear
that featured Mickey Spillane
. Though credited to Wayne collaborator James Edward Grant
, Wayne and Fellows felt the screenplay had problems and asked Spillane to rewrite it that he did in a weekend. When Spillane, who also appeared in the film as himself refused credit for the screenplay, Wayne presented him with a Jaguar.
Fellows produced a film version of Spillane's The Girl Hunters
in England in 1963 where Spillane portrayed his own creation Mike Hammer
. Fellows had acquired the rights to all of Spillane's work and had planned to film The Snake
in 1963 but the project was never produced.
In 1969, just before his death, Fellows and Spillane teamed up to create their own production company with a plan of filming 21 of Spillane's books, the first being The Delta Factor. The film was completed with Tay Garnett directing.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-May 11, 1969, Hollywood) was an American film producer
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...
who was once a production partner with John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
and later Mickey Spillane
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...
.
Biography
Fellows entered Hollywood through work as an assistant directorAssistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
in 1928 often working with Tay Garnett
Tay Garnett
Tay Garnett was an American film director and writer.Born in Los Angeles, California, Garnett served as a naval aviator in World War I and entered films as a screenwriter in 1920. He was a gagwriter for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, then joined Pathé and began to direct films in 1928...
and was later a production manager for several films. He became an associate producer with Warner Brothers. He went to Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
as an associate producer on the movie Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh (1942 film)
Pittsburgh is a 1942 feature film directed by Lewis Seiler and starring Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott, and John Wayne. Shemp Howard of Three Stooges fame co-stars in a rare dramatic role . Dietrich, Scott, and Wayne also made The Spoilers together that same year...
that starred Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
, and John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, three clients of the producer and agent Charles K. Feldman
Charles K. Feldman
Charles K. Feldman was a film producer and talent agent born in New York City. In 1934 he married actress Jean Howard, whom he divorced in 1948...
.
Fellows was hired by RKO Radio Pictures as a producer with his first film being Bombardier
Bombardier (film)
Bombardier is a 1943 film war drama about the training program for bombardiers of the United States Army Air Forces. The film stars Pat O'Brien and Randolph Scott. Bombardier was nominated for an Academy Award in 1944 for the special effects used in the film...
a topical but fictional account of the Doolittle Raid
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
starring Scott. His next film was The Fallen Sparrow
The Fallen Sparrow
The Fallen Sparrow is a 1943 spy film starring John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, and Walter Slezak. It was based on the novel of the same name by Dorothy B. Hughes. An American returns home to find out who murdered his friend.-Plot:...
, an account of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Fellows fought pressure to change the setting to Occupied France from Spain at a time when the United States government was seeking friendly relations with the Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
regime.
Other films Fellows produced for RKO were Tall in the Saddle
Tall in the Saddle
Tall in the Saddle is a 1944 western movie starring John Wayne as a cowboy and Ella Raines as his fierce bullwhip-brandishing love interest. The screenplay was co-written by actor Paul Fix and the film was directed by Edwin L...
and Back to Bataan
Back to Bataan
Back to Bataan is a World War II war film produced by Robert Fellows, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring John Wayne and Anthony Quinn. It was produced by RKO Radio Pictures. It depicts events that took place after the Battle of Bataan on the island of Luzon in the Philippines...
starring John Wayne and a few starring Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (actor)
Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
.
As a producer Fellows again worked with director Tay Garnett on Wild Harvest
Wild Harvest
Wild Harvest is a 1947 film directed by Tay Garnett. It stars Alan Ladd and Dorothy Lamour.-Cast:*Alan Ladd as Joe Madigan*Dorothy Lamour as Fay Rankin*Robert Preston as Jim Davis*Lloyd Nolan as Kink*Richard Erdman as Mark Lewis...
and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949 film)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a 1949 musical comedy film adaptation of the Mark Twain novel of the same name that was distributed by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
In 1952, Wayne and Fellows teamed up to start their own production company Wayne-Fellows Productions with several films starring Wayne; the first one being Big Jim McLain
Big Jim McLain
Big Jim McLain is a 1952 political thriller film starring John Wayne and James Arness as HUAC investigators hunting down communists in the post-war Hawaii organized labor scene. Edward Ludwig directed....
(1952). Wayne had seen the venture as a way to produce and direct his own film version of the battle of the Alamo
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
that led to Wayne to buy Fellows out to start his own Batjac Productions
Batjac Productions
Batjac Productions is an independent film production company founded by John Wayne in the early 1950s as a vehicle for Wayne to produce as well as star in movies. Its first release was Big Jim McLain with Warner Brothers in 1952, and its final film was also with Warner Brothers, McQ, in 1974...
.
One of the Wayne-Fellows films was Ring of Fear
Ring of Fear (film)
Ring of Fear is a 1954 film starring Clyde Beatty and Mickey Spillane as themselves. With a deranged killer on the loose in his circus, lion tamer Beatty calls in mystery writer Spillane to solve the case.-Cast:*Clyde Beatty as Himself...
that featured Mickey Spillane
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...
. Though credited to Wayne collaborator James Edward Grant
James Edward Grant
James Edward Grant was an American short story writer and screenwriter who contributed to more than fifty films between 1935 and 1971....
, Wayne and Fellows felt the screenplay had problems and asked Spillane to rewrite it that he did in a weekend. When Spillane, who also appeared in the film as himself refused credit for the screenplay, Wayne presented him with a Jaguar.
Fellows produced a film version of Spillane's The Girl Hunters
The Girl Hunters
The Girl Hunters is a British-made film, adapted from the 1962 Mickey Spillane pulp novel The Girl Hunters.Mickey Spillane played Mike Hammer, one of the few occasions in film history in which an author of a popular literary hero has portrayed his own character. It also starred Bond girl Shirley...
in England in 1963 where Spillane portrayed his own creation Mike Hammer
Mike Hammer
Michael "Mike" Hammer is a fictional detective created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I, the Jury .-Description:...
. Fellows had acquired the rights to all of Spillane's work and had planned to film The Snake
The Snake (Mike Hammer)
The Snake is Mickey Spillane's eighth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.-The plot:The novel picks up where exactly where The Girl Hunters left off. Hammer has discovered the location of his long lost love and secretary, Velda...
in 1963 but the project was never produced.
In 1969, just before his death, Fellows and Spillane teamed up to create their own production company with a plan of filming 21 of Spillane's books, the first being The Delta Factor. The film was completed with Tay Garnett directing.