Josef von Stroheim: “My father [Erich von Stroheim] only pretended to be very difficult to handle”

Almost a century ago, the silent screen’s most mythical ‘cinema artist,’ as he considered himself, began his Hollywood career when he wrote, directed, and starred in “Blind Husbands” (1919), the first of a dozen features he made as a film director. We’re talking about the legendary Erich von Stroheim, infamous for his numerous conflicts with producers and studio executives during the silent era. He was one of cinema’s most talented, distinguished, but also most uncompromising filmmakers who eventually turned his triumph into failure.

Since then, several books have been written, and documentaries were made to unravel the von Stroheim persona. Considered to be a perfectionist, complicated and demanding on the set of his films, the screen legend (b. 1885 in Vienna, d. 1957 in Paris) who started his Hollywood career in 1914 as a bit player for D.W. Griffith, often cast as a monocled German villain, was too self-destructive by working against the studios instead of working with them. After his career, as a Hollywood filmmaker, had come to an end in 1929, he returned to acting and eventually left the U.S. by 1936 to live, act and write in self-imposed exile in France. Yet, ‘The Man You Loved to Hate,’ a nickname he earned and which referred to the numerous villains he played on the screen, was described by veteran screenwriter Anita Loos as ‘one of the few legitimate geniuses of the early silent days.’

Publicity material from two silent screen classics, directed by Erich von Stroheim: “Blind Husbands” (1919), with Francelia Billington, and “Greed” (1924)

After “Blind Husbands,” Stroheim made “Foolish Wives” (1922), at the time the most expensive film ever made, and billed by Universal as ‘the first million-dollar movie’ because of the elaborate Monte Carlo Café de Paris set built on the studio lot. Stroheim then decided to make his dream project, the highly publicized and endlessly recut “Greed” (1924, the original print ran over ten hours). His attention to detail and his sense of drama were simply exquisite but way too expensive and impossible to show on the screen. After “The Merry Widow” (1925), which he despised but turned out to become his most commercially successful film, Stroheim finally made “The Wedding March” (1928) and “Queen Kelly” (1929, starring Gloria Swanson). This film failed to get any commercial showings in the U.S.

As an actor, however, he is best remembered for his role of Captain von Rauffenstein in Jean Renoir’s “La grande illusion” (1937, a.k.a. “The Grand Illusion”) and—after a short return to Hollywood—for his supporting role in Billy Wilder’s “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), playing a faded and failed silent film director-turned-servant to Gloria Swanson’s character of Norma Desmond, a role which earned him his only Academy Award nomination (as Best Supporting Actor).

Erich von Stroheim was married three times; his second marriage to Mary Agnes Jones from 1916-1919 produced his first son, Erich von Stroheim, Jr. In 1920, he married his third wife, actress Valerie Germonprez (1897-1988). They separated in 1936 when he moved to France, but they never divorced. Their union produced his second son, Josef von Stroheim (b. 1922 as Josef Erich von Stroheim), who later became a renowned sound editor (he was also credited as Joseph, Joseph E., and Joe von Stroheim).

Almost two decades ago, I was able to locate Josef von Stroheim by accident, really, when I was doing research for a visit to Los Angeles in April 1999, hoping to do interviews there with screen veterans. After I got hold of his address, I wrote him a letter. He responded almost right away, telling me he would be happy to talk to me about his father and about his own career as a sound editor in films and television—he was a two-time Emmy winner for Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing on the TV series “The Immortal” (1969) and “QB VII” (1974).

After I arrived in Hollywood, I called him, we arranged an appointment straight away, and he suggested to pick me up at my hotel near Hollywood and Vine (a cheap hotel close to the Capitol Records building, as I was traveling on a tight budget), and from there we’d drive up to his house in the Valley to have lunch together. “You can easily recognize me, I drive a black Lexus, and my license plate begins with my initials JVS,” he told on the phone, jokingly.

With my cassette recorder, an old Pentax camera, and a huge box of the most delicious Belgian chocolates as a present, we entered his nicely decorated living room with beautiful pictures of his family, his awards, and on the wall a few precious reminders of the genius his father really was.

