KEEFE BRASSELLE - CONTRACT SIGNED 09/27/1957 CO-SIGNED BY: RICHARD GORDON - HFSID 299307

KEEFE BRASSELE
He signs acceptance of complicated financial arrangements for production of the film Fire Over Suez (ultimately released as The Fighting Wildcats). Also signed by Richard Gordon of Amalgamated Productions, who has arranged a loan from the Bank of America and a distribution agreement with Republic Pictures to get the film made.
Documentary Letter signed: "Keefe Brassele", "Richard Gordon", 1 page, 8½x11. New York, N.Y., 1957 September 27. Brassele, who had previously agreed to accept 20% of the receipts from the movie Fire Over Suez, after Amalgamated Productions had recouped $25,000 in production costs, accepts modification of these terms in light of a $50,000 distribution agreement with Republic Pictures and a $37,500 loan from the Bank of America. As part of this agreement, Brassele receives a an attached check [not included here] for $2,475.00. KEEFE BRASSELE (1923-1981, born John Brasselli in Elyria, Ohio) was probably a better nightclub singer than he was an actor. Nevertheless, he was a leading man during the 1950s and managed to land a few plum assignments, including a starring role in multiple-Oscar winning A Place in the Sun (1951) and the title role in The Eddie Cantor Story (1953). He was also an executive at CBS on the strength of his friendship with James T. Aubrey. This friendship cooled substantially after three series developed by Brasselle's series were cancelled. The experience left Brasselle so bitter that he wrote a thinly veiled novel about CBS called The Cannibals. Braselle had a total of over 40 movies and TV shows to his credit. Ironically, the start and end of his acting career were similarly inauspicious, beginning with an uncredited role in the 1942 United States Navy educational film U. S. S. VD: Ship of Shame and ending with starring and acting duties in the 1974 sex musical If You Don't Stop It... You'll Go Blind. English-born RICHARD GORDON (1925-2011) and his brother Alex Gordon came to the US after World War II seeking opportunities in the film industry. Alex moved to California, where he was later involved in creation of American International Pictures. Richard stayed in New York, working first in film distribution, but establishing his own production company, Amalgamated, in the mid-1950s. As the above agreement demonstrated, Richard Gordon was modestly capitalized, so he focused on joint productions with other film companies. By the end of the 1950s, Brassele had found a market niche: B-horror movies (Corridors of Blood, 1958; Island of Terror, 1966, Horror Planet (1981). The film featured here, which featured Brassele as director as well as top-billed star, was released under a revised title, The Fighting Wildcats. Staple holes at top left. Otherwise, fine condition.