Basil Dearden (born Basil Clive Dear; 1 January 1911 – 23 March 1971) was an English film director.

Early life

Dearden was born as Basil Clive Dear at 5 Woodfield Road,

Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish within the city of Southend-on-Sea, located in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509. Geograph ...

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to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and the former Florence Tripp.

Career

Deard graduated from theatre direction to film, working as an assistant to

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, a ...

. He later changed his own name to Dearden to avoid confusion with his mentor. He wrote '' This Man Is News'' (1938), a hugely popular quota quickie and wrote and directed a film for TV ''Under Suspicion'' (1939). He was assistant director on '' Penny Paradise'' (1938), produced by Dean and directed by Carol Reed, and two

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he ...

comedies directed by Anthony Kimmins: '' George Takes the Air'' (1938), produced by Dean, and '' Come on George!'' (1939). Dearden was promoted to associate producer on two more George Formby films, which he also co-wrote: '' To Hell with Hitler'' (1940) aka ''Let George Do It'' and '' Spare a Copper'' (1940). Dearden went over to Ealing Studios where he produced '' The Ghost of St. Michael's'' (1941) with Will Hay, then he produced '' Turned Out Nice Again'' (1941) with George Formby.

Ealing Studios

He first began working as a director at

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

, co-directing comedy films with Will Hay, starting with '' Black Sheep of Whitehall'' (1942). This was followed by '' The Goose Steps Out'' (1942) and '' My Learned Friend'' (1943), which was Hay's last movie. Dearden's first solo director credit was '' The Bells Go Down'' (1943), a wartime movie with Tommy Trinder. It was produced by Michael Relph who would form a notable collaboration with Dearden. Dearden also directed '' The Halfway House'' (1944), a drama set in Wales, and wrote and directed '' They Came to a City'' (1944), based on a play by J.B Priestley. Dearden worked on the influential chiller compendium '' Dead of Night'' (1945) and directed the linking narrative and the "Hearse Driver" segment. He also directed '' The Captive Heart'' (1946) starring Michael Redgrave, which was a big hit. The film was entered into the 1946

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. He directed '' Frieda'' (1947) with Mai Zetterling and produced by Relph, which was also popular. Dearden directed '' Saraband for Dead Lovers'' (1948) an expensive costume picture that was not a large success. He wrote and directed a segment of '' Train of Events'' (1949). '' The Blue Lamp'' (1950), probably the most frequently shown of Dearden's Ealing films, is a police drama which first introduced audiences to PC George Dixon, later resurrected for the long-running ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' is a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 1955 ...

'' television series. It was hugely popular. Less so were '' Cage of Gold'' (1950), a drama with Jean Simmons; '' Pool of London'' (1951), a crime film with a black lead, very rare for the time; and '' I Believe in You'' (1952), a drama which he also wrote and produced. Dearden made '' The Gentle Gunman'' (1952), an IRA thriller with Dirk Bogarde; '' The Square Ring'' (1953), a boxing film with Jack Warner; '' The Rainbow Jacket'' (1954), a horse racing drama; and '' Out of the Clouds'' (1955), set at an airport. He did a war film which he also wrote, '' The Ship That Died of Shame'' (1955) then a comedy with Benny Hill, '' Who Done It?'' (1956). Dearden did some uncredited directing on '' The Green Man'' (1956) then made an Ealing style comedy for British Lion '' The Smallest Show on Earth'' (1957). For Rank he made '' Violent Playground'' (1958) with Stanley Baker. He did some uncredited directing on one of Ealing's last films, '' Nowhere to Go'' (1958). He also produced '' Davy'' (1958), with Harry Secombe, for Ealing.

Social awareness films

Dearden and Michael Relph made a series of films on subjects generally not tackled by British cinema in this era starting with ''

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

'' (1959), a thriller about race relations that proved popular. Dearden and Relph helped set up Allied Film Makers, for whom they made ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a British surreal comedy horror series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives ...

'' (1960), a bank heist comedy that was very popular. Dearden directed episodes of '' The Four Just Men'' on TV and produced two films directed by Michael Relph: '' Mad Little Island'' (1958) and '' Desert Mice'' (1959). For Allied, Dearden directed ''

Man in the Moon In many cultures, several pareidolic images of a human face, head or body are recognized in the disc of the full moon; they are generally known as the Man in the Moon. The images are based on the appearance of the dark areas (known as lunar m ...

'' (1960), a science fiction comedy with

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this period ...

that lost money. '' The Secret Partner'' (1961) was a thriller for MGM starring Stewart Granger. Dearden directed '' Victim'' (1961) with

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the Hous ...

for Allied; a thriller about homosexuality, it was a huge success. However, his next few movies were not popular: '' All Night Long'' (1961), an adaptation of ''Othello''; '' Life for Ruth'' (1962), for Allied, which dealt with religious objections to operations.; '' A Place to Go'' (1964), for Bryanston Films, a thriller not released for two years; and '' The Mind Benders'' (1963) a science fiction with Dirk Bogarde.

Later films

Dearden and Relph then made two films for release by United Artists: ''

Woman of Straw ''Woman of Straw'' is a 1964 British crime thriller directed by Basil Dearden and starring Gina Lollobrigida and Sean Connery. It was written by Robert Muller (screenwriter), Robert Muller and Stanley Mann, adapted from the 1954 novel ''La Femme ...

'' (1964) starring

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

; and '' Masquerade'' (1965) with

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film ''PT 109 (film), PT 109'', a ...

. He was then hired to replace Lewis Gilbert as director of ''

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

'' (1966), with

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

and

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

. Two films were then made for release by Paramount: '' Only When I Larf'' (1968) and the

Edwardian era In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

black comedy '' The Assassination Bureau'' (1969), again with Michael Relph; it was the 25th film they had made together. His last film was '' The Man Who Haunted Himself'' (1970), which he wrote and directed, starring Roger Moore, made for

EMI Films Canal+ Image International (formerly known as EMI Films, Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, Lumiere Pictures and Television, and UGC DA) was a British-French film, television, animation studio and distributor. A former subsidiary of the EMI congl ...

. With Moore, Dearden made three episodes of the television series ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is a British action comedy television series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the c ...

'': ''Overture'', ''Powerswitch'' and ''To the Death, Baby''. He had two sons, Torquil Dearden and the screenwriter and director James Dearden.

Death

Dearden died on 23 March 1971 at Hillingdon Hospital, London after being involved in a road accident on the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...

near

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

, in which he suffered multiple injuries. An inquest heard that he had a very high amount of alcohol in his blood and that he was decapitated after his car crashed into a road sign and caught fire.

Reputation

The film critic David Thomson does not hold Dearden in high regard. He writes: "Dearden's films are decent, empty and plodding and his association with Michael Relph is a fair representative of the British preference for bureaucratic cinema. It stands for the underlining of obvious meaning". More positively, for Brian McFarlane, the Australian writer on film: "Dearden's films offer, among other rewards, a fascinating barometer of public taste at its most nearly consensual over three decades". Brian McFarlane (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'', 2003, London: Methuen/BFI, p.168 Regular Ealing cinematographer Douglas Slocombe enjoyed working with Dearden personally, describing him as the 'most competent' of the directors he worked with at Ealing.

Filmography

Film Television

References

External links

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Criterion Collection EssayFandango filmography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearden, Basil 1911 births 1971 deaths English film directors English film producers English male screenwriters English television directors British comedy film directors People from Westcliff-on-Sea Road incident deaths in London 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English businesspeople