The cover of Arthur Lennig’s biography “Stroheim” (2000)

‘Did you ever see Kevin Brownlow’s TV series of the Hollywood silent era?’ he asked. ‘He did the interview with my mother right here in the living room.’ I had seen Brownlow’s 13-part documentary series “Hollywood: The Pioneers” (1980), and his mother Valerie Germonprez told in her interview, “One of the girls said to me one day, ‘Does he [Erich von Stroheim] drag you around the house by your hair every morning before he goes to work?’ And of course, I thought that was absolutely ridiculous because he was a very kind person.” Rumor had it that he really was the villain he had played so very often on the screen.

When I visited his son, Mr. Josef von Stroheim, a grey-haired and soft-spoken gentleman, at his Valley Village home, he offered me a drink, we sat down, and we were set. He was a most generous, upbeat host, the kindest man you could ever imagine. A joy to talk to this truly wonderful man with a great sense of humor.

Mr. von Stroheim, the most logical question to begin with, how do you remember your father?

People always ask me, ‘Wasn’t your father very stern?’ And then I always have to say, ‘No, not at all, he was a pussycat!’ And that’s what he was really like. He only pretended to be very difficult to handle. If you look at photographs of him from those days or watch his movies and the type of characters he played most of the time, that was only his screen image. That was not at all the man I knew when I grew up. In real life, he was completely the opposite. He was a great father, and I have very fond memories of my childhood when we lived in Brentwood. He always called me Poopsie. Hey Poopsie, let’s go hunting! he would say [laughs].

Did you often visit him on the set when he was making movies?

Yes, and we knew what kind of work he did, but we also had a protected childhood. We weren’t exposed too much; looking back, I think that was a very wise decision. But being his son also had its advantages. In 1930 we went to Europe; first we visited Rome, where we had a private audience with Pope Pius XI. I was only eight years old, so you can imagine how special that was. In Vienna, we visited my grandmother, who was still living there.

Jean Renoir’s “La grande illusion” (1937), one of Erich von Stroheim’s career highlights in France. This was the first foreign-language film to be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Picture. The Oscar went to Frank Capra’s “You Can’t Take It With You.” The second foreign-language film to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination, was Costa-Gavras’ “Z” (1969)

How about your career? When and how did you enter the motion picture industry?

I started at MGM as a messenger boy and a still photographer in 1939 at age seventeen, photographing the stars. Clark Gable often drove me to the studios. But then I went to Paris with my parents for a year. I saw my father working in France; I also got to meet Jean Renoir. But when the War began, I returned to Los Angeles and stayed here with my uncle and grandmother. My mother also came back over here, then my father too, and he made “I Was An Adventuress” [1940] and a few other pictures. After Pearl Harbor, I joined the Army as a combat photographer and went to England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and I met the Russians at the Elbe River. Later I also went to the South Pacific.

Once the War was over, were you able to return to MGM?

Yes, I went back to MGM; they had to take me back for a year. But when this year was over, they let me go because they weren’t making too many pictures, and so I got in the construction business. I built fifty-two homes in and around Los Angeles as the superintendent of construction with this big construction company. Then television came in, and I got in the film department at ABC, where I started in the old Warner studio at the corner of Prospect Avenue and Talmadge Street where they did “The Jazz Singer” [1927], they were on the same lot. We opened up the film department for Channel 7 and worked there for a while until I got called in for the Army again for one year; they were going to send me over to Korea. Luckily I knew somebody, and they got me into the Army Pictorial Center in Astoria, Long Island. There I cut three pictures, and when General [Douglas] MacArthur gave a speech in Seoul, Korea, I had to put it together because the sound and the picture weren’t shot in synch. So I had to synch up the track, I had to have the track transferred to film, and then I had to adjust the track to match the picture.

This was your introduction to sound editing?

Yes. After I came back to Hollywood, a friend of mine bought the rights of the picture “I Bombed Pearl Harbor,” the Japanese version of the Pearl Harbor story. There was music, dialogue, and effects, all on one track. He couldn’t use the music or the dialogue, we had to dub all the dialogue, so I had to cut brand-new sound effects for everything, and then they had to put new music to it. We had to dub that together, and then it was released here.

