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Mel Welles

Mel Welles

Mel Welles (February 17, 1924 - August 18, 2005) was an American film actor. His best-remembered role may be that of hapless flower shop owner Gravis Mushnik in the 1960 low-budget Roger Corman dark comedy, The Little Shop of Horrors (which featured Jack Nicholson as a masochistic dental patient).

Not much is known of Welles' early life, except that he was born Ira Meltcher in New York City. He graduated from Mt. Carmel High School, in 1940. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from Penn State University, a Master of Arts degree from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University.

Welles held a number of jobs during his lifetime; at one time or another he worked as a clinical psychologist, radio DJ, television actor, writer and film director. He did some stage work before traveling to Hollywood, where in 1953 he appeared in his first film, Appointment in Honduras. His favorite role (The Little Shop of Horrors) was also his last in the U.S. for many years.

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Movies Starring Mel Welles (51)

Piecing Together Lady Frankenstein (2018)

Documentary about the making of "Lady Frankenstein" and the directing career of Mel Welles. ...

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Howard (2018)

Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman's family, friends, associates, and longtime partn ...

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The Truth About Lady Frankenstein (2007)

A lengthy interview with director Mel Welles who talks in detail about how he came to be a fan of monster and horror pictures at a young age, and the origins of his 1971 film, Lady Frankenstein. Originally released for German TV. ...

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Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II (1989)

Three kingdoms have been overtaken by three evil lords and only Tyor, a teenage boy with magical powers, can restore peace to the land with the help of a bumbling elder, wizard and a hero in each kingdom. Tyor fights alongside them and eventually becomes a ...

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Invasion Earth: The Aliens Are Here (1988)

Insect-like aliens invade a small town. The local teenagers have been watching a sci-fi marathon in the local theater, and from those films they get ideas on how to fight the creatures. ...

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Rented Lips (1988)

A documentary filmmaker, who has spent the last 15 years making films like "Aluminum: Our Shiny Friend," is finally given the chance to make the documentary on Indian farming he has always wanted to. The catch? He must simultaneously direct a porn film. Bu ...

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Commando Squad (1987)

An American narcotics agent takes her squad to Mexico, where she must break up a drug-smuggling gang that has also kidnapped her boyfriend. ...

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Medium Rare (1987)

Death of his wife's pet poodle and a threatening movie producer create a world of trouble for a middle-aged B-movie mogul. He hires two psychopathic goons to take care of it, which only creates more trouble and attracts the cops. ...

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Chopping Mall (1986)

High-tech robots equipped with state-of-the-art security devices have been recruited as the new mechanical "night watchmen" for the Park Plaza Mall. When a jolting bolt of lightning short-circuits the main computer control, the robots turn into "killbots" ...

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Homework (1982)

Good-looking but virginal "rockstar" teen Tommy tries to score with some of the local high school girls. But a classmate's mom decides to make a man out of him. ...

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The Last American Virgin (1982)

The friendship of a group of young friends struggling with teen sex, drugs, and work is jeopardized by a romantic interest which may turn pals into bitter rivals. ...

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Body and Soul (1981)

A young man struggles to become a boxing champ, but success blinds him. It is only through the love of his girlfriend that he is brought back to reality. ...

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Smokey Bites the Dust (1981)

Follows the rivalry between a small-town Southern sheriff and a small-town delinquent who steals cars and then destroys them with the sheriff's daughter by his side. ...

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Wolfen (1981)

A New York City cop and an expert criminologist trying to solve a series of grisly deaths in which the victims have seemingly been maimed by feral animals discover a sinister connection between the crimes and an old legend. ...

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Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980)

An ugly, misshapen podiatrist ingests a formula made by a colleague and turns into a handsome, devil-may-care (but violent) ladies' man. ...

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Joyride to Nowhere (1977)

Teenage friends Cindy and Leah have decided to leave their abusive homelives behind, stealing Cindy's father's car and setting out on the road to freedom. On the way, they meet up with a sleazy guy named Tank who invites them up to his place. As Tank showe ...

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The Day the Hot Line Got Hot (1968)

The most ultra-secret telephone number of all is that of the "Hot'Line' that links the heads of state of the United States and Moscow. A conniving double agent manages to steal the top secret phone number and then begins to implement chaos by phoning Washi ...

