Margaret Johnston
Encyclopedia
Margaret Johnston was an Australian-born British actress. Johnston was most widely admired for her stage performances, but also appeared in 12 films and a handful of TV productions before retiring from acting in 1968 to devote herself to running a theatrical agency
.
, then at the University of Sydney
where she studied Law. Johnston had shown an interest in, and aptitude for, drama from an early age and had acted in various school productions before later graduating to professional productions in Sydney's theatres. It was reported that her oft-stated ambition at this time was "to move to Europe, to learn her craft, and to lose her (Australian) accent". In 1936, Johnston (accompanied by her sisters) travelled to England in order to pursue her career. She was accepted as a student by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
, where she was tutored by Stefan Hock.
theatre, before being cast in a 1942 production of Murder Without Crime at London's Comedy Theatre, which was a box-office hit and ran for over a year. In 1944 Johnston played opposite Fay Compton
in The Last of Summer at the Phoenix Theatre
. Her performance, notably in an acrimonious verbal duel with Compton at the play's climax, was widely praised and drew the attention of influential theatrical impresario Binkie Beaumont
, who signed her up with his agency H. M. Tennent Ltd., London's leading theatrical management company of the era.
In 1946, Johnston played the lead role of Kitty Duval in The Time of Your Life
at the Lyric Hammersmith
, followed in 1948 by a stage production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street
in which she portrayed Elizabeth Barrett, a performance which earned her further critical appreciation, although the production itself was regarded as lacklustre. Critic Alan Dent noted "...the one exception among the general cowed lethargy of the Barretts is Elizabeth herself...she is sincere, touching, awakened."
One of Johnston's most acclaimed performances came in a 1951–52 production of Tennessee Williams
' Summer and Smoke
which ran for a year, initially at the Lyric then transferring to the Duchess Theatre
. This performance drew some of the best notices of her career, with the Daily Herald saying Johnston "...gave a performance of tender brilliance. It was her best work to date", while the Daily Mirror described her as "probably our finest young actress".
From 1956 Johnston appeared in several productions at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
in Stratford-upon-Avon
, playing Desdemona in Othello
, Portia in The Merchant of Venice
and Isabella in Measure for Measure
. Two roles in 1959, in Sugar in the Morning at the Royal Court
and a rare venture into domestic comedy with The Ring of Truth at the Savoy Theatre
, marked her last stage appearances until 1966, when she starred as Lady Macbeth in Michael Benthall
's production of Macbeth
at the Chichester Festival Theatre
in what would prove to be her last stage role.
, in a supporting role as one of the daughters of Benjamin Disraeli, played by John Gielgud
. Following her stage successes between 1942 and 1944, she returned to film in the 1945 Rex Harrison
star-vehicle The Rake's Progress
, with the film critic of the London Evening News noting: "Fair-haired, blue eyed and willowy, she can act with force or reduce you to the verge of tears. Her voice alone would be worth a fortune in Hollywood." In 1947 Johnston starred with Dulcie Gray
and Kieron Moore
in a psychological melodrama A Man About the House
, which was a popular success.
One of Johnston's most famous film roles came in the 1950 adaptation of Francis Brett Young
's novel Portrait of Clare
, another box-office success. The following year brought her most high-profile screen appearance, as Robert Donat
's long-suffering second wife in the star-studded and BAFTA-nominated film The Magic Box
, made as a project of the Festival of Britain
. Johnston was very complimentary about the 1954 René Clément-directed Knave of Hearts
, a Franco-British co-production of which she said: "The director was brilliant...it was a very sophisticated European film." Less felicitous was 1955's Touch and Go
, a farce
in which – somewhat ironically in Johnston's case – she and Jack Hawkins
played an English couple making plans to emigrate to Australia. Despite early enthusiasm for the venture from the Australian press in particular (The Age
wrote: "For years this versatile and exquisitely beautiful Australian actress...has been wasted...playing dowdy middle-aged frumps. This role may well take her right to the top...at long last.)" the finished product turned out to be a dud, a failure both with critics and filmgoers, and was Johnston's last screen appearance for several years.
Johnston returned to the screen in 1962 via the unexpected medium of the horror film
Night of the Eagle
. It was a successful film and remains well regarded in the horror genre, but was not to Johnston's personal taste. She later stated: "I hated that. It was popular, but it wasn't the sort of film I enjoyed doing." She then appeared in Girl in the Headlines
(1963) and Life at the Top
(1965), which was more to her liking. ("I did enjoy that. My character was a slut...who wore terrible, loose, awful suits and had a lot of dogs around her.") Her penultimate screen appearance was in a detective drama The Psychopath
(1966) and her final acting role in any medium was 1968's Sebastian
, another role she said she disliked, which she had only accepted as a favour to producer Michael Powell
.
In tandem with her stage and screen appearances, Johnston also played in eight television productions between 1951 and 1964. These were all one-off productions for BBC and ITV drama strands, featuring works by such as Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw
, Noel Coward
and Jean Cocteau
.
, an American film director who had relocated to England in the early 1930s and had directed several British films before establishing a very successful theatrical agency business (Al Parker Ltd.) in London. Parker was 27 years older than Johnston, and by the mid 1960s was in declining health. From 1965, Johnston was effectively running the business herself and decided, following her appearance in Sebastian, to give up her acting career in order to manage the agency full-time. Following Parker's death in August 1974, Johnston continued to run the business for over 20 years, handling clients such as James Mason
, Helen Mirren
and Frank Finlay
, until her own health started to fail.
The marriage between Johnston and Parker was childless. Johnston died in a nursing home in Kingston upon Thames on 19 June 2002, aged 87.
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
.
Early life
Johnston was the second of three daughters born in Australia to English parents. She was educated at the prestigious North Sydney Girls High SchoolNorth Sydney Girls High School
North Sydney Girls High School is an academically selective, public high school for girls, located at Crows Nest, on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
, then at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
where she studied Law. Johnston had shown an interest in, and aptitude for, drama from an early age and had acted in various school productions before later graduating to professional productions in Sydney's theatres. It was reported that her oft-stated ambition at this time was "to move to Europe, to learn her craft, and to lose her (Australian) accent". In 1936, Johnston (accompanied by her sisters) travelled to England in order to pursue her career. She was accepted as a student by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, where she was tutored by Stefan Hock.
Stage career
Johnston's first role on the West End stage came in a minor part in a 1939 production of a comedy-thriller called Saloon Bar. There followed a period where she gained experience in repertoryRepertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
theatre, before being cast in a 1942 production of Murder Without Crime at London's Comedy Theatre, which was a box-office hit and ran for over a year. In 1944 Johnston played opposite Fay Compton
Fay Compton
Fay Compton was an English actress from a notable acting lineage; her father was actor/manager Edward Compton; her mother, Virginia Bateman, was a distinguished member of the profession, as were her sister, the actress Viola Compton, and her uncles and aunts. Her grandfather was the 19th-century...
in The Last of Summer at the Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix Theatre (London)
The Phoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located on Charing Cross Road . The entrance is in Phoenix Street....
. Her performance, notably in an acrimonious verbal duel with Compton at the play's climax, was widely praised and drew the attention of influential theatrical impresario Binkie Beaumont
Binkie Beaumont
Hugh 'Binkie' Beaumont was a British theatre manager and producer, referred to as the "Eminence Grise" of the West End Theatre. He was one of the most successful manager-producers in the West End during the middle of the 20th century...
, who signed her up with his agency H. M. Tennent Ltd., London's leading theatrical management company of the era.
In 1946, Johnston played the lead role of Kitty Duval in The Time of Your Life
The Time of Your Life
The Time of Your Life is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened 25 October 1939 at the Booth Theatre in New York City...
at the Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
, followed in 1948 by a stage production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a 1934 American film depicting the real-life romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning , despite the opposition of her father Edward Moulton-Barrett . The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture...
in which she portrayed Elizabeth Barrett, a performance which earned her further critical appreciation, although the production itself was regarded as lacklustre. Critic Alan Dent noted "...the one exception among the general cowed lethargy of the Barretts is Elizabeth herself...she is sincere, touching, awakened."
