The son of Russian Jews who had settled in Germany, Alexander Salkind became one of the more high-profile international movie producers in the 1970s and 80s. His father (variously billed as Mikhail, Michel, Miguel and Michael) was a former lawyer turned movie producer who gave his son entree into show business. Fleeing the Nazis, the Salkinds eventually settled in Mexico City, where they continued to work in the Mexican film industry. The younger Salkind earned his first credit as solo producer on the Buster Keaton vehicle "El Moderno Barb-Azul/Boom in the Moon" (1943).
By the late 1950s, the family had returned to Europe and settled in France. Now in partnership, father and son began overseeing a series of all-star, international co-productions. Their first was Abel Gance's "Austerlitz" (1960) which was budgeted at a then-exorbitant figure of between $3 million and $4 million and featured a cast including Claudia Cardinale, Leslie Caron and Orson Welles. The Salkinds teamed with Welles for "The Trial" (1963), a well-made, but confusing adaptation of the Franz Kafka novel. By the 70s, Salkind's son Ilya had joined as producer on such efforts as Romain Gary's "Kill" (1971). They had a success with Richard Lester's big-budget spectacle "The Three Musketeers" (1973), featuring another all-star cast (Michael York, Richard Chamberlain, Faye Dunaway). Controversy of a sort overshadowed the production when the shooting schedule was increased by a month and the resulting extra footage was edited into a sequel, "The Four Musketeers" (1975). As a result, the Screen Actors Guild issued what became known as the 'Salkind Clause', which guaranteed that an actor was only expected to make one film when a contract was signed.
The Salkinds had perhaps their biggest success with "Superman" (1978) and its first two sequels in 1980 and 1983. Again, the elder Salkind (who was billed as 'presenter' of the film) courted controversy when he refused to release the finished film until Warner Bros. paid an additional $15 million fee for international distribution costs. Attempting to expand their franchise, the Salkinds produced the ill-fated campy "Supergirl" (1984) and a syndicated TV series "The Adventures of Superboy" (1988-92).
"Santa Clause--The Movie" (1985) was a passable kidflick that lacked a certain spark, despite the efforts of elf Dudley Moore and villain John Lithgow. Salkind's last film, "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery" (1992) was a critically lambasted dud made to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the explorer's voyage. Miscast, poorly scripted and directed, it was an all-out failure. Salkind was sued by his son and the other producers in an attempt to recoup some of their losses. (The suit was settled out of court.) At the time, the producer prophetically declared, "I know after this, that I'll never make movies again." He died of leukemia in Paris in March 1997.