Terence Young (director)

Shaun Terence Young (20 June 1915 – 7 September 1994) was an Irish film director and screenwriter who worked in the United Kingdom, Europe and Hollywood.

He is best known for directing three James Bond films, including the first two films in the series, '' Dr. No'' (1962) and '' From Russia with Love'' (1963), as well as '' Thunderball'' (1965). His other films include the Audrey Hepburn thrillers ''Wait Until Dark'' (1967) and ''Bloodline'' (1979), the historical drama ''Mayerling'' (1968), the infamous Korean War epic '' Inchon'' (1981), and the Charles Bronson films ''Cold Sweat'' (1970), ''Red Sun'' (1971), and ''The Valachi Papers'' (1972).

Early life and education

Of Irish descent, Young was born in Shanghai, China, the son of a police commissioner of the Shanghai Municipal Police. His family moved back to England when he was young, and he was educated at Harrow School in London. He read oriental history at St Catharine's College at the University of Cambridge. Commissioned in the Irish Guards, Young was a tank commander during World War II where he participated in Operation Market Garden in Arnhem, Netherlands.

Career

Young began his career in the film industry as a screenwriter, earning a credit for Brian Desmond Hurst's '' On the Night of the Fire'' (1939), '' A Call for Arms'' (1940), '' Dangerous Moonlight'' (1941), and '' A Letter from Ulster'' (1942) and for other directors on ''Secret Mission'' (1942), '' On Approval'' (1944). In 1946, he returned to assist Hurst again with the script of ''Theirs Is the Glory'', which told the story of the fighting around Arnhem Bridge. Arnhem, coincidentally, was home to an adolescent Audrey Hepburn. During the later filming of Young's film ''Wait Until Dark'', Hepburn and Young joked that he had been shelling his favourite star without even knowing it. Young worked on the screenplays for Hurst's ''Hungry Hill'' (1947) and David McDonald's '' Bad Lord Byron'' (1949).

Director

Young's first sole credit as director (and also Christopher Lee's film debut) was ''Corridor of Mirrors'' (1948), an acclaimed film made in France. He followed it with a musical '' One Night with You'' (1948); '' Woman Hater'' (1948), a comedy with Stewart Granger; and ''They Were Not Divided'' (1950), based on his own life in the Irish Guards. Young also directed '' Valley of Eagles'' (1951) and ''The Tall Headlines'' (1952).

Warwick Films

Young then made the first film for Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli's Warwick Films, ''The Red Beret'' with Alan Ladd. Young made ''That Lady'' (1955) in Spain with Olivia de Havilland and ''Storm Over the Nile'' (1955), an essentially shot-for-shot remake of the 1939 film ''The Four Feathers''. Warwick asked Young back to do '' Safari'' (1956), a movie about the Mau Mau, with Victor Mature. For the same company, he did ''Zarak'' (1957), also with Mature. MGM hired him to make '' Action of the Tiger'' (1957) with Van Johnson; a young Sean Connery had a supporting role. ''No Time to Die'' (1958) was Young's fourth film for Warwick, and third with Mature. He made '' Serious Charge'' (1959), which was Cliff Richard's film debut; '' Too Hot to Handle'' (1960) with Jayne Mansfield; ''Black Tights'' (1961) in France; and ''Duel of Champions'' (1961) in Italy with Alan Ladd.

James Bond

Albert Broccoli and Irving Allen had split as a producing team, and Broccoli went into partnership with Harry Saltzman to make a series of films based on the James Bond novels. Broccoli used many of the crew he had worked with during his time at Warwick for the first Bond movies, including Young as director. Young made a crucial contribution to '' Dr. No'' (1962), including recruiting Sean Connery to portray Bond. Actress Lois Maxwell later said that "Terence took Sean under his wing. He took him to dinner, to his tailor, showed him how to walk, how to talk, even how to eat."

The movie was a huge success and was quickly followed by '' From Russia with Love'' (1963), an even bigger hit. During the filming, Young and a photographer nearly drowned when their helicopter crashed into the sea while filming a key sequence. They were rescued by other members of the film crew. Young was back behind the camera 30 minutes after being rescued. Young was deluged with offers and elected not to direct '' Goldfinger''. Instead he made ''The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders'' (1965). Young returned for '' Thunderball'' (1965), the fourth Bond movie. According to Young, he was offered and turned down the direction of Bond films '' For Your Eyes Only'' and '' Never Say Never Again''.