One of Johnston's most acclaimed performances came in a 1951–52 production of Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
' Summer and Smoke
Summer and Smoke
Summer and Smoke is a two-part, thirteen-scene play by Tennessee Williams, originally titled Chart of Anatomy when Williams began work on it in 1945. In 1964, Williams revised the play as The Eccentricities of a Nightingale...
which ran for a year, initially at the Lyric then transferring to the Duchess Theatre
Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels....
. This performance drew some of the best notices of her career, with the Daily Herald saying Johnston "...gave a performance of tender brilliance. It was her best work to date", while the Daily Mirror described her as "probably our finest young actress".
From 1956 Johnston appeared in several productions at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
in Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
, playing Desdemona in Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, Portia in The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
and Isabella in Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
. Two roles in 1959, in Sugar in the Morning at the Royal Court
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
and a rare venture into domestic comedy with The Ring of Truth at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
, marked her last stage appearances until 1966, when she starred as Lady Macbeth in Michael Benthall
Michael Benthall
Michael Pickersgill Benthall was an English theatre director.As an undergraduate at Oxford University, Michael Benthall met Robert Helpmann, who had been fulfilling an invitation to dance at there...
's production of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
at the Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
in what would prove to be her last stage role.
Film and television career
Johnston made her screen debut in the 1941 film The Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister (film)
The Prime Minister is a British film from 1941 directed by Thorold Dickinson. It details the life and times of Benjamin Disraeli, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and stars John Gielgud, Diana Wynyard, Fay Compton and Stephen Murray.-Plot:...
, in a supporting role as one of the daughters of Benjamin Disraeli, played by John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
. Following her stage successes between 1942 and 1944, she returned to film in the 1945 Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
star-vehicle The Rake's Progress
The Rake's Progress (film)
The Rake's Progress is a 1945 British comedy-drama film made in 1945. In the United States, the title was changed to Notorious Gentleman.- Plot :...
, with the film critic of the London Evening News noting: "Fair-haired, blue eyed and willowy, she can act with force or reduce you to the verge of tears. Her voice alone would be worth a fortune in Hollywood." In 1947 Johnston starred with Dulcie Gray
Dulcie Gray
Dulcie Gray, CBE was a British singer and actress of stage, screen and television, a mystery writer and lepidopterist.-Early life and career:...
and Kieron Moore
Kieron Moore
Kieron Moore was an Irish film and television actor whose career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s...
in a psychological melodrama A Man About the House
A Man About the House (1947 film)
A Man About the House is a black-and-white British film directed by Leslie Arliss and released in 1947. The film is a melodrama, adapted for the screen by J.B. Williams from the 1942 novel of the same name by Francis Brett Young...
, which was a popular success.
One of Johnston's most famous film roles came in the 1950 adaptation of Francis Brett Young
Francis Brett Young
Francis Brett Young was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and composer.-Life:Brett Young was born in Halesowen, Worcestershire. He schooled first at a private school in Sutton Coldfield...
's novel Portrait of Clare
Portrait of Clare
Portrait of Clare is a 1950 British drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Margaret Johnston, Richard Todd, Robin Bailey and Ronald Howard.-Cast:* Margaret Johnston - Clare Hingston* Richard Todd - Robert Hart* Robin Bailey - Dudley Wilburn...
, another box-office success. The following year brought her most high-profile screen appearance, as Robert Donat
Robert Donat
Robert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
's long-suffering second wife in the star-studded and BAFTA-nominated film The Magic Box
The Magic Box
The Magic Box is a fictional magic shop in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon. It is located in Sunnydale and was last owned and operated by Rupert Giles, and served as the primary headquarters of the Scooby Gang for seasons five and six.-Ownership history:The shop went...
