About

Known credits:
48
Birthday:
1927-02-16
Place of birth:
N/A
Website:
Click here

Russ Doughten

Overview

Russell S. Doughten Jr. (February 16, 1927 – August 19, 2013) was an American film-maker and producer of numerous short and feature-length Christian films. His film work is credited under numerous variations of his name: with or without the "Jr." suffix or middle initial, and sometimes using the informal "Russ" instead of "Russell". Nearly all of his Christian films were shot in various locales in his home state of Iowa.

While he worked on films, most notably as producer and director (uncredited) of the 1958 sci-fi/horror classic The Blob, he was best known for the religious Thief In The Night series, which dramatizes the Rapture and Second Coming of Christ and the struggles of a small band of believers against an increasingly hostile worldwide Antichrist dictatorship.

The films of that series are:

A Thief in the Night (1972)

A Distant Thunder (1978)

Image of the Beast (1980)

The Prodigal Planet (1983)

Doughten appears in all four films as Reverend Matthew Turner, a survivalist who has an elaborate chart of the End Times events, but does not fully believe in the Bible. With his long, graying hair usually worn in a ponytail and shaggy beard, he didn't look the part of the stereotypical Christian fundamentalist, a fact that is credited with earning him secular fans, as is his use of unusual camera angles and layered audio.

While there had been feature-length Christian films before, including the End Times film If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? directed by Ron Ormond in 1971, a sweeping, ambitious project like "Thief"—with three sequels telling one continuous story over the course of a decade—had never been undertaken even in Hollywood.[citation needed] Doughten's identification of the Antichrist not with Communism as Ormond had done, nor with Jack Chick's sinister view of the Vatican, but rather with a worldwide government that initially acts as a global peacemaker, would set the tone for most fundamentalist interpretations of the End Times in the decades that followed.

While the films were clearly made on a low budget, and the dated 1970's fashions shown in the early films provide unintentional amusement today, there is no denying the series' influence among Christian fundamentalists. "A Thief in the Night" is said to be the most widely seen Gospel film in the world and has been influential in many conversions to Protestant Christianity. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins cite Doughten's films as being the primary influence for their million selling Left Behind series of books and films. Doughten's films are frequently shown in churches and on Christian television stations to this day.

In the mid-1960s, Doughten taught English and drama and supervised and directed student productions at South Pasadena High School in California. His former students report that he was exacting in demanding their best efforts, but, they were proud of the results and the quality of the productions he directed and they regretted his departure in 1964 to return to film making in Ohio.

Doughten died from a cardiac-related illness on August 19, 2013.

-Wikipedia

Known for

Acting
1983 The Prodigal Planet Actor Reverend Matthew Turner 59
Average
1981 Image of the Beast Actor Reverend Matthew Turner 58
Average
1978 A Distant Thunder Actor Reverend Matthew Turner 58
Average
1972 A Thief in the Night Actor Rev. Matthew Turner 58
Average

Directing
1983 The Healing Directing Director N/A
N/A
1982 Face in the Mirror Directing Director N/A
N/A
1981 Brother Enemy Directing Director N/A
N/A
1980 Whitcomb's War Directing Director 59
Average
1978 Nite Song Directing Director N/A
N/A
1977 Sammy Directing Director N/A
N/A
1977 Ride the Wind Directing Director N/A
N/A
1975 Happiness Is... Directing Director N/A
N/A
1968 Fever Heat Directing Director N/A
N/A
1967 The Hostage Directing Director 58
Average
1960 Teenage Diary Directing Director 59
Average

Writing
1984 The Shepherd Writing Story N/A
N/A
1983 The Prodigal Planet Writing Story 59
Average
1983 The Prodigal Planet Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1981 Image of the Beast Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1981 Image of the Beast Writing Original Story 58
Average
1981 Home Safe Writing Writer 59
Average
1980 Heaven's Heroes Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1979 The Paradise Trail Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1978 A Distant Thunder Writing Original Story 58
Average
1978 A Distant Thunder Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1977 All the King's Horses Writing Writer 58
Average
1976 A Stranger in My Forest Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1975 Survival Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1974 Blood on the Mountain Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1974 Blood on the Mountain Writing Story N/A
N/A
1972 A Thief in the Night Writing Story 58
Average
1972 A Thief in the Night Writing Screenplay 58
Average

Production
1984 The Shepherd Production Executive Producer N/A
N/A
1983 The Prodigal Planet Production Executive Producer 59
Average
1981 Image of the Beast Production Executive Producer 58
Average
1980 Heaven's Heroes Production Executive Producer 59
Average
1979 The Paradise Trail Production Executive Producer 59
Average
1978 A Distant Thunder Production Executive Producer 58
Average
1977 All the King's Horses Production Producer 58
Average
1976 A Stranger in My Forest Production Executive Producer N/A
N/A
1975 The Lundstroms: Headin' West Production Associate Producer N/A
N/A
1975 Survival Production Executive Producer N/A
N/A
1974 The Lundstroms Livin' Happy Production Associate Producer N/A
N/A
1974 Blood on the Mountain Production Executive Producer N/A
N/A
1973 Traveling with the Lundstroms Production Associate Producer N/A
N/A
1972 A Thief in the Night Production Executive Producer 58
Average
1967 The Hostage Production Producer 58
Average
1958 The Blob Production Associate Producer 60
Fair