Russ Doughten

Russ Doughten

Russell S. Doughten Jr. (February 16, 1927 – August 19, 2013) was an American film-maker and producer of numerous short and feature-length Christian films. His film work is credited under numerous variations of his name: with or without the "Jr." suffix or middle initial, and sometimes using the informal "Russ" instead of "Russell". Nearly all of his Christian films were shot in various locales in his home state of Iowa. While he worked on films, most notably as producer and director (uncredited) of the 1958 sci-fi/horror classic The Blob, he was best known for the religious Thief In The Night series, which dramatizes the Rapture and Second Coming of Christ and the struggles of a small band of believers against an increasingly hostile worldwide Antichrist dictatorship. The films of that series are: A Thief in the Night (1972) A Distant Thunder (1978) Image of the Beast (1980) The Prodigal Planet (1983) Doughten appears in all four films as Reverend Matthew Turner, a survivalist who has an elaborate chart of the End Times events, but does not fully believe in the Bible. With his long, graying hair usually worn in a ponytail and shaggy beard, he didn't look the part of the stereotypical Christian fundamentalist, a fact that is credited with earning him secular fans, as is his use of unusual camera angles and layered audio. While there had been feature-length Christian films before, including the End Times film If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? directed by Ron Ormond in 1971, a sweeping, ambitious project like "Thief"—with three sequels telling one continuous story over the course of a decade—had never been undertaken even in Hollywood.[citation needed] Doughten's identification of the Antichrist not with Communism as Ormond had done, nor with Jack Chick's sinister view of the Vatican, but rather with a worldwide government that initially acts as a global peacemaker, would set the tone for most fundamentalist interpretations of the End Times in the decades that followed. While the films were clearly made on a low budget, and the dated 1970's fashions shown in the early films provide unintentional amusement today, there is no denying the series' influence among Christian fundamentalists. "A Thief in the Night" is said to be the most widely seen Gospel film in the world and has been influential in many conversions to Protestant Christianity. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins cite Doughten's films as being the primary influence for their million selling Left Behind series of books and films. Doughten's films are frequently shown in churches and on Christian television stations to this day. In the mid-1960s, Doughten taught English and drama and supervised and directed student productions at South Pasadena High School in California. His former students report that he was exacting in demanding their best efforts, but, they were proud of the results and the quality of the productions he directed and they regretted his departure in 1964 to return to film making in Ohio. Doughten died from a cardiac-related illness on August 19, 2013. -Wikipedia

  • Popularity : 1.45
  • Known For : Production
  • Birthday : 1927-02-16
  • Place of Birth :
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Russ Doughten Movies

  • 1972
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    A Thief in the Night

    A Thief in the Night

    5.5 1972 HD

    Patty, a young woman caught up in living for the present with little concern for the future, awakens one day to find her husband missing and the...

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  • 1983
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    The Prodigal Planet

    The Prodigal Planet

    5.5 1983 HD

    About to executed by the forces of the Antichrist, a fundamentalist Christian guerrilla is rescued by an Antichrist agent pretending to be a double...

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  • 1981
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    Image of the Beast

    Image of the Beast

    3.8 1981 HD

    Third and best known entry in the Mark IV series of fundamentalist apocalypse films. Fundamentalist Christian guerrilla David helps condemned...

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  • 1978
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    A Distant Thunder

    A Distant Thunder

    5.1 1978 HD

    Patty is lying awake one night in a church basement, distraught and scared. She is to be executed the next morning for refusing to take the Mark of...

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  • 1967
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    The Hostage

    The Hostage

    4.6 1967 HD

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  • 1981
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    Image of the Beast

    Image of the Beast

    3.8 1981 HD

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  • 1978
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    A Distant Thunder

    A Distant Thunder

    5.1 1978 HD

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  • 1978
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    A Distant Thunder

    A Distant Thunder

    5.1 1978 HD

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  • 1981
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    Image of the Beast

    Image of the Beast

    3.8 1981 HD

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  • 1978
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    A Distant Thunder

    A Distant Thunder

    5.1 1978 HD

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  • 1981
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    Image of the Beast

    Image of the Beast

    3.8 1981 HD

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  • 1972
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    A Thief in the Night

    A Thief in the Night

    5.5 1972 HD

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  • 1977
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    All the King's Horses

    All the King's Horses

    1 1977 HD

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  • 1977
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    All the King's Horses

    All the King's Horses

    1 1977 HD

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  • 1980
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    Heaven's Heroes

    Heaven's Heroes

    5.5 1980 HD

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  • 1972
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    A Thief in the Night

    A Thief in the Night

    5.5 1972 HD

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  • 1974
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    Blood on the Mountain

    Blood on the Mountain

    1 1974 HD

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  • 1979
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    The Paradise Trail

    The Paradise Trail

    5.7 1979 HD

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  • 1980
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    Heaven's Heroes

    Heaven's Heroes

    5.5 1980 HD

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  • 1976
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    A Stranger in My Forest

    A Stranger in My Forest

    1 1976 HD

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  • 1983
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    The Prodigal Planet

    The Prodigal Planet

    5.5 1983 HD

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  • 1974
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    Blood on the Mountain

    Blood on the Mountain

    1 1974 HD

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  • 1981
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    Home Safe

    Home Safe

    10 1981 HD

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  • 1974
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    Blood on the Mountain

    Blood on the Mountain

    1 1974 HD

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  • 1972
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    A Thief in the Night

    A Thief in the Night

    5.5 1972 HD

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  • 1979
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    The Paradise Trail

    The Paradise Trail

    5.7 1979 HD

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  • 1984
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    The Shepherd

    The Shepherd

    1 1984 HD

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  • 1984
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    The Shepherd

    The Shepherd

    1 1984 HD

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  • 1983
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    The Prodigal Planet

    The Prodigal Planet

    5.5 1983 HD

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  • 1983
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    The Prodigal Planet

    The Prodigal Planet

    5.5 1983 HD

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  • 1981
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    Brother Enemy

    Brother Enemy

    1 1981 HD

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  • 1977
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    Ride the Wind

    Ride the Wind

    1 1977 HD

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  • 1975
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    Survival

    Survival

    10 1975 HD

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  • 1978
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    Nite Song

    Nite Song

    1 1978 HD

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  • 1977
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    Sammy

    Sammy

    1 1977 HD

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  • 1980
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    Whitcomb's War

    Whitcomb's War

    10 1980 HD

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  • 1983
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    The Healing

    The Healing

    1 1983 HD

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  • 1975
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    Happiness Is...

    Happiness Is...

    1 1975 HD

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  • 1982
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    Face in the Mirror

    Face in the Mirror

    1 1982 HD

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  • 1958
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    The Blob

    The Blob

    6.2 1958 HD

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  • 1975
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    Survival

    Survival

    10 1975 HD

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  • 1960
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    Teenage Diary

    Teenage Diary

    3 1960 HD

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  • 1968
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    Fever Heat

    Fever Heat

    1 1968 HD

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  • 1974
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    The Lundstroms Livin' Happy

    The Lundstroms Livin' Happy

    1 1974 HD

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  • 1973
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    Traveling with the Lundstroms

    Traveling with the Lundstroms

    1 1973 HD

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  • 1975
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    The Lundstroms: Headin' West

    The Lundstroms: Headin' West

    1 1975 HD

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  • 1976
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    A Stranger in My Forest

    A Stranger in My Forest

    1 1976 HD

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  • 1967
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    The Hostage

    The Hostage

    4.6 1967 HD

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