, made as a project of the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
. Johnston was very complimentary about the 1954 René Clément-directed Knave of Hearts
Knave of Hearts (film)
Knave of Hearts is a 1954 film about the adventures of a French philanderer in Paris and London. In France, it was released as Monsieur Ripois . In the United States, it was originally released as Lovers, Happy Lovers!, then later re-released as Lover Boy...
, a Franco-British co-production of which she said: "The director was brilliant...it was a very sophisticated European film." Less felicitous was 1955's Touch and Go
Touch and Go (1955 film)
Touch and Go is a Technicolor British film comedy, directed by Michael Truman and released by Ealing Studios in 1955. The film was indifferently received on release and is not generally included in the canon of classic Ealing Comedies...
, a farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
in which – somewhat ironically in Johnston's case – she and Jack Hawkins
Jack Hawkins
Colonel John Edward "Jack" Hawkins CBE was an English actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman. The youngest of four children in a close-knit family,...
played an English couple making plans to emigrate to Australia. Despite early enthusiasm for the venture from the Australian press in particular (The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
wrote: "For years this versatile and exquisitely beautiful Australian actress...has been wasted...playing dowdy middle-aged frumps. This role may well take her right to the top...at long last.)" the finished product turned out to be a dud, a failure both with critics and filmgoers, and was Johnston's last screen appearance for several years.
Johnston returned to the screen in 1962 via the unexpected medium of the horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
Night of the Eagle
Night of the Eagle
Night of the Eagle is a 1962 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers. The script by Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and George Baxt was based upon the 1943 Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife. The film was retitled Burn, Witch, Burn! for the US market .-Synopsis:Norman Taylor , a...
. It was a successful film and remains well regarded in the horror genre, but was not to Johnston's personal taste. She later stated: "I hated that. It was popular, but it wasn't the sort of film I enjoyed doing." She then appeared in Girl in the Headlines
Girl in the Headlines
Girl in the Headlines is a 1963 British detective film directed by Michael Truman and starring Ian Hendry, Ronald Fraser, Jeremy Brett and Jane Asher.-Cast:* Ian Hendry - Inspector Birkett* Ronald Fraser - Sergeant Saunders* Margaret Johnston - Mrs Gray...
(1963) and Life at the Top
Life at the Top (film)
Life at the Top is a 1965 drama film made by Romulus Films and released by Columbia Pictures. It is a sequel to Room at the Top. It was directed by Ted Kotcheff and produced by James Woolf with William Kirby as associate producer. The screenplay was by Mordecai Richler, based on the novel Life at...
(1965), which was more to her liking. ("I did enjoy that. My character was a slut...who wore terrible, loose, awful suits and had a lot of dogs around her.") Her penultimate screen appearance was in a detective drama The Psychopath
The Psychopath
The Psychopath is a 1966 film directed by Freddie Francis and written by Robert Bloch. It stars Patrick Wymark and Margaret Johnston.It deals with a police inspector who investigates a string of murders where the victims have dolls attached to their bodies. The trail soon leads to one Mrs...
(1966) and her final acting role in any medium was 1968's Sebastian
Sebastian (1968 film)
Sebastian is a 1968 British film directed by David Greene, produced by Michael Powell, Herbert Brodkin and Gerry Fisher, and distributed by Paramount Pictures...
, another role she said she disliked, which she had only accepted as a favour to producer Michael Powell
Michael Powell (director)
Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
.
In tandem with her stage and screen appearances, Johnston also played in eight television productions between 1951 and 1964. These were all one-off productions for BBC and ITV drama strands, featuring works by such as Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
, Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
and Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
.
Later life
In 1946, Johnston had married Albert ParkerAlbert Parker (director)
Albert Parker was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He directed 36 films between 1917 and 1938. In the early 1930s Parker left Hollywood for England where he continued to direct films and also opened an actors' agency office...
