Max Rosenberg

Max Rosenberg, who over a half-century produced dozens of low-budget movies, including " Tales From the Crypt " and the early rock ' n ' roll movie " Rock, Rock, Rock, " has died. He was 89.

Mr. Rosenberg died Monday in a Los Angeles hospital after a brief illness, said Julie Moldo, vice president of Mr. Rosenberg ' s company, Rearguard Productions.

The son of a furrier, Mr. Rosenberg was born in New York and was a lawyer when he entered the film business in 1939 as a distributor of foreign films. He became a producer in 1954. With partner Milton Subotsky, he made " Junior Science, " an award-winning series of TV science programs for children.

Their movies included " Rock, Rock, Rock, " produced in 1956. It starred Tuesday Weld and featured performances by Chuck Berry and Frankie Lymon and an appearance by disc jockey Alan Freed.

" It took nine days to make, " Mr. Rosenberg recalled in a 2000 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. " The exciting thing was collecting the music. As for the picture itself, there ' s not much to commend it. It ' s just a bunch of songs connected to a stupid plot. "

Most of Mr. Rosenberg ' s movies involved horror or the supernatural. " The Curse of Frankenstein, " made in 1957 with England ' s Hammer Films for $500,000, brought in $7 million.

After forming Amicus Productions in England in 1962, Mr. Rosenberg and Subotsky made popular horror anthologies, including " Dr. Terror ' s House of Horrors " and " The House That Dripped Blood. "

" They established themselves as one of the leading purveyors of supernatural, horror and suspense films during that period, " said Dennis Bartok, head of programming at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

" They worked with an amazingly talented pool of actors, including Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Joan Collins, " Bartok said. " They also helped foster the careers of younger actors like Donald Sutherland and Terrance Stamp, and they often worked with excellent writers like Robert Bloch. "

Bartok said his friend also was proud of his nonhorror work, including 1968 ' s " The Birthday Party, " directed by William Friedkin. It was one of the first movies adapted from the work of playwright Harold Pinter.

Mr. Rosenberg is survived by his companion, Arlene Becker; daughters Elizabeth Rumelt and Naomi Rosenberg; and three grandchildren.