European films

Following ''Thunderball'', most of Young's work was in Europe. Young directed part of the 1965 espionage portmanteau film ''The Dirty Game''. He provided the story for ''Atout cœur à Tokyo pour OSS 117'' (1966) and directed the all-star ''The Poppy Is Also a Flower'' (1966). He followed this with '' Triple Cross'' (1966), and '' The Rover'' (1967). Young had a hit with ''Wait Until Dark'' with Audrey Hepburn. In a 1967 interview he said his three best films were ''Black Tights'', ''From Russia with Love'' and ''They Were Not Divided''. He then directed ''Mayerling'' (1968) with Omar Sharif, and '' The Christmas Tree'' (1969) with William Holden. He made three films with Charles Bronson: ''Cold Sweat'' (1970), ''Red Sun'' (1972) and '' The Valachi Papers'' (1972).

Later films

Young's later films include ''War Goddess'' (a.k.a. ''The Amazons'') (1973), and ''The Klansman'' (1974, replacing Samuel Fuller). He worked on ''Jackpot'' but the film was never finished. Later credits include ''Bloodline'' (1979), '' Inchon'' (1981) about the Battle of Inchon with Laurence Olivier, ''The Jigsaw Man'' (1983) with Michael Caine and Olivier (replacing the original director), and '' Run for Your Life'' (1988). Olivier and Young had been friends since 1943 when Olivier had initially offered the direction of his film ''Henry V'' (1944) to Young, who declined. At the 3rd Golden Raspberry Awards in 1983, he won the Razzie Award for Worst Director for ''Inchon''.

Young contributed to the screenplay for the Hong Kong film ''Foxbat'' (1977), which led to him being credited as co-director in some regions. Young was the editor of '' The Long Days'' (''Al-ayyam al-tawila'') (1980), a six-hour Iraqi telenovela about the life of Saddam Hussein, which also led to him being credited as co-director in some regions.

Personal life

Young's wife was the novelist Dorothea Bennett. He had a son and two daughters. He died of a heart attack while working on a documentary at the age of 79 in Cannes.

Filmography

* 1948: ''Corridor of Mirrors''
* 1948: '' One Night with You''
* 1948: '' Woman Hater''
* 1950: ''They Were Not Divided''
* 1951: '' Valley of Eagles''
* 1952: ''The Tall Headlines''
* 1953: ''The Red Beret''
* 1955: ''That Lady''
* 1955: ''Storm Over the Nile''
* 1956: '' Safari''
* 1956: ''Zarak''
* 1957: '' Action of the Tiger''
* 1958: ''No Time to Die''
* 1959: '' Serious Charge''
* 1960: '' Too Hot to Handle''
* 1961: ''Black Tights''
* 1961: ''Duel of Champions''
* 1962: '' Dr. No''
* 1963: '' From Russia with Love''
* 1965: ''The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders''
* 1965: ''The Dirty Game''
* 1965: '' Thunderball''
* 1966: ''The Poppy Is Also a Flower''
* 1966: '' Triple Cross''
* 1967: '' The Rover''
* 1967: ''Wait Until Dark''
* 1968: ''Mayerling''
* 1969: '' The Christmas Tree''
* 1970: ''Cold Sweat''
* 1971: ''Red Sun''
* 1972: '' The Valachi Papers''
* 1973: ''War Goddess''
* 1974: ''The Klansman''
* 1977: ''Foxbat''
* 1979: ''Bloodline''
* 1981: ''Inchon''
* 1984: ''The Jigsaw Man''
* 1988: '' Run for Your Life'' (final film role)

References

Further reading

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External links

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The Independent, 16 September 1994: ''Obituary: Terence Young''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Terence
1915 births
1994 deaths
20th-century British screenwriters
Action film directors
Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
British Army personnel of World War II
British expatriates in France
British film directors
British male screenwriters
British people of Irish descent
Film directors from London
Film directors from Shanghai
Irish Guards officers