, an American film director who had relocated to England in the early 1930s and had directed several British films before establishing a very successful theatrical agency business (Al Parker Ltd.) in London. Parker was 27 years older than Johnston, and by the mid 1960s was in declining health. From 1965, Johnston was effectively running the business herself and decided, following her appearance in Sebastian, to give up her acting career in order to manage the agency full-time. Following Parker's death in August 1974, Johnston continued to run the business for over 20 years, handling clients such as James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
, Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
and Frank Finlay
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
, until her own health started to fail.
The marriage between Johnston and Parker was childless. Johnston died in a nursing home in Kingston upon Thames on 19 June 2002, aged 87.
Birthdate
During her professional career, Johnston always gave her year of birth as 1918. Although this would have made her only 18 years old when she moved to England – and therefore too young to have studied at the University of Sydney before her departure from Australia – contemporary accounts during her acting career recorded her as four years younger than her actual age, and the 1918 birthdate was also erroneously quoted in some obituaries which gave her age on death as 83.Filmography
- 1941 : The Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister (film)The Prime Minister is a British film from 1941 directed by Thorold Dickinson. It details the life and times of Benjamin Disraeli, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and stars John Gielgud, Diana Wynyard, Fay Compton and Stephen Murray.-Plot:...
– dir. Thorold DickinsonThorold DickinsonThorold Barron Dickinson was a British film director, screenwriter, producer, and Britains's first university Professor of Film.-Early life and career:... - 1945 : The Rake's ProgressThe Rake's Progress (film)The Rake's Progress is a 1945 British comedy-drama film made in 1945. In the United States, the title was changed to Notorious Gentleman.- Plot :...
– dir. Sidney GilliatSidney GilliatSidney Gilliat was an English film director, producer and writer.He was born in the district of Edgeley in Stockport, Cheshire. In the 1930s he worked as a scriptwriter, most notably with Frank Launder on The Lady Vanishes for Alfred Hitchcock, and its sequel Night Train to Munich , directed by... - 1947 : A Man About the HouseA Man About the House (1947 film)A Man About the House is a black-and-white British film directed by Leslie Arliss and released in 1947. The film is a melodrama, adapted for the screen by J.B. Williams from the 1942 novel of the same name by Francis Brett Young...
– dir. Leslie ArlissLeslie ArlissLeslie Arliss was an English screenwriter and director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady. during the 1940s... - 1950 : Portrait of ClarePortrait of ClarePortrait of Clare is a 1950 British drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Margaret Johnston, Richard Todd, Robin Bailey and Ronald Howard.-Cast:* Margaret Johnston - Clare Hingston* Richard Todd - Robert Hart* Robin Bailey - Dudley Wilburn...
– dir. Lance ComfortLance ComfortLance Comfort was an English film director and producer born in Harrow, London.With a career spanning over 25 years he became one of the most prolific film directors in Britain though never gained critical attention and remained on the fringes of the film industry creating mostly B movies.Comfort... - 1951 : The Magic BoxThe Magic BoxThe Magic Box is a fictional magic shop in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon. It is located in Sunnydale and was last owned and operated by Rupert Giles, and served as the primary headquarters of the Scooby Gang for seasons five and six.-Ownership history:The shop went...
– dir. John BoultingGordon Parry (film director)Gordon Parry was a British film director and producer. Born in Aintree on 24 July 1908, he directed his first film Third Time Lucky in 1948. He died in 1981.-Selected filmography:* Third Time Lucky * Fast and Loose... - 1954 : Knave of HeartsKnave of Hearts (film)Knave of Hearts is a 1954 film about the adventures of a French philanderer in Paris and London. In France, it was released as Monsieur Ripois . In the United States, it was originally released as Lovers, Happy Lovers!, then later re-released as Lover Boy...
– dir. René Clément - 1955 : Touch and GoTouch and Go (1955 film)Touch and Go is a Technicolor British film comedy, directed by Michael Truman and released by Ealing Studios in 1955. The film was indifferently received on release and is not generally included in the canon of classic Ealing Comedies...
