James Glickenhaus (born July 24, 1950) is an American film director and producer, financier, and automotive entrepreneur.[1]
Glickenhaus wrote, directed and produced a number of films in the 1980s and 1990s, including The Exterminator (1980) and the Jackie Chan vehicle The Protector (1985).
Glickenhaus is currently general partner of Glickenhaus & Co., a family partnership originally started by his father.
Glickenhaus's involvement in the world of automobiles
James Glickenhaus with the Glickenhaus SCG 007 LMH at the 2023 1000 Miles of Sebring
Glickenhaus is the owner and managing member of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, the automobile company that Glickenhaus started. Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus currently makes 5 types of cars,[3] the SCG 003, SCG 004, SCG Boot, SCG 006, and the SCG 007.[4][5][6][7][8] The race-oriented 003 takes design cues from Formula One racecars, designed to race with the Nürburgring 24 Hours in mind. The 004 is another, toned-down supercar, more fit for driving on the street. The Boot is built for racing at the Baja 1000. The 006 is the car that takes design cues from the cars of the early to mid-20th century. The 007 is Glickenhaus's entry for Le Mans Hypercar.
Film career
Glickenhaus called his first feature film, The Astrologer (1975), "a learning experience". For his next film, the vigilante film The Exterminator (1980), he decided to concentrate more on action and less on dialogue. It became a commercial success and Glickenhaus was asked by Avco-Embassy to deliver a more mainstream action film as his next project. This became the spy-thriller The Soldier (1982), starring Ken Wahl and Klaus Kinski. In a 2012 interview, Glickenhaus explained that his film career could have turned out very differently, had he decided to move to Hollywood after the success of The Exterminator:
"I was contacted a lot by studios. But I think I was afraid of the control of the studios. I had the ability to make films independently. I enjoyed doing it that way. Another part of it was I loved New York. I loved living in New York. I had a lot of friends there. And I knew if I really wanted to be a Hollywood director I would have had to move to LA and spend a lot of time socializing to make contacts. You know, for want of a better word, networking. And I wasn’t interested in doing that."[9]
Glickenhaus made The Protector (1985) for Golden Harvest, one of several attempts by Jackie Chan to break out in the American market, on the condition that Glickenhaus "had total creative control and final cut of the movie". The version that was released internationally is the Glickenhaus version. Jackie Chan edited a different version for the Hong Kong and Japanese market.[9]
In an interview from 2012 about his film career, he explained his reasons for retiring from the business: "What happened at the end was that the studios had taken over everything. And it was very difficult as an independent to compete with them. They could spend so much money that the stars you had access to as an independent were asking a mega amount of money. They knew you had no choice. It became harder and harder and harder."[9]
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