Irving Allen

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Irving Allen (November 24, 1905 - December 17, 1987) was a theatrical and cinematic producer and director. He won an Academy Award in 1948 for producing the short movie Climbing the Matterhorn.

Born in Poland, he entered film as an editor at Universal, Paramount and Republic in 1929. During the 1940s, he made a number of superb shorts, including the Academy Award-nominated "Forty Boys and a Song" 1941, which he directed. His short films often won more acclaim than his low-budget features. In the late 40s, Allen started concentrating more fully on being a producer.

In the early 50s, he formed Warwick Productions with Albert R. Broccoli, making films in both the USA and England. Turning solo producer in 1960, Allen was responsible for the Matt Helm series, The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row, The Ambushers, (1967) and The Wrecking Crew (1969).

His partnership with Broccoli was strained by their disagreement over James Bond. Broccoli was interested, Allen was not. The pair met with Bond author Ian Fleming in 1957, but Allen proclaimed (according to various accounts, including documentaries on Bond movie DVDs) that Fleming's novels weren't "good enough for television”. Some years later, Allen, with egg on his face, cast about for his own spy series. He acquired the rights to Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm series. Allen's Helm series had one major effect on Broccoli's Bond movies (produced at the time in partnership with Harry Saltzman). To get Dean Martin on board as Matt Helm, Allen had to make the actor a partner in the enterprise. Dean Martin ended up making more money on The Silencers (1966) than Sean Connery made on Thunderball (1965). This did not go unnoticed by Connery.