– dir. Michael TrumanMichael TrumanMichael Truman was a British film producer, director and editor.Educated at London University, he worked for Ealing Studios editing such films as It Always Rains on Sunday and Passport to Pimlico and latterly as producer of films like The Titfield Thunderbolt... - 1962 : Night of the EagleNight of the EagleNight of the Eagle is a 1962 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers. The script by Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and George Baxt was based upon the 1943 Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife. The film was retitled Burn, Witch, Burn! for the US market .-Synopsis:Norman Taylor , a...
– dir. Sidney HayersSidney HayersSidney Hayers was a British film and television director, writer and producer.Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, among his most acclaimed films were Circus of Horrors , The Trap and the occult thriller Night of the Eagle .In British TV, his credits included The Persuaders! and The New Avengers; he... - 1963 : Girl in the HeadlinesGirl in the HeadlinesGirl in the Headlines is a 1963 British detective film directed by Michael Truman and starring Ian Hendry, Ronald Fraser, Jeremy Brett and Jane Asher.-Cast:* Ian Hendry - Inspector Birkett* Ronald Fraser - Sergeant Saunders* Margaret Johnston - Mrs Gray...
– dir. Michael Truman - 1965 : Life at the TopLife at the Top (film)Life at the Top is a 1965 drama film made by Romulus Films and released by Columbia Pictures. It is a sequel to Room at the Top. It was directed by Ted Kotcheff and produced by James Woolf with William Kirby as associate producer. The screenplay was by Mordecai Richler, based on the novel Life at...
– dir. Ted KotcheffTed KotcheffTed Kotcheff , sometimes credited as William Kotcheff or William T. Kotcheff, is a Canadian film and television director, who is well known for his work on several high-profile British television productions and as a director of films such as First Blood.-Early life:Kotcheff was born William... - 1966 : The PsychopathThe PsychopathThe Psychopath is a 1966 film directed by Freddie Francis and written by Robert Bloch. It stars Patrick Wymark and Margaret Johnston.It deals with a police inspector who investigates a string of murders where the victims have dolls attached to their bodies. The trail soon leads to one Mrs...
– dir. Freddie FrancisFreddie FrancisFrederick William Francis BSC was an English cinematographer and film director.He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer, including winning two Academy Awards, for Sons and Lovers and Glory... - 1968 : SebastianSebastian (1968 film)Sebastian is a 1968 British film directed by David Greene, produced by Michael Powell, Herbert Brodkin and Gerry Fisher, and distributed by Paramount Pictures...
– dir. David GreeneDavid Greene (director)L. David Syms-Greene , born Lucius David Syms Brian Lederman, was a British television director from Manchester, England, who emigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1953, where he trained in television production with the CBC, and then moved on to Hollywood, California.Greene's career began as a stage...
Television productions
- 1951 : Androcles and the LionAndrocles and the Lion (play)Androcles and the Lion is a 1912 play written by George Bernard Shaw.Androcles and the Lion is Shaw's retelling of the tale of Androcles, a slave who is saved by the requited mercy of a lion. In the play, Shaw portrays Androcles to be one of the many Christians being led to the Colosseum for torture...
- 1952 : The Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
(BBC Sunday Night TheatreSunday Night TheatreSunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of plays created by the BBC first in early 1950, and was regularly shown on Sundays until late 1959, when the last play, A Cup of Kindness, was staged...
– live production, not recorded) - 1952 : Autumn Crocus (BBC Sunday Night Theatre – as above)
- 1960 : Looking for Garrow (BBC Sunday Night Play)
- 1960 : The ShrikeThe Shrike (play)The Shrike is a play written by American dramatist Joseph Kramm. It debuted on Broadway at the Cort Theater, on January 15, 1952, with Jose Ferrer as the producer, director and star...
(ITV Play of the Week) - 1962 : The Typewriter (ITV Play of the Week)
- 1964 : That's Where the Town Is Going (ITV Armchair TheatreArmchair TheatreArmchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television after 1968....
) - 1964 : The VortexThe VortexThe Vortex is a play by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The story focuses on sexual vanity and drug abuse among the upper classes. The play was Coward's first great commercial success....
(ITV Play of the Week)