Editing Irwin Allen (section)

===RKO===
Allen became involved in film production at a time when power was beginning to shift from [[Film studio|studios]] to [[Talent agent|talent agencies]]. He put together packages consisting of directors, actors, and a script, and sold them to film studios.

Allen's first film as producer was ''[[Where Danger Lives]]'' (1950) with [[Robert Mitchum]], directed by [[John Farrow]] and written by [[Charles Bennett (screenwriter)|Charles Bennett]]. Allen produced it with [[Irving Cummings Jr.|Irving Cummings, Jr]]. The two men made two more films for RKO: ''[[Double Dynamite]]'' (1951) with [[Jane Russell]], [[Groucho Marx]], and [[Frank Sinatra]], and ''[[A Girl in Every Port (1952 film)|A Girl in Every Port]]'' (1952), again with Marx and [[William Bendix]].

Allen made his directorial debut with the documentary, ''[[The Sea Around Us (film)|The Sea Around Us]]'' (1953).<ref name="Fischer2011"/> This was based on [[Rachel Carson]]'s best-selling [[The Sea Around Us|book of the same name]]. It largely used [[stock footage]] and won the 1952 [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]].<ref name="Webber2004">{{cite book |author=Webber |first=Roy P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=le9QoR0JyEYC&pg=PA96 |title=The Dinosaur Films of Ray Harryhausen: Features, Early 16mm Experiments and Unrealized Projects |publisher=McFarland |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7864-1666-0 |pages=96– |language=en-us}}</ref>{{rp|87}} Carson was so disappointed with Allen's final version of the script that she never again sold film rights to her work.<ref>Lear, 239–240</ref> The film includes gory images of whales being killed. It was a success, making a profit over $2 million.<ref>Two-Hour Nature Picture To Cover Two Billion Years: Hollywood Letter By Richard Dyer MacCann. The Christian Science Monitor 30 Sep 1955: 5</ref>

Allen returned to producing with the [[3-D film|three-dimensional film]] ''[[Dangerous Mission]]'' (1954), his final film for RKO. It starred [[Victor Mature]], Bendix, [[Piper Laurie]], and [[Vincent Price]].