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

Early life and career

Dearden was born at 5, Woodfield Road,

Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a town and civil parish in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011, it had a population of 22,509. Geography Leigh-on-Sea is on the northern ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and his wife, Florence Tripp.

Basil Dean

Dearden 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, af ...

. 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 ''Penny Paradise'' is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Carol Reed and starring Edmund Gwenn, Betty Driver and Jimmy O'Dea. It was an early directorial assignment for Reed, and along with many other British productions of the era such as ...

'' (1938), produced by Dean and directed by

Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for '' Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), '' The Third Man'' (1949), and '' Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded th ...

, and two George Formby 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 ''Let George Do It!'' (US: ''To Hell With Hitler'') is a 1940 British black-and-white comedy musical war film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring George Formby. It was produced by Michael Balcon for Associated Talking Pictures and its s ...

'' (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.

Director

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. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...

, co-directing comedy films with

Will Hay William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film ''Oh ...

, starting with '' Black Sheep of Whitehall'' (1942). This was followed by '' The Goose Steps Out'' (1942) and ''

My Learned Friend ''My Learned Friend'' is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, farce, directed by Basil Dearden with his regular collaborator, Will Hay, as the film's star in the role of William Fitch. The principal supporting roles were taken by Claude H ...

'' (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 ''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie ...

'' (1945) and directed the linking narrative and the "Hearse Driver" segment. He also directed ''

The Captive Heart ''The Captive Heart'' is a 1946 British war drama, directed by Basil Dearden and starring Michael Redgrave. It is about a Czechoslovak Army officer who is captured in the Fall of France and spends five years as a prisoner of war, during which ...

'' (1946) starring

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Mourning Becomes El ...

, which was a big hit. The film was entered into the 1946

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

. He directed '' Frieda'' (1947) with

Mai Zetterling Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actor. Early life Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at ...

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 ''The Blue Lamp'' is a 1950 British police procedural film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Jack Warner as PC Dixon, Jimmy Hanley as newcomer PC Mitchell, and Dirk Bogarde as criminal Tom Riley. The title refers to the blue lamps that ...

'' (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'' was 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 19 ...

'' television series. It was hugely popular. Less so were '' Cage of Gold'' (1950), a drama with

Jean Simmons Jean Merilyn Simmons, (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and afte ...

; ''

Pool of London The Pool of London is a stretch of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Limehouse. Part of the Tideway of the Thames, the Pool was navigable by tall-masted vessels bringing coastal and later overseas goods—the wharves there were the ...

'' (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 ''The Gentle Gunman'' is a 1952 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring John Mills, Dirk Bogarde and Elizabeth Sellars. The film is based on a 1950 play of the same title by Roger MacDougall that was televised by the BBC in ...

'' (1952), an IRA thriller with Dirk Bogarde; ''

The Square Ring ''The Square Ring'' is a 1953 British tragi-comic drama, directed by Basil Dearden and made at Ealing Studios. It stars Jack Warner, Robert Beatty and Bill Owen. The film, based on a stage play by Ralph Peterson, centres on one night at a ...

'' (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 Justice Movies

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, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sap ...

'' (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 surreal British comedy horror sitcom 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 live ...

'' (1960), a cynical 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 ''Desert Mice'' is a 1959 British comedy film featuring Alfred Marks, Sid James, Dora Bryan, Irene Handl, John Le Mesurier and Liz Fraser. A group of ENSA entertainers with the British army in the North Africa desert during the Second World W ...

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

that lost money. '' The Secret Partner'' (1961) was a thriller for MGM starring

Stewart Granger Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...

. 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'' (1954) for the Rank Orga ...

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'' (1964) starring

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

; and ''

Masquerade Masquerade or Masquerader may refer to: Events * Masquerade ball, a costumed dance event * Masquerade ceremony, a rite or cultural event in many parts of the world, especially the Caribbean and Africa * Masqueraders, the performers in the West ...

'' (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'', and won the 196 ...

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

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

'' (1966), with

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film '' The Ten ...

and

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

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

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

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 Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

, made for

EMI Films EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief conne ...

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

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is an action-comedy 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 cycle of adventure se ...

'': ''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 a 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 element was largely ...

near Heathrow Airport, in which he suffered multiple injuries. His death was coincidentally foreshadowed in his final film, which opens with a sequence in which Roger Moore's character almost dies in a car accident after driving recklessly at high speed along the M4.

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

References

External links

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