BOB CLARK 1941-2007

The Los Angeles Times reports that director Bob Clark passed away, the result of a car accident along the Pacific Coast Highway early Wednesday morning. Despite an eclectic career in the film industry, Clark directed and wrote several films for which will always be remembered.

Among his Clark's finest work:

Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1972) Several friends dig up a corpse, using it in a Satanic ritual to resurrect the dead. Clark was to start filming a remake this Spring.

Black Christmas (1974) The first slasher film and precursor to John Carpenter's Halloween. This recently remade film told the story of a sorority house terrorized by a maniac during the holidays.

Murder By Decree (1979) Sherlock Holmes fights Jack the Ripper.

Rhinestone (1984) Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton in a rip-roaring musical!

See Sly Sing!!!



In 1982, Clark made a film that he had worked on for fifteen years. The story turned out to be a composite of tales he had heard intertwined with some of his own personal memories of growing up in high school. The film went on to be the third highest grossing film of 1982 and will soon be released on dvd with a new special edition. The film, is the very funny teen comedy, PORKY'S!


Enjoy a very funny and most likely NOT SAFE FOR WORK clip:




And finally, the best for last.

Porky's success gave Clark the power to make his next film, a pet project based on humorist Jean Shepherd's novel, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.

The film, which was released just prior to Thanksgiving, was a sleeper hit, and has been referenced as a direct influence on both South Park and The Wonder Years. Over the last several years, the film has become a true holiday classic, originally airing nightly over twelve days, and now airing in twenty-four hour marathons. With Darren McGavin as the Old Man and Peter Billingsley as the hero, Ralphie Parker, Clark's A Christmas Story, has become a true holiday classic.

Enjoy some of A Christmas Story's most beloved moments:













From the 2003 dvd release party of A Christmas Story: Special Edition: R.D. Robb (Schwartz), Ian Petrella (Randy Parker), Peter Billingsley (Ralphie), Bob Clark, Scott Schwartz (Flick) and Zack Ward (Scut Farkus)