Yvette Vickers (1928 - 2010?)

B-movie starlets seldom have long filmographies: their enduring fame often rests on a mere handful of performances. And so it was with Yvette Vickers. Her place in Drive-In Movie Hall Of Fame is assured merely on the basis of two titles in her decade-long career as an actress.

She turned on the heat in the camp favourite Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) as the other woman who draws the wrath of the title femme fatale. When you have a stunning lead actress like Allison Hayes (and at fifty feet tall, no less) who has a philandering husband, one would ensure that the female antagonist would still be able to turn the man's head, and she succeeded in spades as the good-time girl named Honey. And in the creepy Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), she was the adulterous Liz Walker, who is caught cheating by her husband (Bruno VeSota), who decides to punish her and her hapless lover by forcing at gunpoint into the swamp inhabited by the title creatures! Yikes!

ABOVE: Yvette Vickers with William Hudson in Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman (1958)

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, to jazz musicians Charles and Iola Vedder, and growing up on the road, the young Yvette Vickers initially pursued a career in journalism until getting the acting bug. She began the 1950's with an uncredited minor role in the classic Sunset Boulevard, and after several supporting roles in various films and TV episodes, she ended the decade with her two hallmark roles above, and another big for lasting fame as the Playmate of the Month for July 1959 (her photos taken by none other than Russ Meyer!).

ABOVE: Bruno Ve Sota and Yvette Vickers in Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)

Her movie roles would soon be fewer, smaller and further between, however later in her career she worked with Paul Newman in the classic Hud (1963) and for director Curtis Harrington in What's The Matter With Helen? (1971).  Her final screen credit was a role in Gary Graver's Evil Spirits (1990).  Nonetheless, her fame endured thanks to her sultry portrayals in those two monster movies, and in later years she was known for her vivacity and friendliness towards her fans. She gave a fun interview for Fangoria magazine in 1989, and recorded a lively and informative commentary track with cult film writer Tom Weaver for the 2007 Warners DVD of Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman, which preserves her oft-reported generosity.

ABOVE: Paul Newman (left) and Yvette Vickers (center) in Hud (1963)

Sadly, it has been reported that Ms. Vickers' body had been found in her home by her neighbour, and apparently had been dead for almost a year. (Tom Weaver first broke the story on a message board, but now the news is official.) Such a ghastly and sad fate is unbecoming for anyone, especially for someone as full of life as Yvette Vickers.  Her enduring fame is assured thanks to her appearances in these entertaining genre films.

Trailer for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman: 

Trailer for Attack of the Giant Leeches: 

Drive-In Credits:
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Try and Get Me (1950)
Reform School Girl (1957)
Short Cut to Hell (1957)
The Sad Sack (1957)
I Mobster (1958)
Juvenile Jungle (1958)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958)
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
Pressure Point (1962)
Hud (1963)
Beach Party (1963)
What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)
Evil Spirits (1990)

Peter Yates (1929 - 2011)

Juan Piquer Simon (1935 - 2011)

Charles B. Pierce (1938 - 2010)

During the drive-in's heyday, many enterprising independent filmmakers could rely on the screens in the fields to showcase their works, thus bypassing the Hollywood machine entirely. Among the many regional movie makers who proliferated in the 1960s and 70s, one of the most interesting was director-producer Charles B. Pierce. Also, if one person's works deserves to be seen on a screen outdoors, than it would surely be his. Not only were his films drive-in staples, which spawned and capitalized on the regional horror or outdoor adventure markets of their day, but his movies gave a unique "you are there" feeling- so much did his work communicate the feel of the murky, uncivilized locations in his stories. It is rather fitting, then, that he had spent his first few years in Hollywood as a set decorator. Once he began directing his own movies, it was only natural that his work favoured atmosphere above all other ingredients.

