Milton Subotsky (Variety)
- Publication: Variety
- Date: 1991-07-08
- Author:
- Page: 63
- Language: English
Milton Subotsky, 70, producer of more than 40 films including some of the best horror anthologies of the '60s and '70s, died June 27 in London of heart disease.
Born in New York, Subotsky attended Brooklyn Technical High School and Cooper Union College of Engineering. As early as 1941 he wrote and directed programs for pioneering tv stations in New York and Schenectady.
During World War II he wrote technical training films, edited films at the Signal Corps Photographic Center and edited a camp newspaper.
After the war, Subotsky worked for Billy Rose on his syndicated column, then wrote scripts for tv programs such as "Lights Out," "Danger," "Suspense," "The Clock" and "Mr. I. Magination."
His first feature film was "Rock, Rock, Rock" in 1956 for which Subotsky wrote the script and nine songs. Like his next films, "Jamboree" and "The Last Mile," it was financed by Max J. Rosenberg, who beeline his longtime partner until the team broke up in 1975.
Subotsky moved to England in 1959 to produce "City Of The Dead" (a.k.a. "Horror Hotel"), for which he wrote the original story. It was followed by Richard Lester's first feature film, "It's Trad, Dad," "Girl Of The Night," "Just For Fun" and the famous children's pic "Lad: A Dog." He also co-produced and co-directed the compilation feature 'The World Of Abbott & Costello."
In 1964 he produced "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" from his own screenplay, which led to the formation of Amicus Prods. with Rosenberg. The company's British horror and science fiction films included i)r. Who And The Daleks," "They Came From Beyond Space," "The Skull," "The Psychopath," "The Deadly Bees," "The Terrornauts," "Danger Route," "Torture Garden," "Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.," "The Mind Of Mr. Soames," "Scream And Scream Again" (which united on screen horror legends Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing).
In the '70s he made "The House That Dripped Blood," "I, Monster" (a film in 3-D which Subotsky also wrote), "What Became Of Jack &Jill," "Tales From The Crypt" (the team's biggest hit),"The Vault Of Horror," "And Now The Screaming Starts," "Ariyhun," "Madhouse," "From Beyond The Grave," "The Beast Must Die," "The Land That Time Forgot" and "At The Earth's Core" (which he also scripted) The best of these used several separate stories to create an omnibus film, a format that has recently resurfaced in such features as "Tales From The Darkside," as well as HBO's tv series version of "Tales From The Crypt."
Subotsky also produced film versions of Margaret Drabble's novel "The Millstone" (a Sandy Dennis-starrer released in the United States as "Thank You All Very Much" and in England as "A Touch Of Love") and of Harold Pinter's play "The Birthday Party," directed by William Friedkin.
In 1975 he split up with Rosenberg Amicus to form his own production company, called Sword & Sorcery. Working at
first in the new field of British-Canadian co-productions he wrote "The Uncanny" and co-produced "Dominique."
At this time Subotsky announced and developed numerous fantasy features that went unrealized, including three sword & sorcery epics he wrote about a character named Thongor, 1976 features based on "The Incredible Hulk" and "Spider Man," remakes of "Les Miserables" and "The Man Who Laughs," plus "King Crab," "Tune Gate," "Solomon Kane," "No Thee For Heroes," another "Dr. Who" feature and a tv series based on the comic strip that Joseph Losey had previously filmed, "Modesty Blaise." Several of these projects were later made for tv by others.
Finally in 1980 he produced "The Monster Club," which like his cult classic "Scream And Scream Again" rounded up the several legends of horror, Vincent Price, John Carradine and Donald Pleasence.
Subotsky had a run-in with British unions that made him persona non grata for filming in the U.K in the early '80s.
In 1976 Subotsky developed a project to remake Val Lewton's RK0 classic "Curse Of The Cat People"; he received no screen credit when the project evolved into the 1982 Universal big-budget remake of film's predecessor, "Cat People," directed by Paul Schrader.
In 1978 he co-produced the NBC miniseries of Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronides."
In the mid-'70s Subotsky acquired the rights to several Stephen King stories which proved to be an annuity. He received co-producer credit on the 1984 film "Cat's Eye" as well as "Maximum Overdrive" the following year, which King directed. He also co-produced the recent CBS telefilm of King's "Sometimes They Come Back."
In addition, he co-edited an anthology of science fiction stories and wrote the tv series and book "The Golden Treasury Of Classic Fairy Tales." In 1985 he recovered the Amicus name for his company.
Survived by his wife, Fiona Subotsky, and two sons.
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- APA 6th ed.: (1991-07-08). Milton Subotsky (Variety). Variety p. 63.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Milton Subotsky (Variety)." Variety [add city] 1991-07-08, 63. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Milton Subotsky (Variety)." Variety, edition, sec., 1991-07-08
- Turabian: "Milton Subotsky (Variety)." Variety, 1991-07-08, section, 63 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Milton Subotsky (Variety) | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Milton_Subotsky_(Variety) | work=Variety | pages=63 | date=1991-07-08 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Milton Subotsky (Variety) | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Milton_Subotsky_(Variety) | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 March 2025}}</ref>
