Herman Schlom

{{short description|American film producer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}} {{more sources|date=May 2026}} '''Herman Schlom''' (1904–1983) was an American film producer who worked primarily for [[Republic Pictures]], then [[RKO Radio Pictures]]. He first received film credit as an assistant director for ''[[Dracula (1931 English-language film)|Dracula]]'' in 1931. Some of Schlom's notable films, as a producer, include the crime thrillers ''[[The Devil Thumbs a Ride]]'' (1947), ''[[Born to Kill (1947 film)|Born to Kill]]'' (1947), ''[[Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome]]'' (1947) and ''[[Armored Car Robbery]]'' (1950).

==Career== Schlom's independent production ''[[Li'l Abner (1940 film)|Li'l Abner]]'' was distributed by RKO. This earned Schlom an invitation to join the RKO staff in 1941. He became a prolific contributor to the studio's B-picture production, assigned to low-budget thrillers and series films. He produced ''[[The Great Gildersleeve (film)|The Great Gildersleeve]]'' and its ensuing series; he also supervised the ''[[Dick Tracy (1945 film)|Dick Tracy]]'' series and the [[Zane Grey]] westerns. Schlom developed a reputation for being efficient and economical, and by 1946 Schlom inherited series that were ending, along with their lowered budgets: ''[[The Falcon (fictional detective)|The Falcon]]'', [[Brown and Carney]], [[Morgan Conway]], [[Ralph Edwards]]. Schlom also produced five stylish [[film noir]] thrillers between 1947 and 1950.

Schlom's experience with the Zane Grey pictures led to his taking over the [[Tim Holt]] B-western unit in 1947. According to Holt's co-star [[Richard Martin (actor)|Richard Martin]], "“Herman was one of RKO's best B producers. He could get a lot of quality into a picture for a few dollars. He lived with the pictures he was producing 24 hours a day, trying to refine them, make them better. He fought for excellent music backgrounds and outstanding photography."<ref name="stempel">{{Cite web|url=http://offscreen.com/view/tim-holt-and-the-b-western|title = Tim Holt and the B Western}}</ref> Schlom kept making Holt westerns until the series lapsed in 1952; these were his last theatrical films.

He was also a producer of the 1956–1957 [[Western (genre)|western]] television series ''[[My Friend Flicka (TV series)|My Friend Flicka]]'', starring Johnny Washbrook, [[Gene Evans]], [[Anita Louise]], and [[Frank Ferguson]].

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * {{IMDb name|0772408}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlom, Herman}} [[Category:1904 births]] [[Category:1983 deaths]] [[Category:Film producers from California]] [[Category:Mass media people from Greater Los Angeles]] [[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]