His first work behind the camera, The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972), was a huge success on rural drive-in screens, and became one of the most important independently-produced regional films, since it received good play even outside the Texarkana area in which it was produced. This film, based on the true story of the "Fouke Monster", a Sasquatch-typed creature that terrorized the Arkansas town which gave its namesake, had an interesting docu-drama approach, with voiceover, subtitles and many locals playing themselves, mixed with dramatic re-enactments, and was undoubtedly an influence on The Blair Witch Project over a quarter-century later. But in its own decade, it spawned the plethora of Bigfoot-themed films, which likewise blended documentary footage with staged sequences. In fact, Pierce's subsequent horror pictures, The Town That Dreaded Sundown and The Evictors, also had a documentary feel, which complimented their being "based on a true stories". But even so, Pierce's films had a disarmingly old-fashioned quality about them-- it is not surprising that he would also make outdoor western adventures such as Winterhawk or Sacred Ground, which would appeal to all family members. These films could rank beside the plethora of such G-rated outdoor family films of its day as The Adventures of the Wilderness Family. His low-key narratives and folksy approach made his films seem out of the time in which they were produced, and even when he hired such recognizable talent as Jack Elam or Ben Johnson, his work still felt un-Hollywood, with his feel for atmosphere and local colour that one wouldn't find in more mainstream product.

It is perhaps unsurprising that his feature filmmaking career began to wane in tandem with the drive-ins. Any ozoners still standing after the advent of home video would soon by absorbed by the Hollywood money machine that had no time or patience for the independent films that would travel the rural circuits, instead favouring generic product that would appeal to the broadest demographic. In the 1980's and beyond, Charles B. Pierce would continue to pay the bills as a set decorator for television, directing only sporadically. In the latter part of his career, one surprising credit is that his original story was the basis for the Clint Eastwood mega-hit Sudden Impact.

Charles B. Pierce was truly a pioneer of his generation. Upon hearing of his passing, we chose to elect Mr. Pierce as our "See You At The Drive-In" star of the month. Throughout the next week or two, we will be posting reviews of some of his key films. (Whenever a review is added to the blog, we will adding a hyperlink below in the corresponding title of his filmography.)


Drive-In Credits
Waco (1966) [Set Decorator]
An Eye for an Eye (1966) [Set Decorator]
The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) [Set Decorator]
80 Steps to Jonah (1969) [Set Decorator]
The Strawberry Statement (1970) [Set Decorator]
The Phantom Tollbooth (1970) [Set Decorator]
Dirty Dingus Magee (1970) [Set Decorator]
Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) [Set Decorator]
Skyjacked (1972) [Set Decorator]
The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) [Director, Producer, Cinematographer]
Shadow of Fear (1973) [Set Decorator]
Coffy (1973) [Set Decorator]
Wicked, Wicked (1973) [Set Decorator]
Dillinger (1973) [Set Decorator]
Black Belt Jones (1974) [Set Decorator]
Our Time (1974) [Set Decorator]
Black Eye (1974) [Set Decorator]
Bootleggers (1974) [Director, Executive Producer, Story, Actor, Additional Photography]
Act of Vengeance (1974) [Set Decorator]
Hearts of the West (1975) [Set Decorator]
Winterhawk (1975) [Director, Producer, Writer]
The Winds of Autumn (1976) [Director, Producer, Actor]
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) [Set Decorator]
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1977) [Director, Producer, Actor]
Grayeagle (1977) [Director, Producer, Writer, Actor]
Casey's Shadow (1978) [Set Decorator]
The Cheap Detective (1978) [Set Decorator]
The Norseman (1978) [Director, Producer, Writer]
The Evictors (1979) [Director, Producer, Writer]
Carny (1980) [Set Decorator]
Sacred Ground (1983) [Director, Writer, Cinematographer]
Sudden Impact (1983) [Story]
The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II (1985) [Director, Producer, Writer, Actor]
The Aurora Encounter (1986) [Actor]
Hawken's Breed (1987) [Director, Producer, Writer, Actor, Voice]
Chasing the Wind (1998) [Director]