Lewis Allen (director)
Encyclopedia
Lewis Allen was an English film and television director
. Allen worked mainly in the United States, directing 18 feature films between 1944 and 1959. From the mid-1950s he moved increasingly into television and worked on a number of the most popular shows of the time in the U.S.
and on leaving school joined the Merchant Navy for four years. After leaving the service he became, briefly, an actor, before moving into London theatrical management, firstly for Raymond Massey
and later for Gilbert Miller
.
By the early 1940s Allen had relocated to the U.S. He directed a wartime propaganda short Freedom Comes High
in 1943 and was given his first chance to direct a feature film in 1944. He made a highly auspicious debut with The Uninvited
, an atmospheric and memorable ghost story set on the misty coast of south-west England, starring Ray Milland
and Gail Russell
. The film was very favourably received and subsequently acquired the status of a classic of its genre. Allen again worked with Russell, alongside Joel McCrea
and Herbert Marshall
, in 1945's The Unseen
, a film with a similar supernatural theme which is often considered the unofficial follow-up to The Uninvited. Other films of this period included a romantic comedy The Perfect Marriage (1947) with David Niven
and Loretta Young
, and Desert Fury
(1947), a noir-ish Western drama starring Lizabeth Scott
and John Hodiak
.
In 1948 Allen returned to England to film So Evil My Love
, a lavishly-mounted melodramatic period thriller set in Victorian London, which reunited him with Milland, playing an out-and-out bad lot ruining the lives of Ann Todd
and Geraldine Fitzgerald
. Allen later said that he found Milland a pleasure to work with, and the two teamed up again in Sealed Verdict (1948), a topical drama dealing with the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in the American-occupied zone of post-war Germany.
The early 1950s brought the biopic Valentino
(1951) and the noir Appointment with Danger
(1951) starring Alan Ladd
, then in 1954 he directed the tense and claustrophobic Frank Sinatra
vehicle Suddenly
which became, alongside The Uninvited, his most widely-known and highly-regarded film. In 1955 Allen directed two Edward G. Robinson
films, A Bullet for Joey
and Illegal, but then film offers in the U.S. dried up. Allen made only two more films, both in Europe. In England in 1958 he directed Sean Connery
and Lana Turner
in the soapy melodrama Another Time, Another Place, while his last was Whirlpool, a 1959 woman-on-the-run drama made for the British Rank Organisation
but filmed on location in Germany.
As his film career began to fade out, Allen made the transition to television, where his services turned out to be in demand from the mid 1950s up to the latter part of the 1970s. His many credits included episodes of hit shows such as Perry Mason
, The F.B.I and Mission: Impossible
. Most notably, he directed 42 episodes of long-running series Bonanza
, spanning the show's entire 14-year run. He retired in 1977.
on 3 May 2000, aged 94.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. Allen worked mainly in the United States, directing 18 feature films between 1944 and 1959. From the mid-1950s he moved increasingly into television and worked on a number of the most popular shows of the time in the U.S.
Career
Allen was born in the small Shropshire town of OakengatesOakengates
Oakengates is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, and now forms part of the new town of Telford...
and on leaving school joined the Merchant Navy for four years. After leaving the service he became, briefly, an actor, before moving into London theatrical management, firstly for Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey
Raymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
and later for Gilbert Miller
Gilbert Miller
Gilbert Heron Miller was an American theatrical producer.Born in New York City, he was the son of English-born theatrical producer Henry Miller and Bijou Heron, a former child actress. Raised and educated in Europe, he returned home to follow in his father's footsteps and became a highly...
.
By the early 1940s Allen had relocated to the U.S. He directed a wartime propaganda short Freedom Comes High
Freedom Comes High
Freedom Comes High is a 1943 dramatic short film commissioned by the United States Government during World War II and directed by Lewis Allen.-Synopsis:...
in 1943 and was given his first chance to direct a feature film in 1944. He made a highly auspicious debut with The Uninvited
The Uninvited (1944 film)
The Uninvited is a 1944 American supernatural mystery/romance film directed by Lewis Allen. It is based on the Dorothy Macardle novel Uneasy Freehold.Charles Lang was nominated for a 1945 Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography.-Plot:...
, an atmospheric and memorable ghost story set on the misty coast of south-west England, starring Ray Milland
Ray Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
and Gail Russell
Gail Russell
Gail Russell was an American film and television actress.-Career:She was born Elizabeth L. Russell to George and Gladys Russell in Chicago, Illinois, and then moved to the Los Angeles, California, area when she was a teenager. Russell's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of...
. The film was very favourably received and subsequently acquired the status of a classic of its genre. Allen again worked with Russell, alongside Joel McCrea
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned 50 years and appearances in over 90 films.-Early life:...
and Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
, in 1945's The Unseen
The Unseen (1945 film)
The Unseen is a 1945 film directed by Lewis Allen. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Recording , and is based on the novel Midnight House by Ethel Lina White. The film was Paramount's follow-up to the film The Uninvited .-Cast:...
