Russell S. Doughten
Encyclopedia
Russell S. Doughten Jr. is a film-maker and producer of numerous Christian short films and feature-length movies. His film work is credited under numerous variations of his name: with or without the "Jr." suffix or middle initial, and sometimes using the informal "Russ" instead of "Russell". Nearly all of his Christian films were shot in various locales in his home state of Iowa
. One of the films in the series may have been partially filmed in Seattle, WA.
While he worked on secular films, most notably as producer and director (uncredited) of the 1958 sci-fi/horror classic "The Blob
", he is best known for the "Thief In The Night" series, which dramatizes the Rapture
and Second Coming of Christ and the struggles of a small band of believers against an increasingly hostile worldwide Antichrist
dictatorship.
The films of that series are:
Doughten appears in all four films as Reverend Matthew Turner, a survivalist who has an elaborate chart of the End Times
events, but does not fully believe in the Bible
. With his long, graying hair usually worn in a ponytail
and shaggy beard
, he didn't look the part of the stereotypical Christian fundamentalist, a fact that is credited with earning him secular fans, as is his use of unusual camera
angles and layered audio.
While there had been feature-length Christian films before, including the End Times film If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?
directed by Ron Ormond
in 1971
, a sweeping, ambitious project like Thief - with three sequels telling one continuous story over the course of a decade - had never been undertaken even in secular Hollywood. Some consider it to be a forerunner of the modern action movie franchises. Doughten's identification of the Antichrist not with Communism
as Ormond had done, nor with Jack Chick
's sinister view of the Vatican
, but rather with a worldwide government that initially acts as a global peacemaker, would set the tone for most fundamentalist interpretations of the End Times in the decades that followed.
While the films were clearly made on a low budget, and the dated 1970s fashions shown in the early films provide unintentional amusement today, there is no denying the series' influence among Christian fundamentalists. Tim LaHaye
and Jerry B. Jenkins
cite Doughten's films as being the primary influence for their million selling "Left Behind series
" of books and films. Doughten's films are frequently shown in churches and on Christian television
stations to this day.
The films also influenced the 1983 sci-fi television miniseries
V, which hinted at the dramatic power that Doughten's films might have had if made on a higher budget. Indeed, Doughten's films have many secular science fiction
fans who attest to his skill and vision.
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. One of the films in the series may have been partially filmed in Seattle, WA.
While he worked on secular films, most notably as producer and director (uncredited) of the 1958 sci-fi/horror classic "The Blob
The Blob
The Blob is an independently made 1958 American horror/science-fiction film that depicts a giant amoeba-like alien that terrorizes the small community of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania...
", he is best known for the "Thief In The Night" series, which dramatizes the Rapture
Rapture
The rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
and Second Coming of Christ and the struggles of a small band of believers against an increasingly hostile worldwide Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
dictatorship.
The films of that series are:
- A Thief in the Night (19721972 in filmThe year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
) - A Distant ThunderA Distant Thunder (1978 film)A Distant Thunder is a 1978 evangelical, fundamentalist Christian film by Russell S. Doughten and directed by Donald W. Thompson. The film is a sequel to the 1972 film A Thief in the Night, which portrayed the event in Christian eschatology sometimes called the Rapture...
(19781978 in filmThe year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
) - Image of the BeastImage of the Beast (film)Image of the Beast is a 1981 film by Russell S. Doughten and directed by Donald M. Thompson. It is part of a series of four films popular in evangelical Christian groups, dealing with the subject of bible prophecy. The film is an account of the rise of the antichrist, who establishes a world...
(19801980 in film- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
) - The Prodigal PlanetThe Prodigal PlanetThe Prodigal Planet is a 1983 film by Russell S. Doughten and directed by Donald W. Thompson. It is the fourth in a series of at least five films based on an evangelical interpretation of Bible prophecy and the rise of the Antichrist...
(19831983 in film-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
)
Doughten appears in all four films as Reverend Matthew Turner, a survivalist who has an elaborate chart of the End Times
End times
The end time, end times, or end of days is a time period described in the eschatological writings in the three Abrahamic religions and in doomsday scenarios in various other non-Abrahamic religions...
events, but does not fully believe in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. With his long, graying hair usually worn in a ponytail
Ponytail
A ponytail is a hairstyle in which most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip or similar device, and allowed to hang freely from that point. It gets its name from its resemblance to the undocked tail of a...
and shaggy beard
Beard
A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck of human beings. Usually, only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard...
, he didn't look the part of the stereotypical Christian fundamentalist, a fact that is credited with earning him secular fans, as is his use of unusual camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
angles and layered audio.
While there had been feature-length Christian films before, including the End Times film If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?
If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?
If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? is a 1971 Christian film directed by Ron Ormond.The film is based on the teachings of Rev. Estus Pirkle and warns of the dangers facing the United States from Communist infiltrators. The film suggests that the only way to avoid such a fate is to turn to...
directed by Ron Ormond
Ron Ormond
Ron Ormond was an American author, showman, screenwriter, film producer, and film director of Western, musical, and exploitation films. Following his survival of a 1968 plane crash, Ormond began making Christian films.-Films:...
in 1971
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
, a sweeping, ambitious project like Thief - with three sequels telling one continuous story over the course of a decade - had never been undertaken even in secular Hollywood. Some consider it to be a forerunner of the modern action movie franchises. Doughten's identification of the Antichrist not with Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
as Ormond had done, nor with Jack Chick
Jack Chick
Jack Thomas Chick is an American publisher, writer, and comic book artist of fundamentalist Christian tracts and comic books...
's sinister view of the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, but rather with a worldwide government that initially acts as a global peacemaker, would set the tone for most fundamentalist interpretations of the End Times in the decades that followed.
While the films were clearly made on a low budget, and the dated 1970s fashions shown in the early films provide unintentional amusement today, there is no denying the series' influence among Christian fundamentalists. Tim LaHaye
Tim LaHaye
Timothy F. LaHaye is an American evangelical Christian minister, author, and speaker. He is best known for the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-wrote with Jerry B. Jenkins. He has written over 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction.-Early life:LaHaye was born in Detroit,...
and Jerry B. Jenkins
Jerry B. Jenkins
Jerry Bruce Jenkins is an American novelist and biographer. He is best known as co-author of the Left Behind series of books with Tim LaHaye, Jenkins has written over 150 books, including romance novels, mysteries, and children's adventures, as well as non-fiction...
cite Doughten's films as being the primary influence for their million selling "Left Behind series
Left Behind (series)
Left Behind is a series of 16 best-selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, dealing with Christian dispensationalist End Times: pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatological viewpoint of the end of the world. The primary conflict of the series is the members of the Tribulation...
" of books and films. Doughten's films are frequently shown in churches and on Christian television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
stations to this day.
The films also influenced the 1983 sci-fi television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
V, which hinted at the dramatic power that Doughten's films might have had if made on a higher budget. Indeed, Doughten's films have many secular science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
fans who attest to his skill and vision.
Trivia
- "A Thief In The Night" introduces Larry NormanLarry NormanLarry David Norman was an American Christian musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer, who worked with Christian rock music...
's hit "I Wish We'd All Been Ready", one of the earliest Christian rockChristian rockChristian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
hits and one of Norman's best-known releases. - Of the films in the Thief series, only the first one, "A Thief In The Night", has closing creditsClosing creditsClosing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
.