Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 6, 2026

W. Merle Connell

William Merle Connell was born on January 7, 1905, in Yakima, Washington. In 1926, Connell married Jennie Ramsey. Connell died on November 25, 1963, in Los Angeles. Connell directed a number of American burlesque films, and exploitation films, including Untamed Women.

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Aug 6, 2026
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W. Merle Connell
Born(1905-01-07)January 7, 1905
Yakima, Washington
DiedNovember 25, 1963(1963-11-25) (aged 58)
Los Angeles
OccupationFilm director
Years active1947-1967
Notable workUntamed Women

William Merle Connell was born on January 7, 1905, in Yakima, Washington. In 1926, Connell married Jennie Ramsey.1 Connell died on November 25, 1963, in Los Angeles. Connell directed a number of American burlesque films,2 and exploitation films, including Untamed Women.

Career

Connell's "Quality Pictures"3 distributed a one-reel burlesque compilations, including: Juke-Box Follies (1945),4567 and Variety Girls (c. 1955).8

"Quality Pictures, a small studio on Santa Monica Boulevard run by producer-director W. Merle Connell,9 was one of the preeminent companies putting out burlesque films for the peepshow and theatrical markets. Connell filmed Los Angeles burlesque dancers in short, two-to-three-minute performances and packaged the segments as single-reel compilations, producing twenty-five of these by 1947. Keeping a hand in the peepshow market, Quality also bought and sold Panorams and converted them for a fee. By the 1950s, Quality had begun focusing on narrative films as well; the Quality Pictures studio was even used for several Ed Wood movies, including Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)."7

Film director

filmed at a burlesque stage show at the Follies Theater in Los Angeles
filmed at Moulin Rouge Theatre, 485 8th Street, Oakland, California1617
also known as A Night at the Moulin Rouge

Cinematographer

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Lewis County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1847-2024 - W - Ramsey - Connell - Et Al". Digital Archives. Washington State Archives. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  2. pp.267-268 Shteir, Rachel Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show Oxford University Press, USA 1 Nov 2004-
  3. "Plan9_PGM_WEB" (PDF). alex film society. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  4. "Juke-Box Follies". FilmFlow.tv. Retrieved March 23, 2025. A series of burlesque peep-show acts for servicemen.
  5. "Juke Box Follies". Variety. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company. November 1945. Retrieved March 23, 2025. "Juke Box Follies" (also Dc- I months attributed' in part to the at- zel) is the two-reelcr spurned by the tention altraefed to the company by board ...
  6. "F-7715 - JUKEBOX FOLLIES". Historic Films. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  7. "Nitrate Shorts - Nitrate Picture Show". www.eastman.org | George Eastman Museum. May 31, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  8. Paghat the Ratgirl. "Reviews: Variety Girls". www.weirdwildrealm.com. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  9. Hollings, Ken (January 10, 1996). "Criswell Predicts: Lost Voices from a Forgotten Future, 1956-59". CTheory: 1/10/1996. ISSN 1190-9153. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  10. "W. Merle Connell". AFI Catalog. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  11. W. Merle Connell - tcmdb Turner Classic Movies
  12. Barrett, Michael (September 28, 2020). "Exploitation Shenanigans 'Test Tube Babies' and 'Guilty Parents' Contend with the Aftermath". www.popmatters.com » PopMatters. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  13. "Midnight Frolics (1949)". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015.
  14. "International Burlesque". tcmdb. tcm.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  15. "Ding Dong". tcmdb. Archived from the original on November 1, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  16. "Moulin Rouge Theatre in Oakland, CA". cinematreasures.org - Cinema Treasures.
  17. "Moulin Rouge Theatre at 485 8th Street in Oakland, California". calisphere. 1976. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  18. "'The Flesh Merchant' Registers No Sale". The New York Times. May 19, 1956. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  19. Connell, W. Merle. "The Flesh Merchant (1956)". AllMovie. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  20. "Flesh Merchant". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  21. "The Flesh Merchant". The Grindhouse Cinema Database. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
External links