Bogeaus' business career started when he was seventeen, working as an accountant in a junk yard. He bought into the yard, and used it to get a loan of $2,000 to build an apartment block. "Borrowing money then was as easy as buying a sandwich", he said. When
AT&T's
Western Electric unit that manufactured sound equipment for film was forced by an
antitrust action to divest itself of the
General Service Studio complex, Bogeaus outbid producer
Edward Small to acquire the studio. He allowed the United States Government to use his complex for film work and leased it out to various independent film producers, keeping his eye on their progress. Eventually he decided to make films himself.
Early Films Forming
Benedict Bogeaus Productions in 1944, his first film was
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944), directed by
Rowland V. Lee and released through
United Artists. It was not a financial success but his second film,
Dark Waters (1944), directed by
Andre de Toth, was. He followed it with
Captain Kidd (1945), directed by Lee with
Charles Laughton and
Randolph Scott. He also produced
The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946) along with stars
Paulette Goddard and
Burgess Meredith; it was directed by
Jean Renoir. Though these films were critically acclaimed, they didn't set the box office on fire. Realising the public's attraction to low and middle budget films with star power, Bogeaus signed
George Raft on for a few films, beginning with
Mr. Ace (1946), directed by
Edwin Marin. The movie was not a financial success. Bogeaus made
The Macomber Affair (1947) with
Gregory Peck directed by
Zoltan Korda. He made two anthology films with multiple stars in different storylines so they could be filmed at different times:
Christmas Eve (1947), with Raft and Scott, directed by Marin;
On Our Merry Way (1948), with Goddard, James Stewart and
Henry Fonda. and Bogeaus featured
Dorothy Lamour and
George Montgomery in two films,
Lulu Belle (1948) and
The Girl from Manhattan (1948). He ventured into film noir with
The Crooked Way (1949) and
Johnny One-Eye (1950), both directed by
Robert Florey:. Bogeaus produced
My Outlaw Brother (1951), a Western with
Mickey Rooney, and
One Big Affair (1952), a comedy with
Evelyn Keyes.
RKO Most of Bogeaus' films had been released through United Artists. He signed a deal with RKO for
Count the Hours (1952) and
Appointment in Honduras (1953). Bogeous produced some action films with
Allan Dwan, all for RKO:
Silver Lode (1954),
Passion (1954),
Cattle Queen of Montana (1955),
Escape to Burma (1955),
Pearl of the South Pacific (1955), ''
Tennessee's Partner (1955), and Slightly Scarlet'' (1955). RKO collapsed and Bogeaus made ''
The River's Edge (1957) with Dwan for Fox, and Enchanted Island'' (1958) for Warners.
Final Films Bogeaus' final films included two directed by
Byron Haskin in Mexico:
From the Earth to the Moon (1958) and
Jet Over the Atlantic (1959). The latter was the first production from Inter-Continent Films and Inter-Continent Releasing, two companies formed by Bogeaus and James R. Grainger. They announced a series of films, including
Jet Over the Atlantic,
The Gold Bug,
Shoot Out!,
Early Autumn and
The Glass Wall. However, only
Jet was made. His last production was
Most Dangerous Man Alive directed by Dwan that was filmed in 1958 in Mexico but not released until 1961. Dwan and Bogeaus cooperated in three unfilmed projects, a remake of
The Bridge at San Luis Rey,
Will You Marry Me, written by Dwan, and
The Glass Wall. ==Personal life==