What was sound editing like in those days?

Being a supervising sound editor used to be very hard because you had to cut everything by hand. Now it’s all computerized, now you push a button, and you get all the gunshots you want. That’s why I’m wearing two hearing aids now: we used to wear earphones, but the gunshots destroyed my hearing. Each footstep used to be cut in by hand, each gunshot, the cowboy yells, all the different sound effects. I had over a million feet of sound effects—just sound effects. I had them in my mother’s garage, and if I needed something, I’d go up the garage, get it, bring it in, transfer it and take it back. I had a master library of practically every sound known to man. What we didn’t have, we’d make. After I retired in the late 1980s, I donated it to the AFI. They came with three truckloads. I don’t know what they did with it, since they use computers now. A friend of mine just passed away, and his daughter asked me, ‘What do I do with his sound effects library?’ I said, ‘Dump it, throw it all away; nobody needs it anymore.’ They got all the sound effects they’ll ever need, and what they don’t have, they’ll make electronically or with special effects, changing the frequencies, stretching out our effects, equalizing the sound, playing it forward, backwards and sideways [laughs], it’s really amazing what they can do now by pushing a button. But back then, it could be very tedious work, you worked on into the night, and pretty soon, your eyeballs were hanging out like two cucumbers. I remember for “A Star Is Born” [1976], we went to Barbra Streisand’s place, got there at eight o’clock in the morning, and often worked until three or four o’clock the next morning. Very hard work. I’m not educated on the electronic end of it at all, so I don’t know if it’s harder now or not, but this is how it was done.

Your brother Erich von Stroheim, Jr. [1916-1968] had a very different career in films, didn’t he?

He was also a child actor—he appeared as a baby in Chaplin’s “Easy Street” [1917]. He worked with Fox at the make-up department for a while before he went into production and then became a successful assistant director who worked with Nicholas Ray, Otto Preminger, and Vincente Minnelli. Unfortunately, he passed away many years ago [cancer].

What does your life look like now?

I’m 76 now, and as you can see, I’m enjoying life. I have a great family, and we travel from time to time. You know, in 1993, I donated most of my father’s archive to the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences: many of his letters, personal correspondence, black and white stills, his screenplays, it’s all out there now for anyone who wishes to look into it. But I kept quite a bit of memorabilia for myself because whatever he left me is very dear to me. Come on, let’s go to his room. I’ll show you.

Valley Village, California
April 7, 1999

+ Mr. von Stroheim passed away at the Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, California, on March 22, 2002, at age 79, of complications from lung cancer.

FILMS

INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN (1957) DIR Edward L. Cahn PROD James H. Nicholson, Robert J. Gurney, Jr. SCR Al Martin, Robert J. Gurney, Jr. (story ‘The Cosmic Frame’ by Paul W. Fairman) CAM Frederick E. West ED Charles Gross MUS Ronald Stein SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim [uncredited] CAST Steven Terrell, Gloria Castillo, Frank Gorshin, Raymond Hatton, Lyn Osborn, Russ Bender

THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (1957) DIR – PROD Bert I. Gordon SCR Bert I. Gordon, Mark Hanna CAM Joseph F. Biroc ED Ronald Sinclair MUS Albert Glasser SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William Hudson, Larry Thor, James Seay, Frank Jenks, Russ Bender

SUICIDE BATTALION (1958) DIR Edward L. Cahn PROD Lou Rusoff SCR Lou Rusoff (also story) CAM Floyd Crosby ED Robert S. Eisen MUS Ronald Stein SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Mike Connors, John Ashley, Jewell Lain, Russ Bender, Scott Peters, Walter Maslow

JET ATTACK (1958) DIR Edward L. Cahn PROD Alex Gordon SCR Orville H. Hampton (story by Mark Hanna) CAM Frederick E. West ED Robert S. Eisen MUS Ronald Stein SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST John Agar, Audrey Totter, Gregory Walcott, James Dobson, Leonard Strong, Nicky Blair

WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST (1958) DIR – PROD Bert I. Gordon SCR George Worthing Yates (story by Bert I. Gordon) CAM Jack A. Marta ED Ronald Sinclair MUS Albert Glasser SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Sally Fraser, Roger Pace, Duncan ‘Dean’ Parkin, Russ Bender, Rico Alaniz, George Becwar, Robert Hernandez

HIGH SCHOOL HELLCATS (1958) DIR Edward Bernds PROD Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson SCR Marl Lowell, Jan Lowell [Jan Englund] (story by Marl Lowell, Jan Lowell [Jan Englund]) CAM Gilbert Warrenton ED Edward Sampson MUS Ronald Stein SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Yvonne Lime, Brett Halsey, Jana Lund, Suzanne Sidney, Heather Ames, Nancy Kilgas, Rhoda Williams

THE MUGGER (1958) DIR – PROD William Berke SCR Henry Kane (novel by Ed McBain [Ethan Hunter]) CAM J. Burgi Contner ED Everett Sutherland MUS Albert Glasser SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Kent Smith, Nan Martin, James Franciscus, Stefan Schnabel, Dick O’Neill, Leonard Stone, John Alexander, Beah Richards

PARATROOP COMMAND (1959) DIR William Whitney PROD Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson SCR Stan Shpetner [Stanley Shpetner] CAM Gilbert Warrenton ED Robert S. Eisen MUS Ronald Stein SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Richard Bakalyan, Ken Lynch, Jack Hogan, Jimmy Murphy, Jeff Morris, James Beck, Carolyn Hughes, Patricia Huston

TANK COMMANDOS (1959) DIR – SCR Burt Topper PROD Burt Topper, Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson CAM John M. Nickolaus, Jr. ED Asa Boyd Clark MUS Ronald Stein SOUND EFFECTS Josef von Stroheim CAST Donato Farretta, Robert Barron, Maggie Lawrence, Wally Campo, Leo V. Matranga, Jack B. Sowards, Anthony Rich

ROADRACERS (1959) DIR Arthur Swerdloff PROD Stanley Kallis SCR Stanley Kallis, Edward J. Lasko (original story by Stanley Kallis) CAM Carl E. Guthrie MUS Richard Markowitz SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Joel Lawrence, Marian Collier, Skip Ward, Sally Fraser, Mason Alan Dinehart, Irene Windust, John Shay, Gloria Marshall

GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW (1959) DIR William J. Hole, Jr. PROD – SCR Lou Rusoff CAM Gilbert Warrenton ED Frank P. Keller, Edward Sampson MUS Ronald Stein SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Jody Fair, Russ Bender, Henry McCann, Martin Braddock, Elaine DuPont, Leon Tyler, Jack Ging, Nancy Anderson

SPACE MEN (1960) DIR Antony Daisies [Antonio Margheriti] PROD Hugo Grimaldi SCR Jack Wallace, Vassilji Petrov [Ennio De Concini] CAM Marcello Masciocchi MUS J.K. Broady [Lelio Muttazzi] SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Rik Van Nutter, Gabriella Farinon, David Montresor, Archie Savage, Alain Dijon, Franco Fantasia, Joe Pöllini

SHOCK CORRIDOR (1963) DIR – PROD – SCR Samuel Fuller CAM Stanley Cortez ED Jerome Thoms MUS Paul Dunlap SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans, James Best, Hari Rhodes, Larry Tucker, Paul Dubov, Chuck Roberson

SPACE PROBE TAURUS (1965) DIR – SCR Leonard Katzman PROD Leonard Katzman, Burt Topper CAM Robert Tobey ED John Shouse, Robert S. Eisen MUS Marlin Skiles SOUND EFFECTS Josef von Stroheim CAST Francine York, James Brown, Baynes Barron, Russ Bender, John Willis, Bob Legionaire, James Macklin

MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE (1965) DIR Hugo Grimaldi PROD Hugo Grimaldi, Arthur C. Pierce SCR Arthur C. Pierce (original story by Hugo Grimaldi, Arthur C. Pierce) CAM Archie R. Dalzell ED George White SOUND EFFECTS Josef von Stroheim CAST William Leslie, Dolores Faith, Pamela Curran, Richard Garland, Harold Lloyd Jr., James Dobson, Ron Stokes, Boyd Holister, Francine York