, a film with a similar supernatural theme which is often considered the unofficial follow-up to The Uninvited. Other films of this period included a romantic comedy The Perfect Marriage (1947) with David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
and Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
, and Desert Fury
Desert Fury
Desert Fury is a 1947 Paramount Pictures color film noir drama film starring Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak and Burt Lancaster, with Mary Astor and Wendell Corey....
(1947), a noir-ish Western drama starring Lizabeth Scott
Lizabeth Scott
Lizabeth Scott is an American actress and singer widely known for her film noir roles.-Early life:She was born Emma Matzo in the Pine Brook section of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of six children, to Ruthenian parents who had emigrated from Uzhgorod, in what is now Ukraine...
and John Hodiak
John Hodiak
John Hodiak was an American actor who worked in radio and film.-Early life:He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Walter Hodiak and Anna Pogorzelec . He was of Ukrainian and Polish descent...
.
In 1948 Allen returned to England to film So Evil My Love
So Evil My Love
So Evil My Love is a 1948 British psychological thriller film, directed by Lewis Allen and starring Ray Milland, Ann Todd and Geraldine Fitzgerald. The film is a period drama set in the Victorian era, and shot in film noir style in the late-1940s sub-genre often referred to as "Gaslight noir"...
, a lavishly-mounted melodramatic period thriller set in Victorian London, which reunited him with Milland, playing an out-and-out bad lot ruining the lives of Ann Todd
Ann Todd
Dorothy Anne Todd was an English actress and producer.She was born in Hartford, Cheshire and was educated at St. Winifrid's School, Eastbourne. She became a popular actress from appearing in such films as Perfect Strangers and The Seventh Veil...
and Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
. Allen later said that he found Milland a pleasure to work with, and the two teamed up again in Sealed Verdict (1948), a topical drama dealing with the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in the American-occupied zone of post-war Germany.
The early 1950s brought the biopic Valentino
Valentino (1951 film)
Valentino is a 1951 American drama film billed as the life story of movie legend Rudolph Valentino.- Cast :*Anthony Dexter as Rudolph Valentino*Eleanor Parker as Joan Carlisle / Sarah Gray*Richard Carlson as William 'Bill' King...
(1951) and the noir Appointment with Danger
Appointment with Danger
Appointment with Danger is an American crime film noir directed by Lewis Allen and written by Richard L. Breen and Warren Duff. The drama features Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Paul Stewart, among others.-Plot:...
(1951) starring Alan Ladd
Alan Ladd
-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...
, then in 1954 he directed the tense and claustrophobic Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
vehicle Suddenly
Suddenly (1954 film)
Suddenly is an American film noir directed by Lewis Allen with a screenplay written by Richard Sale. The drama features Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason and Nancy Gates, among others....
which became, alongside The Uninvited, his most widely-known and highly-regarded film. In 1955 Allen directed two Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
films, A Bullet for Joey
A Bullet for Joey
A Bullet for Joey is a 1955 film noir starring Edward G. Robinson and George Raft-Critical Response:In his book, Film Noir, Detective and Mystery Movies on DVD, John Howard Reid considered the movie dull. Slow pace, one-dimensional characters, and an unconvincing climax plague the film....
and Illegal, but then film offers in the U.S. dried up. Allen made only two more films, both in Europe. In England in 1958 he directed Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
and Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
in the soapy melodrama Another Time, Another Place, while his last was Whirlpool, a 1959 woman-on-the-run drama made for the British Rank Organisation
Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company formed during 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities....
but filmed on location in Germany.
As his film career began to fade out, Allen made the transition to television, where his services turned out to be in demand from the mid 1950s up to the latter part of the 1970s. His many credits included episodes of hit shows such as Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, The F.B.I and Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
. Most notably, he directed 42 episodes of long-running series Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, spanning the show's entire 14-year run. He retired in 1977.
Personal life
Allen was married twice: to English literary agent Dorothy Skinner (died 1969 - one son) and Trudy Colmar, who survived him. Allen died in Santa Monica, CaliforniaSanta Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
on 3 May 2000, aged 94.
Filmography
- Freedom Comes HighFreedom Comes HighFreedom Comes High is a 1943 dramatic short film commissioned by the United States Government during World War II and directed by Lewis Allen.-Synopsis:...
(1943) - The UninvitedThe Uninvited (1944 film)The Uninvited is a 1944 American supernatural mystery/romance film directed by Lewis Allen. It is based on the Dorothy Macardle novel Uneasy Freehold.Charles Lang was nominated for a 1945 Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography.-Plot:...
(1944) - Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944)
- Those Endearing Young Charms (1945)
- The UnseenThe Unseen (1945 film)The Unseen is a 1945 film directed by Lewis Allen. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Recording , and is based on the novel Midnight House by Ethel Lina White. The film was Paramount's follow-up to the film The Uninvited .-Cast:...
