A Sci-Fi Legend Directed More Gilligan’s Island Episodes Than Anyone Else

During the first season of “Gilligan’s Island,” the show welcomed several directors who would go on to become major filmmakers. Richard Donner, for example, directed three episodes of Season 1 before going on to helm 1978’s “Superman,” “The Goonies,” and the “Lethal Weapon” movies. Similarly, Gary Nelson directed three episodes across all three seasons of “Gilligan’s Island” and later transitioned to moviemaking, at one point overseeing the 1976 “Freaky Friday” for Disney. But the man with the most directing credits on “Gilligan’s Island” was well established as a major Hollywood director by the time he came to meet the castaways: Jack Arnold.

Arnold started as a stage performer in the 1930s and didn’t transition to directing until after his service in World War II. It was his Academy award-nominated 1950 documentary “With These Hands” that caught the attention of Universal Pictures, which gave Arnold his first Hollywood picture: the 1953 crime drama “Girls in the Night.” That same year, he also debuted the first of several now legendary sci-fi features for Universal … one that happened to feature a future “Gilligan’s Island” star.

“It Came from Outer Space” was an alien invasion movie in the vein of “Invaders from Mars” or the more well-known “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” But Arnold’s film, based on a treatment by the great Ray Bradbury, was notable for featuring extra terrestrials that came in peace, and it remains one of the great alien invasion movies. It also featured The Professor actor Russell Johnson in a small role, and it wouldn’t be the last time he and Arnold worked together.

Jack Arnold directed films of various types throughout the 1950s, from crime dramas and noirs such as 1953’s “The Glass Web” to Westerns such as 1956’s “Red Sundown.” But he remains best known for his science fiction films, many of which rank among the most influential sci-fi movies ever made. Take 1954’s “Creature from the Black Lagoon” which not only had groundbreaking underwater scenes, it permeated pop culture, introducing an original monster that remains recognizable to this day.

Arnold followed that up by giving Clint Eastwood his first acting role in the now largely forgotten 1954 sequel, “Revenge of the Creature.” (As it were, Eastwood kicked off his career by inadvertently causing Arnold to have a breakdown simply by showing up to set.) The more fondly remembered “Tarantula” followed, after which Arnold delivered what many consider to be his best film: 1957’s “The Incredible Shrinking Man.” Lesser-known Arnold pictures “Monster on the Campus” (1958) and “The Space Children” (1958) capped off his sci-fi projects for Universal.

It was during this period that Arnold also directed four episodes of the syndicated series “Science Fiction Theater.” This marked yet another transition for the filmmaker, who spent much of the rest of his career overseeing episodes of well-known TV shows, including “Perry Mason,” “The Fall Guy,” “The Brady Bunch,” and another show which involved a “fateful trip,” a “three hour tour,” and its own, creature-less, lagoon.

Jack Arnold wasn’t just brought in to direct “Gilligan’s Island,” he was asked to rescue it. In a 1980 interview (via KPFA), the director spoke about how he became involved with the show. “At one point in my career, nothing was happening,” he explained. “And CBS offered me a great deal of money to become a troubleshooter.” Arnold took the offer, recalling how he would be sent to work on struggling shows to try to get them back on-track. “‘Gilligan’s Island’ was in trouble,” he continued. “And they said, ‘Go over and see what you can do with it.'”

After watching a few episodes, Arnold came to the conclusion that the show was primarily for kids. “I said, ‘You’re not making anything for the intelligentsia. You’re making entertainment for kids. And it’s good, clean entertainment for kids, and the kids will love it.’ And that’s what I tried to do.” With that in mind, Arnold pushed for more sight gags and slapstick comedy. In his estimation, it worked. “The kids loved it,” he continued. “As a matter of fact, there’s not a show that’s been played as much on television as ‘Gilligan’s Island.'”

The sitcom came to an end after three seasons in 1967. By that point, Arnold had become the most prolific “Gilligan’s Island” director. His very first episode was Season 1, Episode 10, “Waiting for Watubi,” after which he went on to direct 25 more installments, including creator Sherwood Schwartz’s favorite “Gilligan’s Island” episode, “The Little Dictator.” Clearly Schwartz valued Arnold’s input, making him an executive producer on the series and using him on his follow-up shows, “The Brady Bunch” and “It’s About Time.”