DESTINATION INNER SPACE (1966) DIR Francis D. Lyon PROD Earle Lyon SCR Arthur C. Pierce CAM Brick Marquand ED Robert S. Eisen MUS Paul Dunlap SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Scott Brady, Sheree North, Gary Merrill, Wende Wagner, Mike Road, John Howard, William Thourlby

DARING GAME (1968) DIR Laslo Benedek PROD Gene Levitt SCR Andy White (story by Andy White, Art Arthur) CAM Edmund Gibson ED John B. Woelz MUS George Burns SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Lloyd Bridges, Nico Minardos, Michael Ansara, Joan Blackman, Shepperd Strudwick, Alex Montoya, Marie Gomez, Irene Dailey

JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1972) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Joe Wizan SCR John Milius, Edward Anhalt (novel ‘Mountain Man’ [1965] by Vardis Fisher; story ‘Crow Killer’ by Raymond W. Thorp, Robert Bunker) CAM Duke Callaghan ED Thomas Stanford MUS Tim McIntire, John Rubinstein SOUND EFFECTS Josef von Stroheim CAST Robert Redford, Will Geer, Stefan Gierasch, Allyn Ann McLerie, Charles Tyner, Josh Albee

THE GETAWAY (1972) DIR Sam Peckinpah PROD David Foster, Mitchell Brower SCR Walter Hill (novel by Jim Thompson) CAM Lucien Ballard ED Robert L. Wolfe MUS Quincy Jones SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Sally Struthers, Al Lettieri, Slim Pickens, Richard Bright, Jack Dodson, Bo Hopkins

THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Stanley Schneider SCR David Rayfiel, Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (novel ‘Six Days of the Condor’ [1974] by James Grady) CAM Owen Roizman ED Don Guidice MUS Dave Grusin SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max Von Sydow, John Houseman, Carlin Glynn, Addison Powell, Walter McGinn, Tina Chen

THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR (1975) DIR – SCR Robert Clouse PROD Fred Weintraub CAM Gerald Hirschfeld ED Michael Kahn MUS Gil Melle SOUND EFFECTS Josef von Stroheim CAST Yul Brynner, Max von Sydow, Joanna Miles, William Smith, Richard Kelton, Stephen McHattie, Darrell Zwerling

I WONDER WHO’S KILLING HER NOW? (1975) DIR Steven Hilliard Stern PROD Dennis F. Stevens SCR Mickey Rose (story by Mickey Rose, Jerry Cutler) CAM Richard H. Kline ED Duke Goldstone MUS Patrick Williams SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Bob Dishy, Joanna Barnes, Bill Dana, Harvey Jason, Severn Darden, Vito Scotti, George Memmoli, Richard Libertini, Pat Morita

PACO (1976) DIR Robert Vincent O’Neill PROD Andre Marquis SCR Robert Vincent O’Neill, Andre Marquis, Andrew Davis (story by Andre Marquis) CAM Andrew Davis ED Gene Ruggiero, Eva Ruggiero MUS Mariano Moreno, Mauro Bruno SOUND EFFECTS Josef von Stroheim CAST José Ferrer, Allen Garfield, Pernell Roberts, Panchito Gómez, Andre Marquis, Richard C. Adams, Carlos Muños

ST. IVES (1976) DIR J. Lee Thompson PROD Pancho Kohner, Stanley S. Canter SCR Barry Beckerman (novel ‘The Procane Chronicle’ [1971] by Oliver Bleeck [Ross Thomas]) CAM Lucien Ballard ED Michael F. Anderson MUS Lalo Schifrin SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Charles Bronson, John Houseman, Jacqueline Bisset, Harry Guardino, Maximillian Schell, Harris Yulin, Dana Elcar, Elisha Cook, Jr., Michael Lerner, Daniel J. Travanti, Jeff Goldblum, Robert Englund

A STAR IS BORN (1976) DIR Frank Pierson PROD Jon Peters SCR Frank Pierson, Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne (story by William A. Wellman, Robert Carson) CAM Robert Surtees ED Peter Zinner SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Busey, Oliver Clark, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Marta Heflin, M.G. Kelly, Sally Kirkland, Paul Mazursky, Rita Coolidge, Tony Orlando

