On September 22, the Special Projects Committee hosted the latest installment of their Classic Film Series with Director John Rich’s 1964 musical, Roustabout, in the Guild’s Los Angeles Theater. The series screens iconic movies, often followed by a discussion about their legacy.

Elvis Presley’s 16th film, Roustabout tells the story of singer Charlie Rogers (Presley) is fired from his job at a coffee shop, then takes a job at a struggling carnival. While his singing starts to turn the show’s finances around, his attempted romance with a young woman named Cathy leads to friction with her father. The film was moderately received at the time of its release but later became a cult classic among Presley fans and movie-lovers alike due to the popular soundtrack album, which reached #1 on the Billboard Album Chart.

The evening opened with a welcome from Special Projects Committee Co-Chair Michael Goi and Classic Film Series Subcommittee Chair Arthur Allan Seidelman, who spoke about the legacy of the film and its Director.

About the Director:

John Rich — (1925-2012)

A Director of some of the best-loved comedies in television history, Rich’s credits include The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, Barney Miller, Newhart, Benson, The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island. He won a DGA Award and an Emmy in 1972 for directing All in the Family and was twice nominated in 1971 and 1973 for the same series.

His credits also include feature films such as Boeing Boeing, Wives and Lovers, The New Interns and Easy Come, Easy Go; as well as other classic television series such as Our Miss Brooks, Bat Masterson, The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, Gunsmoke and The Dick Van Dyke Show for which he was Emmy-nominated in 1961 and won the Emmy award in 1963.

A Guild member since 1953, Rich was instrumental in the 1960 merger between the Screen Directors Guild and the Radio and Television Directors Guild, which later became the Directors Guild of America. He served on the National Board and Western Directors Council for over 50 years in many capacities, including Secretary (1958-59), Treasurer (1965-67), and several terms as a Vice President. In 1993, Rich received the Robert B. Aldrich Award for Extraordinary Service to the Guild. He was honored again in 2003 with the DGA Honorary Life Member Award.