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The She Beast (1966)

A young woman is driving alongside a lake. She has an accident and the car plunges into the water. Her body is then possessed by the spirit of an 18th-century witch who was killed by local villagers, and is bent on avenging herself on them. ...

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The Keeler Affair (1963)

A teenage prostitute in England gets involved with high-level politicians and becomes enmeshed in a sex-and-spy scandal. ...

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The Reluctant Saint (1962)

Cupertino, Italy, 1623: A simple-minded and clumsy young man joins a Franciscan order as a hired hand, overcoming his intellectual and social challenges with a pure heart and a simple faith. God performs a miracle through him, quite literally raising him t ...

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The Red Sheik (1962)

For decades Sultan Hassan has been suppressing the desert tribes with violence and terror. In an oasis, the tribal prince Ajbar has been hiding with his own from Hassan's soldiers. ...

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Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man (1962)

Young and restless Nick Adams, the only son of a domineering mother and a weak but noble doctor father, leaves his rural Michigan home to embark on an eventful cross-country journey. He is touched and affected by his encounters with a punch-drunk ex-boxer, ...

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Code of Silence (1960)

An ex-mafioso moves to Mexico to become a writer, revealing mob secrets in his books which are met with understandable displeasure. He is soon pursued by hit-men as well as the FBI, who need his testimony in a court case. ...

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The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Seymour works in a skid row florist shop and is in love with his beautiful co-worker, Audrey. He creates a new plant that not only talks but cannot survive without human flesh and blood. ...

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High School Confidential! (1958)

A tough kid comes to a new high school and begins muscling his way into the drug scene. This is a typical morality play of the era, filled with a naive view of drugs, nihilistic beat poetry, and some incredible '50s slang. ...

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The Brothers Karamazov (1958)

Ryevsk, Russia, 1870. Tensions abound in the Karamazov family. Fyodor is a wealthy libertine who holds his purse strings tightly. His four grown sons include Dmitri, the eldest, an elegant officer, always broke and at odds with his father, betrothed to Kat ...

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Hell on Devil's Island (1957)

An ex-con from Devil's Island enlists the support of the governor's daughter in exposing a prison mining operation. ...

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Rock All Night (1957)

Cloud Nine, the local teen hangout, has been taken over by a pair of escaped killers, who hold the local teens hostage. The bartender realizes it's up to him to save the kids. ...

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The Shadow on the Window (1957)

Three delinquents murder a prosperous farmer at an isolated farm house. One witness to the crime - the dead man's secretary - is then taken hostage. The other witness - her young son - is thrown into state of shock. Can he recover soon enough to help the p ...

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The Undead (1957)

Two psychics place a prostitute under hypnosis in order to learn about her past-life experiences. When they unwittingly send her back in time, she finds herself in the Middle Ages, suspected of being a witch and on the verge of being executed. ...

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Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

A group of scientists travel to a remote island to study the effects of nuclear weapons tests, only to get stranded when their airplane mysteriously explodes. The team soon discovers that the tests have given rise to crabs mutated into intelligent, impervi ...

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The 27th Day (1957)

Five individuals from five nations, including the USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien saucer, where an alien gives each a container holding three capsules. The alien explains that no power on earth can open a given container except a ...

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Flight to Hong Kong (1956)

On an airliner bound for Hong Kong, Tony, a career crook who deals in stolen diamonds, agonizes over whether he should stick with his girlfriend or pursue Pamela, an intriguing novelist with whom he's instantly infatuated. Viewing Tony's dastardly deeds as ...

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Calling Homicide (1956)

Cop Andy Doyle investigates a car-bombing murder and the killing of a sleazy modeling agency owner. Are they connected? ...

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Outside the Law (1956)

A government agent's son wins respect and love when he challenges counterfeiters. ...

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The Fighting Chance (1955)

A horse trainer and his friend, a jockey, fall in love with the same girl. Complications ensue. ...

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Hold Back Tomorrow (1955)

A condemned murderer, scheduled to hang in the morning, asks for the company of a woman in his final hours. ...

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The Big Knife (1955)

Movie star Charlie Castle draws the ire of Hollywood producer Stanley Hoff when he refuses to sign a new seven-year contract. Castle is sick of the low quality of the studio's films and wants to start a new life. While his estranged wife supports him in th ...