THE LEGEND OF JEDEDIAH CARVER (1976) DIR – PROD Dewitt Lee SCR Dewitt Lee, Jack Lee ED Anthony Gregg MUS Anthony W. Adams SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Dewitt Lee, Joshua Hoffman, Richard Montgomery, Val Chapman, Wallace Broberg, Clark Graves, Odie Chapman

BOBBY DEERFIELD (1977) DIR – PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Alvin Sargent (novel ‘Der Himmel kennt keine Günstlinge’ [1961, a.k.a. ‘Heaven Has No Favorites’] by Erich Maria Remarque) CAM Henri Decaë ED Fredric Steinkamp MUS Dave Grusin SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Al Pacino, Marthe Keller, Anny Duperey, Walter McGinn, Romolo Valli, Stephen Meldegg

BIG WEDNESDAY (1978) DIR John Milius PROD Buzz Feitshans SCR John Milius, Dennis Aaberg CAM Bruce Surtees ED Robert L. Wolfe, Tim O’Meara [Carroll Timothy O’Meara] MUS Basil Poledouris SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt, Gary Busey, Patti D’Arbanville, Lee Purcell, Sam Melville, Darrell Fetty, Joe Spinell, Robert Englund, Charlene Tilton, John Milius

BLOODBROTHERS (1978) DIR Robert Mulligan PROD Stephen J. Friedman SCR Walter Newman (novel by Richard Price) CAM Robert Surtees ED Sheldon Kahn MUS Elmer Bernstein SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Paul Sorvino, Tony Lo Bianco, Richard Gere, Leila Goldoni, Yvonne Wilder, Kenneth McMillan, Marilu Henner, Kristine DeBell, Robert Englund, Danny Aiello

EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE (1978) DIR James Fargo PROD Robert Daley SCR Jeremy Joe Kronsberg CAM Rexford L. Metz ED Ferris Webster, Joel Cox SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Ruth Gordon, Beverly D’Angelo, Walter Barnes, George Chandler, Roy Jenson, Phil Everly, Harry Guardino

BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1979) DIR – PROD Irwin Allen SCR Nelson Gidding (novel by Paul Gallico) CAM Joseph F. Biroc ED Bill Brame MUS Jerry Fielding SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Michael Caine, Sally Field, Telly Savalas, Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, Shirley Knight, Shirley Jones, Karl Malden, Slim Pickens

WHEN TIME RAN OUT… (1980) DIR James Goldstone PROD Irwin Allen SCR Carl Foreman, Stirling Silliphant (novel ‘The Day the World Ended’ by Gordon Thomas, Max Morgan Witts) CAM Fred J. Koenekamp ED Freeman A. Davies, Edward A. Biery MUS Lalo Schifrin SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, Edward Albert, Red Buttons, Barbara Carrera, Valentina Cortese, Burgess Meredith, Ernest Bognine, James Franciscus, Pat Morita

OH, GOD! BOOK II (1980) DIR – PROD Gilbert Cates SCR Josh Greenfield, Fred S. Fox, Hal Goldman, Melissa Miller, Seaman Jacobs (story by Josh Greenfield; novel by Avery Corman) CAM Ralph Woolsey ED Peter E. Berger MUS Charles Fox SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST George Burns, Suzanne Pleshette, David Birney, John Louie, Louanne, Conrad Janis, Anthony Holland, Joyce Brothers, Wilfrid Hyde-White

SO FINE (1981) DIR – SCR Andrew Bergman PROD Mike Lobell CAM James A. Contner ED Alan Heim MUS Ennio Morricone SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Ryan O’Neal, Jack Warden, Mariangela Melato, Richard Kiel, Fred Gwynne, Mike Kellin, David Rounds, Joel Stedman, Angela Pietropinto

LADY IN WHITE (1988) DIR – SCR – MUS Frank LaLoggia PROD Frank LaLoggia, Andrew G. La Marca CAM Russell Carpenter ED Steve Mann SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco, Katherine Helmond, Jason Presson, Renata Vanni, Angelo Bertolini, Frank LaLoggia

