Jerry Gross was a semi-legendary exploitation movie
producer/distributor, but--unlike his more notorious colleagues in the
exploitation business such as Kroger Babb,
David F. Friedman and
Dan Sonney--very little is actually known
about the man himself.
He started in the film industry in the 1960s as a director, but found
his forte in distribution--or, rather, outrageous film promotions.
Sensationalized come-ons, titillating taglines, wildly suggestive
posters and titles scored Gross hit after hit on the
grindhouse/drive-in circuit throughout the 1970s. His company,
Cinemation, released titles like
Die Tollwütigen (1971),
Teenage Mother (1967),
Blond und brutal (1962) and
Zombie (1971). In the mid-'70s he was
quoted as saying, "I guarantee that all these are selling titles. The
public just cannot resist a film if the title drags them in. Stars
don't matter. Titles do!".
Gross didn't limit himself to just exploitation pictures, though. He
also distributed important movies like
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
(although in a slightly re-cut version) but he is chiefly remembered
for the sort of promotions that would have done P.T. Barnum proud (as
would his name). When he released the first two "Mondo Cane"
films--Mondo cane (1962) and
Mondo cane n. 2 (1963)--on a
double bill, he hired actors to dress up as native tribesmen and dance
around cinemas to emphasize the films' subject matter of primitive
rites.
Gross' finest hour unfortunately spelled the beginning of the end. "I
Eat Your Skin",
Ich spuck' auf dein Grab (1978) and
The Boogey Man (1980), all
released by The Jerry Gross Origination, are fondly remembered and were
big hits. By this time, however, major studios were securing a monopoly
over America's screens and the smaller companies were quickly going
bankrupt, which is eventually what happened to The Jerry Gross
Origination. Gross' post-bankruptcy company Ambassador Pictures quickly
went out of business. That was around 1983, and since then Jerry Gross
seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.
