This director signs a small sci-fi film that became a cult before it changed its name to Jesus Christ II

The history of cinema corresponds to examples of singular courses and the destinies of its talents, which, unfortunately, for some, with absolutely tragic results for others. This is the case of a famous film director for science fiction fans who made a chain in Hollywood in the 1950s: Tom Graff.

Born in Arizona on September 12, 1929 to an engineer father and a homemaker, Tom Graf moved to Los Angeles as a young man. As a student, he enrolled in UCLA’s theater arts program, where he studied acting and theater. In 1951, he signed his first short of about twenty minutes, A toast to our brother.

His second short History of Orange Coast CollegeSigned in 1954, he joined the services of Vincent Price, who agreed to be voiced and who was a friend of his faculty teacher. In the same year, he began work on his first feature film, a comedy titled A noble experiment.

Already accustomed to financing his projects with lines and working on the economy, he even makes multiple hats and an actor, he enters the best school in this matter: Roger Corman, who hires him as an assistant, as an assistant, in the science fiction film Not of this Earth in 1957 .

A SF movie that pays tribute to Tim Burton

It was then that Tom Greif also decided to make an SF film. Earning $14,000 in financial contributions from actress Gene Sterling Greif advertises The Hollywood Reporter To find other investors. British actor Brian Grant responds to an ad paying $5,000 to play a villain and casting his wife in a minor role.

Filmed in Hollywood between the fall of 1956 and the winter of 1957, the low-budget film went through several titles before being distributed by Warner Bros. in June 1959 as part of a doubleheader for theaters: The Martian Invasion. A B-movie that would become a cult classic for years to come.

the pitch The young extraordinaire and landmark fall in love and must stop the extroverted comrades from using the Earth as a breeding ground for giant monsters to supply their home planet with food. And when we talk about monsters, it mostly looks like giant lobsters.

The film also pleased the FX channel, which broadcasts it regularly. It is also available video premium If your heart tells you. For an anecdote, he even served as the inspiration for Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! Very specific to the element: the famous paralyzing pistol beam used in the film, which instantly transforms its victim into a skeleton.

what does it look like see you

If this film was always driven by an ultra-tight budget, in the end it was slightly profitable, Tom Greif and several of his investors did not see the shadow of the penis … in the sense that his associate actor, Brian Grant, turned against him and attacked him to fix the initial bet.

“I am Jesus Christ II!”

Tormented by inner demons, Tom Graff falls into depression. In November 1959, he published an ad in the Los Angeles Times announcing that God had spoken to him and wanted him to spread peace and love around the world.

It was followed by another advertisement announcing that Greif is now called Jesus Christ II, and that he will appear on the steps of a Hollywood church to spread the word of God. In 1960, Graff appeared before the Los Angeles County Superior Court to request that his name be changed. Face to face with viral opposition Christian Defense LeagueHis request was denied.

Especially viral, Graf / Jesus Christ II’s campaign to release the famous death, Caryl Chessman; Campaign to see USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev receive Nobel Peace Prize; Enters the crowded church in the middle of the office, shouting “I am Jesus Christ II and I have a message” … Arrested for disorderly conduct and arrested, he was eventually sent to a mental institution where he received electrocution treatment. At the end of 1964, he was sent to his parents in California.

The following year, he became involved as an editor on Ultra Low Budget in 1965, signed by David L. Huitt, under the title Master of Mars. In 1968, he placed an ad in Variety, adding that the script for his new film was for sale for $500,000. Amount, then never seen for the scenario.

When Graff implies that many people are involved in the project (including Robert Wiese), a well-known journalist specializing in mundane gossip who works for the Los Angeles Times, Joyce HaberPosting a killer ticket on him and reminding the reader that he was Jesus Christ II in the 10-year-old scandal … which the beauty will already have a good career. He’s trying to keep selling his screenplay by cleaning up Hollywood agents, and no one wants even that.

Still battered by the Depression, he moved from Hollywood to rent a room near San Diego. He regularly talks about suicide among friends who do not take him seriously. On the morning of December 19, 1970, he was found in his garage at the wheel of his car, having died of carbon monoxide. He was 41 years old.