Max Varnel
Encyclopedia
Max Varnel was a French-born film
and television director
who worked primarily in the United Kingdom
and Australia
.
Born Max Le Bozec in Paris, France, he was the son of film producer
/director Marcel Varnel
. He began his career in 1951 as the assistant director of The Box
and continued in this capacity for The Card
, Devil Girl from Mars
, and The Cockleshell Heroes
, among others. His sole directing credits encompass a long string of B movie
s, including Top Floor Girl, Web of Suspicion, The Child and the Killer, Crash Drive, Moment of Indiscretion, A Woman Possessed, and Mrs. Gibbons' Boys
.
Varnel's television credits include The Vise, Interpol Calling
, The Edgar Wallace
Mystery Theatre, Softly Softly
, and The Troubleshooters in the UK, and The Evil Touch
, Glenview High
, The Young Doctors
, and Neighbours
in Australia, where he emigrated in the early 1970s.
Varnel died of a heart attack in Sydney at the age of 70.
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:...
and television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
who worked primarily in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Born Max Le Bozec in Paris, France, he was the son of film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
/director Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel was a film director. He was born Marcel Hyacinthe le Bozec in Paris, France.Varnel started his working life on the Paris stage but soon became a director of musical comedies. In 1925 he moved to New York working as director in several Broadway operettas, musicals and dramas for the...
. He began his career in 1951 as the assistant director of The Box
The Magic Box (film)
The Magic Box is a 1951 British, Technicolor, biographical drama film, directed by John Boulting and starring Ronald Shiner as the Fairground Barker, Sid James, Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov and Charles Victor. It was produced by Ronald Neame and distributed by British Lion Film Corporation...
and continued in this capacity for The Card
The Card
The Card is a short comedic novel written by Arnold Bennett in 1911, . It was later made into a 1952 movie starring Alec Guinness and Petula Clark. It chronicles the rise of Edward Henry Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley...
, Devil Girl from Mars
Devil Girl from Mars
Devil Girl from Mars is a black and white 1954 British science fiction film, directed by David MacDonald. It was adapted from a stage play and became a cult favorite.-Synopsis:...
, and The Cockleshell Heroes
The Cockleshell Heroes
The Cockleshell Heroes is a 1955 film with Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley, David Lodge and José Ferrer, who also directed. Set during the Second World War, it is a fictionalised account of Operation Frankton, the December 1942 raid by canoe-borne British commandos on shipping in Bordeaux Harbour...
, among others. His sole directing credits encompass a long string of B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s, including Top Floor Girl, Web of Suspicion, The Child and the Killer, Crash Drive, Moment of Indiscretion, A Woman Possessed, and Mrs. Gibbons' Boys
Mrs. Gibbons' Boys
Mrs. Gibbons' Boys is a play by Joseph Stein and Will Glickman. The comedy centers on the mother of three delinquent boys.Produced and directed by George Abbott, the Broadway production opened at the Music Box Theatre on May 4, 1949 and closed after five performances...
.
Varnel's television credits include The Vise, Interpol Calling
Interpol Calling
Interpol Calling was a 1959 Rank Organisation and Jack Wrather Productions television crime drama series for ITC Entertainment. The series, which ran for one season of 39 half-hour monchrome episodes, followed the adventures of Interpol policemen Duval and Mornay as they fought against...
, The Edgar Wallace
Edgar Wallace
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....
Mystery Theatre, Softly Softly
Softly, Softly (TV series)
Softly, Softly is a British television drama series, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966. It centred around the work of regional crime squads, plain-clothes CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern - supposedly in the Bristol and Chepstow area of the UK...
, and The Troubleshooters in the UK, and The Evil Touch
The Evil Touch
The Evil Touch is an Australian-produced television series, originally broadcast in Australia in 1973. It was an anthology series where each episode had a self-contained story and a new set of characters. Each episode feature a new cast of guest actors, although several guest stars appeared in more...
, Glenview High
Glenview High
Glenview High is an Australian television drama series produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Seven Network between 1977 and 1978.-Story:...
, The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March...
, and Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
in Australia, where he emigrated in the early 1970s.
Varnel died of a heart attack in Sydney at the age of 70.
Selected filmography
- Enter Inspector DuvalEnter Inspector DuvalEnter Inspector Duval is a 1961 British crime film directed by Max Varnel and starring Anton Diffring, Diane Hart and Mark Singleton. A French policeman, Inspector Duval, is brought to London to help his British colleagues crack a case...
(1961) - Return of a StrangerReturn of a Stranger (1961 film)Return of a Stranger is a 1961 British thriller film directed by Max Varnel and starring John Ireland, Susan Stephen, Cyril Shaps and Timothy Beaton.-Cast:* John Ireland - John Allen* Susan Stephen - Pam Allen* Cyril Shaps - Homer Trent...
(1961) - Mrs. Gibbons' BoysMrs. Gibbons' Boys (film)Mrs. Gibbons' Boys is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Max Varnel and starring Kathleen Harrison, Lionel Jeffries and Diana Dors. It is based on the play Mrs...
(1962)