TV MOVIES

THE POSSESSED (1977) DIR Jerry Thorpe PROD Philip Mandelker TELEPLAY John Sacret Young CAM Chuck Arnold ED Michael A. Hoey MUS Leonard Rosenman SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST James Farentino, Joan Hackett, Eugene Roche, Harrison Ford, Ann Dusenberry, Diana Scarwid, Dinah Manoff, Carol Jones

SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME! (1978) DIR – TELEPLAY John Carpenter CAM Robert B. Hauser ED Jerry Taylor MUS Harry Sukman SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Lauren Hutton, David Birney, Adrienne Barbeau, Charles Cyphers, Grainger Hines, Len Lesser, John Mahon

HANGING BY A THREAD (1979) DIR Georg Fenady PROD Irwin Allen TELEPLAY Adrian Spies CAM John M. Nickolaus, Jr. ED Jamie Caylor MUS Richard LaSalle SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Sam Groom, Patty Duke, Joyce Bulifant, Oliver Clark, Bert Convy, Burr DeBenning, Peter Donat, Cameron Mitchell

BARE ESSENCE (1982) DIR Walter Grauman PROD Philip Saltzman TELEPLAY Robert Hamilton (book by Meredith Rich) CAM Jacques R. Marquette ED Sidney Katz MUS Billy Goldenberg SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Bruce Boxleitner, Linda Evans, Genie Francis, Lee Grant, Joel Higgins, Donna Mills, Frank M. Benard, John Dehner, John Laroquette

MISSING CHILDREN: A MOTHER’S STORY (1982) DIR Dick Lowry PROD Jay Benson TELEPLAY Jim Lawrence, Nancy Sackett CAM Donald H. Birnkrant ED Byron ‘Buzz’ Brandt MUS Fred Karlin SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Mare Winningham, Polly Holliday, John Anderson, Kate Capshaw, Scatman Crothers, Richard Dysart, Mary McCusker, Jane Wyatt

CAVE IN! (1983) DIR Georg Fenady PROD Irwin Allen TELEPLAY Norman Katkov CAM John Nickolaus, Jr. ED Dick Wormell MUS Richard LaSalle SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Dennis Cole, Susan Sullivan, Leslie Nielsen, Julie Sommars, Sheila Larken, Lonny Chapman, James Olson, Ray Milland, Ivan Bonar

A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY (1983) DIR Robert Michael Lewis PROD Stan Margulies TELEPLAY Sue Grafton, Steve Humphrey (novel by Agatha Christie) CAM Ted Voigtlander ED Les Green MUS Lee Holdridge SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Helen Hayes, Barnard Hughes, Jameson Parker, Season Hubley, Swoozie Kurtz, Cassie Yates, Stephen Macht

SPARKLING CYANIDE (1983) DIR Robert Michael Lewis PROD Stan Margulies TELEPLAY Sue Grafton, Steve Humphrey, Robert Malcolm Young (novel by Agatha Christie) CAM Ted Voigtlander ED David Saxon MUS James Di Pasquale SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Anthony Andrews, Deborah Raffin, Pamela Bellwood, Nancy Marchand, Josef Sommer, David Huffman, Christine Belford, June Chadwick, Harry Morgan

THE MYSTIC WARRIOR (1984) DIR Richard T. Heffron PROD Paul Freeman TELEPLAY Jeb Rosebrook (novel by Ruth Beebe Hill) CAM Stevan Larner ED Michael Eliot, Richard L. McCullough MUS Gerald Fried SOUND EFFECTS ED Josef von Stroheim CAST Robert Beltran, Devon Ericson, Rion Hunter, Victoria Racimo, Nick Ramus, James Remar, Ned Romero, Will Sampson

THIRTEEN AT DINNER (1985) DIR Lou Antonio PROD Neil Hartley TELEPLAY Rod Browing (novel by Agatha Christie) CAM Curtis Clark ED David A. Simmons SOUND ED Josef von Stroheim MUS John Addison CAST Peter Ustinov, Faye Dunaway, David Suchet, Jonathan Cecil, Bill Nighy, Diane Keen, John Stride, Benedict Taylor, Lee Horsley, Lou Antonio