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Kismet (1955)

A silver-tongued poet and self-proclaimed "King of the Beggars" searches old Baghdad for a rich bachelor to marry his dreamy daughter, Marsinah. Along the way, he poses as the renowned sorcerer Hajj and gets in and out of scrapes with an elderly thief, a d ...

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Duel on the Mississippi (1955)

In bustling era of 19th-century Louisiana, sugar is as valuable as gold, and pirates like Lili Scarlet will do anything to get it. After robbing Jules Tulane's estate of his crop, Scarlet takes over Tulane's land debt and forces him to pay or go to prison. ...

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Spy Chasers (1955)

Slip and the gang foil foes of the exiled, incognito king of Truania. ...

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Soldier of Fortune (1955)

An American woman arrives in Hong Kong to unravel the mystery of her missing photographer husband. After getting nowhere with the authorities, she is led by some underground characters to an American soldier of fortune working in the area against the Commu ...

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Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

Stranded in Egypt, Bud and Lou find themselves in the buried tomb of a living mummy. ...

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The Racers (1955)

An Italian daredevil turns Grand Prix driver and works his way up to Le Mans with his ballerina lover. ...

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The Silver Chalice (1954)

A Greek artisan is commissioned to cast the cup of Christ in silver and sculpt around its rim the faces of the disciples and Jesus himself. He travels to Jerusalem and eventually to Rome to complete the task. Meanwhile, a nefarious interloper is trying to ...

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Pushover (1954)

A police detective falls for the bank robber's girlfriend he is supposed to be tailing. ...

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Massacre Canyon (1954)

A band of renegade Apaches attempts to steal a shipment of rifles being transported to Fort Collins. ...

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Jesse James vs. the Daltons (1954)

Joe Branch, reputed to be the son of Jesse James, comes riding into Coffeyville Kansas, looking for proof one way or the other regarding the question of who his father was. ...

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Wyoming Renegades (1954)

Brady Sutton returns from three years in prison and tries to go straight. One a member of the Butch Cassidy gang, he is still suspected of being cahoots with them. When Cassidy and his men rob the bank, he is blamed. Escaping from the townspeople, he once ...

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Appointment in Honduras (1953)

On a tramp steamer off Central America are Mr. and Mrs. Sheppard, five prisoners en route to a Nicaraguan prison, and Corbett, an American carrying money for a Honduran counter-revolution. Denied permission to land in Honduras, Corbett releases the prisone ...

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Gun Fury (1953)

After a stagecoach holdup, Frank Slayton's notorious gang leave Ben Warren for dead and head off with his fiancée. Warren follows, and although none of the townspeople he comes across are prepared to help, he recruits two others who have sworn revenge on ...

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Movies Made By Mel Welles (9)

Secret Agent 00 Soul (1990)

James Brown III, also known as Secret Agent 00 Soul, is an elite international operative who finally tells off the government and fulfills his longtime dream of opening a detective agency in his hold neighborhood. His once plush workspace is no a ramshackl ...

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Joyride to Nowhere (1977)

Teenage friends Cindy and Leah have decided to leave their abusive homelives behind, stealing Cindy's father's car and setting out on the road to freedom. On the way, they meet up with a sleazy guy named Tank who invites them up to his place. As Tank showe ...

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Lady Frankenstein (1971)

When Dr. Frankenstein is killed by a monster he created, his daughter and his lab assistant continue his experiments. ...

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The Last Mercenary (1968)

After the war in Congo, two mercenaries take a mission to safeguard uranium transportation in a South American jungle, fighting bandits and local miners. ...

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Island of the Doomed (1967)

A group of tourists arrive to see the botanical gardens on a small island off the Italian coast. The only inhabitants of the island are the famous botanist Baron von Weser and his two faithful servants; all of the other residents fled after a series of mys ...

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Our Man in Jamaica (1965)

The FBI sends agents to Jamaica to investigate arms smuggling to revolutionaries in Santo Domingo. ...

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Code of Silence (1960)

An ex-mafioso moves to Mexico to become a writer, revealing mob secrets in his books which are met with understandable displeasure. He is soon pursued by hit-men as well as the FBI, who need his testimony in a court case. ...

Watch Now

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Seymour works in a skid row florist shop and is in love with his beautiful co-worker, Audrey. He creates a new plant that not only talks but cannot survive without human flesh and blood. ...

Watch Now