Lido Theater, 1951. (by Stanley
Foster, courtesy of Bob Foster.)
a ‘noble’ debut
In 1955, Tom embarked on his first feature film, The Noble Experiment. Sure of his abilities, Tom cast himself in the lead role and recruited local beauty queen Phyllis Yarwood as his leading lady. Other parts were filled by bit players from Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Balboa, and Corona Del Mar. The film was shot cheaply, using whatever locations he could; a great practice for his next feature. Production ran smoothly and the film was in the can by summer.
Tom learned during his promotion of Toast to Our Brother that associating a film screening with a charitable organization not only drew a crowd and paid screening expenses, but it garnered publicity. So the premiere of The Noble Experiment in August of 1955 acted as a fund raiser for a newly formed (and now defunct) social services organization and earned him his third write up in the LA Times. It’s unclear why Chuck wasn’t involved in Noble, but the two lived together, pursuing various projects.
Theatrical poster for
Not of This Earth, 1957.
working with the king …
The next summer, after spending a year planning new projects, Tom was hired as a crew member on the Roger Corman produced & directed Not of This Earth, the second in a trio of films to be helmed that year for Allied Artists.
Though NOTE is a rather short feature at only 67 minutes, it became one of the low-budge maverick’s better-known flicks. (It was remade in the 80’s and again in the 90’s.) The film was Tom’s first exposure to a “real” production of the then-common science fiction genre, and the film’s plot and characters were clearly influential in the development of Teenagers. Tom was also able to connect with executives at Allied, who he hoped would help him in future projects.
Not of This Earth wrapped by fall, and with his career on the upswing, Tom posted his first of many ads in the Hollywood trades, looking to find investors for a new motion picture …