(1945) - The Perfect Marriage (1947)
- Mrs. Loring's Secret (1947)
- Desert FuryDesert FuryDesert Fury is a 1947 Paramount Pictures color film noir drama film starring Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak and Burt Lancaster, with Mary Astor and Wendell Corey....
(1947) - So Evil My LoveSo Evil My LoveSo Evil My Love is a 1948 British psychological thriller film, directed by Lewis Allen and starring Ray Milland, Ann Todd and Geraldine Fitzgerald. The film is a period drama set in the Victorian era, and shot in film noir style in the late-1940s sub-genre often referred to as "Gaslight noir"...
(1948) - Sealed Verdict (1948)
- Chicago Deadline (1949)
- ValentinoValentino (1951 film)Valentino is a 1951 American drama film billed as the life story of movie legend Rudolph Valentino.- Cast :*Anthony Dexter as Rudolph Valentino*Eleanor Parker as Joan Carlisle / Sarah Gray*Richard Carlson as William 'Bill' King...
(1951) - Appointment with DangerAppointment with DangerAppointment with Danger is an American crime film noir directed by Lewis Allen and written by Richard L. Breen and Warren Duff. The drama features Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Paul Stewart, among others.-Plot:...
(1951) - At Sword's PointAt Sword's PointAt Sword's Point is a 1952 Technicolor Drama directed by Lewis Allen, starring Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara. The film was completed in 1949, but was not released until 1952....
(1952) - SuddenlySuddenly (1954 film)Suddenly is an American film noir directed by Lewis Allen with a screenplay written by Richard Sale. The drama features Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason and Nancy Gates, among others....
(1954) - A Bullet for JoeyA Bullet for JoeyA Bullet for Joey is a 1955 film noir starring Edward G. Robinson and George Raft-Critical Response:In his book, Film Noir, Detective and Mystery Movies on DVD, John Howard Reid considered the movie dull. Slow pace, one-dimensional characters, and an unconvincing climax plague the film....
(1955) - Illegal (1955)
- Another Time, Another Place (1958)
- Whirlpool (1959)
Television credits (main)
- Your Favorite StoryYour Favorite StoryYour Favorite Story is the title of a TV comedy anthology series that aired from 1953 through 1955. It premiered in December 1954 with the title Your Favorite Playhouse. This program was adapted from the radio show Favorite Story which ran from 1946 through 1949. The program's 25 episodes starred...
(1953-1954) - Meet Corliss ArcherMeet Corliss Archer (TV series)Meet Corliss Archer is an American sitcom that aired in syndication from April to December 1955. The series stars Ann Baker in the title role...
(1954) - The 20th Century Fox HourThe 20th Century Fox HourThe 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars...
(1955-1957) - Telephone TimeTelephone TimeTelephone Time is the title of a US TV drama series that aired from 1956 to 1958 featuring plays by John Nesbitt who hosted the first season. Frank C. Baxter hosted the 1957 and 1958 seasons...
(1956-1957) - Perry MasonPerry Mason (TV series)Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
(1958-1961) - The RiflemanThe RiflemanThe Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
(1959-1960) - BonanzaBonanzaBonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
(1960-1973) - The Detectives Starring Robert TaylorThe Detectives Starring Robert TaylorThe Detectives Starring Robert Taylor is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season...
(1961-1962) - Arrest and TrialArrest and TrialArrest and Trial is a 90-minute American Police procedural/legal drama that ran during the 1963-64 season on ABC, airing Sundays from 8:30-10 p.m. Eastern.The majority of episodes consisted of two segments...
(1963-1964)
- Burke's LawBurke's LawBurke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud...
(1964) - The RoguesThe Rogues (TV series)The Rogues is an American television series that appeared on NBC from September 13, 1964 to April 18, 1965, starring David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Gig Young as a related trio of former conmen who could, for the right price, be persuaded to trick a very wealthy and very unscrupulous mark...
(1965) - The F.B.I. (1966-1968)
- The FugitiveThe Fugitive (TV series)The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
(1967) - Mission: ImpossibleMission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
(1967-1973) - The InvadersThe InvadersThe Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...
(1968) - Dan AugustDan AugustDan August is a short-lived 1970-1971 crime drama television series, which starred Burt Reynolds as the title character: a police lieutenant who investigated homicide cases in his hometown of Santa Luisa, California...
(1970) - GriffGriff (TV series)Griff is a 13-episode ABC crime drama starring Lorne Greene and Ben Murphy, which aired from September 29, 1973, to January 4, 1974. Nine months after the expiration of his nearly 14-year role as Ponderosa Ranch patriarch Ben Cartwright on NBC's Bonanza western series, the Canadian native Greene...
(1973) - Little House on the PrairieLittle House on the Prairie (TV series)Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
(1975)
External links
- Lewis Allen at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...