Michael Balcon Movies
Sir Michael Balcon was one of Great Britain's most illustrious film producers. He began his cinematic career in 1919 working as a regional distributor and produced his first film, Woman to Woman, in 1923. Balcon assigned young Alfred Hitchcock to serve as his art director, screenwriter, and assistant director; Sir Balcon also gave Hitchcock his first job as a director. In 1928,... (read more) the producer founded Gainsborough Pictures. Three years later, he was appointed director of production for Gaumont-British, and three years after that, he began working for MGM-British. While doing all this, Balcon also produced several important British films, including the early works of Hitchcock. From the late thirties to the late fifties, he worked as director and chief of production for Ealing Studios where he produced the infamous Ealing comedies. He formed Bryanston Films in 1959, and later during a notorious battle for control took over British Lion studios. In 1948, Balcon was knighted. Twenty years later his autobiography A Lifetime of Films was published. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
The Long and the Short and the Tall
1961
The title is derived from the lyrics of a popular wartime ballad Bless 'Em All. This is, indeed, a war picture, set in Malaya. The British troops encamped therein believe...
The Scapegoat
1959
In this uneven but well-acted mystery story with a few gaps in the plot here and there, Alec Guiness plays a double role. He is John Barratt, a British teacher on vacation...
Nowhere to Go
1958
Maggie Smith makes her film debut in this outing as an aristocrat whose sheltered existence is shattered by the arrival of George Nader. Nader is a fugitive from justice who...
Dunkirk
1958
One of the most significant moments in the history of British warfare (in both the best and worst sense) is given reverent but reserved treatment in Dunkirk. The film takes...
Davy
1958
Corpulent "Goon Show" regular Harry Secombe plays the title role in the British comedy Davy. Set in the rarefied world of the British music halls, the film focuses in on the...
All at Sea
1957
In this slapstick British comedy, a proud man from a family of seamen is so prone to seasickness that even the slightest aqueous movement makes him unbearably ill. The man's...
The Shiralee
1957
Based on a best-selling Australian novel by D'Arcy Niland, The Shiralee stars Peter Finch as an Aussie "swagman," or poacher, saddled with a faithless wife (Elizabeth...
The Gentle Touch
1956
This British drama is a soft-pedalled paean to the nursing profession. The story takes place in a large hospital, where several aspiring nurses receive their training. Special...
Touch and Go
1955
Touch and Go stars Jack Hawkins as the head of a British family who decides to kick over the traces and emigrate to Australia. No one in the family, least of all wife...
The Ladykillers
1955
Music professor Alec Guinness rents a London flat from sweet old lady Katie Johnson. He tells her that, from time to time, several other musicians will visit in order to...
The Cruel Sea
1953
In this seagoing military drama set in World War II, Lt. Comdr. Ericson (Jack Hawkins) is made captain of a British corvette, a small escort vessel used to guide and protect...
Mandy
1952
Released in Britain as Crash of Silence, Mandy is a straightforward story about a handicapped child's efforts to adapt to a normal world. Born deaf, Mandy is mute for most...
The Lavender Hill Mob
1951
Charles Crichton directed this Ealing caper comedy, with a witty script by T.E.B. Clarke that won an Academy Award. Alec Guinness is Henry Holland, an unassuming...
Ivory Hunter
1951
Anthony Steel plays a humane British game warden who sets up an African wildlife preserve. Ivory poachers sign up for the preserve's safari tour in hopes of bagging a few...
The Man in the White Suit
1951
Alec Guinness has one of his finest comic roles in this Ealing satirical comedy about a much patronized amateur scientist whose latest invention creates an uproar in the...
Pool of London
1951
Bonar Colleano, who spent the war years playing featured roles in British films as likeably cocky Americans, heads the cast of Pool of London. Ever his brass, cheeky self,...
Dance Hall
1950
Just before directing the comedy classic The Lavender Hill Mob, Charles Crichton dashed off the romantic melodrama Dance Hall. The story takes place in a London dance...
The Magnet
1950
This gentle Ealing Studios comedy features young William Fox as a mischievous English lad. A goodly portion of the film shows Fox and his companions at play, aimlessly but...
Bitter Springs
1950
British comic actor Tommy Trinder and Australia's biggest film star Chips Rafferty teamed up for the 1950 film Bitter Springs. The plot is propelled along by Rafferty,...
Cage of Gold
1950
Cage of Gold was a rare non-comic effort from Britain's Ealing Studios. Jean Simmons stars as Judith, who awakens the morning after her wedding to discover that her new...