TSPDT

Key Production Country: USA
Key Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Sci-Fi Horror, Creature Film, Detective Film, Alien Film, Crime, Psychological Sci-Fi, Comedy
Key Collaborators: Herman Stein (Composer), Alexander Golitzen (Production Designer), William Alland (Producer), Albert Zugsmith (Producer), Nestor Paiva (Leading Character Actor), Bernard Herzbrun (Production Designer), Alfred Sweeney (Production Designer), Raymond Bailey (Character Actor), Richard Carlson (Leading Actor), John Agar (Leading Actor), Jeff Chandler (Leading Actor), Charles Drake (Leading Actor)

"After service in the US air force and a spell with documentary maker Robert Flaherty, he began directing features in 1953. Although prolific and versatile, his films ranging from thrillers to light comedy, he is best remembered for a string of sensational, cheaply-made science-fiction films, including The Incredible Shrinking Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon." - The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema, 1983

"Science fiction as a storytelling genre spans decades, but Jack Arnold's films in the 1950s truly modernized and popularized sci-fi cinema for American audiences. Arnold encapsulated the hopes and anxieties of the era, and although he is not as well-known as his contemporaries, Arnold helped establish the most significant trends in American sci-fi and defined the genre for years to come." - Andrew Housman (Screen Rant, 2020)

"A film director with Universal from 1952 and later one of their busiest TV director-producers, this former stage actor was most active in films during the 50's, directing such ghoulish sci-fi tales as It Came from Outer Space (1953), Tarantula (1955) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). His sole excursion outside the realm of B's was the British-made comedy The Mouse That Roared (1959)." - The Movie Makers, 1974

"A former stage actor and also a writer who occasionally co-authored his screenplays, Arnold was an underrated master of genre (science fiction, horror, westerns, film noir) and of film form, the only filmmaker to have directed four features in the 3-D format. His best-remembered movies include It Came From Outer Space (1953), The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957 – his masterpiece), High School Confidential (1958), The Space Children (1958), and The Mouse That Roared (1959)." - C. Jerry Kutner (Bright Lights Film Journal, 2009)

"Documentary film-maker before joining Universal in 1950. Reputation rests on the sf/horror movies made between 1953 and 1958 for that studio: It Came from Outer Space (1953) and The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), (both flat made-in-3D movies), Tarantula (1955) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). The rest of his output should be sent into space including The Mouse That Roared (1959)." - Ronald Bergan (A-Z of Movie Directors, 1983)

"Originally an actor on the Broadway stage, Jack Arnold went on to become one of the most beloved B-movie directors in the history of Hollywood… His breakthrough came with Creature From the Black Lagoon and It Came From Outer Space, two 3-D titles that were among the most successful done in that short-lived format. Arnold's subsequent pictures, including The Incredible Shrinking Man, showed a lyricism and sensitivity that was rare in B-movies of the time, and even the films that he wrote but didn't direct, such as The Monolith Monsters, showed unexpected depth, while his High School Confidential could be the best teen exploitation ever made." - Allmovie