Brock Williams (screenwriter)
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Brock Williams (8 July 1894 – 19 February 1964) was a prolific English
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
with over 100 films to his credit between 1930 and 1962. He also had a brief directorial career, and later also worked in television. Two of his novels ''
The Earl of Chicago ''The Earl of Chicago'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Montgomery, Edward Arnold, Reginald Owen and Edmund Gwenn. Made during 1939 and released in January 1940, it was the first MGM film of the 1940 ...
'' and '' Uncle Willie and the Bicycle Shop'' were both adapted into films.


Career

A native of
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, in 1930 Williams joined
Teddington Studios Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky One and others. The complex also prov ...
, the British arm of
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
, where he would spend the next 15 years. The 1930s was the golden age of the
quota quickie The Cinematograph Films Act 1927 ( 17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 29) was an act of the UK Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received royal assent on 22 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928. Description T ...
, when Teddington was churning out quickly and cheaply shot films by the week, so work was plentiful. With few exceptions, these films were deemed of ephemeral value, with no worthwhile life after their first cinema run. The unfortunate result for modern film historians is that a good proportion are now classed as
lost films A lost film is a feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. Early films we ...
, while those that have survived did so more by chance than intention. Films on which Williams worked included three early
Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...
ventures '' Something Always Happens'', ''
The Girl in the Crowd ''The Girl in the Crowd'' is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Michael Powell starring Barry Clifton, Patricia Hilliard (actress), Patricia Hilliard, and Googie Withers. The film has been declared "Missing, Believed Lost" by the British Fil ...
'' and ''
Someday Someday or Some Day may refer to: Film and television * ''Someday'' (1935 film), a British film directed by Michael Powell * ''Someday'' (2011 film), a Japanese film directed by Junji Sakamoto * ''Someday'' (2021 film), an Indian Hindi-lang ...
'', of which only the first is still extant. Between 1936 and 1939 he also formed part of a regular four-way working partnership with director Arthur B. Woods, producer Irving Asher and cinematographer Basil Emmott, most notably on ''
Q Planes ''Q Planes'' (known as ''Clouds Over Europe'' in the United States) is a 1939 British comedy film, comedy spy film starring Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier and Valerie Hobson. Olivier and Richardson were a decade into their fifty-year friends ...
''. The quota quickie, ( Cinematograph Films Act 1927), assembly line died with the outbreak of World War II, when Britain's major studios started to concentrate on making fewer pictures with higher production values and quality, often with an overtly patriotic and propagandistic tone. Williams remained contracted to Teddington until 1944, scripting such films as ''
Contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...
'' and ''
Candlelight in Algeria ''Candlelight in Algeria'' is a 1944 British war film directed by George King and starring James Mason, Carla Lehmann and Raymond Lovell. The story is loosely based on an October 1942 secret conference in Cherchell, Algeria between American gen ...
''. He then went freelance, starting with the
Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Ca ...
ghost story '' A Place of One's Own'' in 1945. Williams made two forays into film directing, with the 1947
Phyllis Calvert Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1 ...
melodrama ''
The Root of All Evil Root of all evil or Root of evil may refer to: Music * ''The Root of All Evil'' (album), a 2009 album by Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy * ''The Root of All Evil'' (EP), Japanese work by all-female tribute band Iron Maidens * "The Root of ...
'' and '' I'm a Stranger'' (1952), a comedy starring
Greta Gynt Greta Gynt (born Margrethe Woxholt; 15 November 1916 – 2 April 2000) was a Norwegian dancer and actress. She is remembered for her starring roles in the British classic films '' The Dark Eyes of London'', '' Mr. Emmanuel'', ''Take My Life'', '' ...
. He spent the rest of his film career mainly in the 1950s B-movie fields of thrillers and crime, with his last credits coming in two
Lance Comfort Lance Comfort (11 August 1908 – 25 August 1966) was an English film director. He was a prolific maker of B movies from 1945 to 1965. Early life Lance Comfort was born in Harrow, London on 11 August 1908. Career In a career spanning over ...
productions in 1961 and 1962. He also ventured into television, scripting eight episodes of early police procedural drama ''
Fabian of the Yard ''Fabian of Scotland Yard'' is a British police procedural television series based on the real-life memoirs of Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian, produced by Trinity Productions, with episodes purchase by the BBC and broadcast between Novemb ...
'' for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
(1955–56), five episodes of historical adventure serial '' The Gay Cavalier'' for
Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
(1957), and six of '' The New Adventures of Charlie Chan'' for
ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...
(1957–58). Williams died on 19 February 1964, aged 69.


Filmography


External links

*
Brock Williams
at BFI Film & TV Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Brock 1894 births 1964 deaths English film directors English male screenwriters English television writers Writers from Truro English male television writers 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers