Clive Stanley Donner (21 January 1926 – 6 September 2010) Ronald Berganbr>Obituary: Clive Donner
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 7 September 2010 was a British film director who was part of the British New Wave, directing films such as '' The Caretaker'', '' Nothing but the Best'', '' What's New Pussycat?'', and '' Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush''. He also directed television movies and

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

through the mid-1990s.

Early career

Donner was born in

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden. Neighbouring areas includes Childs Hill to the north, Frognal to the east, Swiss Cottage to the south-east, South Hampstead to the south and Kilburn to the south-west. The neighbourh ...

, London. His father was a concert violinist and his mother ran a dress shop; his grandparents were Polish-Jewish immigrants. Donner began his filmmaking career while attending Kilburn Polytechnic. He began working in the film industry as a cutting-room assistant at Denham Studios, having gained the job after joining his father, who was at the studio to record the soundtrack for the film ''

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' is a 1943 British romantic-war film written, produced and directed by the British film-making team of Powell and Pressburger, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and ...

'' (1943). Donner did his eighteen months of

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

with the Royal Army Educational Corps, and afterwards was hired by Pinewood Studios as a film editor, where the movies he worked on included '' Scrooge'' (1951), with Alastair Sim; ''

The Card ''The Card'' is a comic novel written by Arnold Bennett in 1911 (entitled ''Denry the Audacious'' in the American edition). It was later made into a 1952 movie, starring Alec Guinness and Petula Clark. Like much of Bennett's best work, it is ...

'' (1952), with

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. In the BFI, British Film Institute listing of 1999 of BFI Top 100 British films, the 100 most important British films of the 20th century ...

; ''

Genevieve Genevieve (; ; also called ''Genovefa'' and ''Genofeva''; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) was a consecrated virgin, and is one of the two patron saints of Paris in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is on 3 January. Rec ...

'' (1953), a comedy about a vintage car rally; ''

The Million Pound Note ''The Million Pound Note'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Gregory Peck, Ronald Squire, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Jane Griffiths (actress), Jane Griffiths. It is based on the 1893 Mark Twain short story "The Mi ...

'' (1954), with

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

; and '' I Am a Camera'' (1955), with

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to Union of South Africa, South Africa at an early age, before ...

Career as director

Early works

Donner began his professional directing career on a number of low-budget films, starting with '' The Secret Place'' (1957), a crime drama about a troubled youth, starring Belinda Lee, Ronald Lewis, and David McCallum. After this Donner says he turned down '' Rooney'' and a film which he said was a copy of ''

'' with gliders. Then he agreed to make '' Heart of a Child'' (1958) a melodrama starring

Jean Anderson Mary Jean Heriot Powell (12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001), better known by her stage name Jean Anderson, was an English actress best remembered for her television roles as formidable matriarch Mary Hammond in the BBC drama ''The Brothers (197 ...

and Donald Pleasence. Donner says then a new manager came in, Connery, and Rank released him from his contract. Donner directed some commercials and some short features based on

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was ...

novels. He did '' Some People'' (1962), a film about a group of alienated youths who form a rock band, starring

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 ...

and Ray Brooks. His television work during that time included episodes of ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

'' (1960) and ''

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

'' (1961–62), as well as ''Mighty and Mystical'', a documentary series about India.

1960s

Donner's breakthrough directing role came with '' The Caretaker'' (1963), a film made with a low-budget funded almost entirely by financial contributions starting at £1,000 each from such individuals as

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

, with the stars bypassing their standard fees and taking shares of the film's revenue. The movie, based on the play of the same name by

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

, was filmed in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

with

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg ( ; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance (film), Performance'' (1970), ''Walkabout (film), Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973) ...

. Donner's next film, '' Nothing but the Best'' (1964), was a satire on the British

class system A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the Bourgeoisie, capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for exam ...

starring

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the Cinema of the United Kingdom#The 1960s, 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from ''Whistle Down the Wind (film), Whistle Down ...

and Denholm Elliott, based on a screenplay by Frederic Raphael. The film tells the story of Jimmy Brewster (played by Bates) as a lower-class striver who seeks to move up in the system under the tutelage of his upper crust instructor Charlie Prince (Elliott). The reviews "briefly turned Clive Donner into one of the hottest directors in the world." Donner's first large-budget film was '' What's New Pussycat?'' (1965), an American-financed comedy shot in France, starring Peter O'Toole and

. O'Toole played the womanizer Michael James, who does his best to remain faithful to his fiancée Carole Werner (

Romy Schneider Rosemarie Magdalena Albach (23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982), known professionally as Romy Schneider (), was a German and French actress. She is regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time and became a cult figure due to ...

), while numerous women – Ursula Andress, Capucine, Paula Prentiss – fall in love with him, with Sellers playing the role of his psychoanalyst, Dr. Fassbender. The success of the

title song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, performed by Tom Jones, added to the motion picture's success with audiences.

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

, who wrote the screenplay and made his first screen appearance in the movie, hated the end result, commenting that the vision he had for the movie in his original script had been distorted. Donner's film '' Luv'' (1967), an adaptation of the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

by Murray Schisgal, starred

Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC series ''Columbo'' (196 ...

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, he was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received num ...

and Elaine May, but the addition of locations and characters to the original work led to criticism of the casting and direction, and the film was a commercial failure. Donner rounded out the 1960s with the 9th-century period piece ''

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

'' (1969), starring

David Hemmings David Leslie Edward Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor, director, and producer of film and television. Originally trained as a boy soprano in operatic roles, he began appearing in films as a child actor in the ...

1970s

In 1973, Donner's essay into theatre, directing Robert Patrick's play '' Kennedy's Children'' at the

King's Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. The original venue was the oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2024, the pub theatre, and the King's Head Theatre now operates from a purpose-b ...

, Islington was ultimately produced internationally. Donner directed the film '' Vampira'' (US: ''Old Dracula'', 1974), a comedy horror film of the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

genre that sought to piggyback on the commercial success of '' Young Frankenstein'' for its US release. He directed the made-for-television movie '' Spectre'' (1977), produced by

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...

1980s

The Nude Bomb ''The Nude Bomb'' (also known as ''The Return of Maxwell Smart'') is a 1980 American spy comedy film based on the 1965–70 television series ''Get Smart''. It stars Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and was directed by Clive Donner. It ...

'' (1980) is a comedy based on the television series ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the Spy fiction, secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Bu ...

'', which featured Don Adams reprising his role as secret agent Maxwell Smart. This was followed by the parody '' Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen'' (1981) featuring

Angie Dickinson Angie Dickinson (born Angeline Brown; September 30, 1931) is an American retired actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many Anthology series#Television, anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough rol ...

Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer ( ; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress. She was one of the most bankable stars in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood during the 1980s and 1990s, and her List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, performances ...

, and

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

. '' Stealing Heaven'' (1988) is a

costume drama Costume is the distinctive style of clothing, dress and/or cosmetics, makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used ...

based on the 12th-century romance of

Peter Abelard Peter Abelard (12 February 1079 – 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet. This source has a detailed description of his philosophical work. In philos ...

and HéloïseMichael Wilmington, "Movie Reviews: ‘Stealing Heaven’ Updates Heloise and Abelard", ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', 28 April 1989 and was Donner's last theatrical film. For television, Donner directed a film version of ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in Lo ...

'' (1982) with

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

and

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...

and productions based on two

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

novels, ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' (1982) and ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'' (1984), both starring George C. Scott.

Death

Donner died at age 84 on 7 September 2010 at a carer home in

Virginia Water Virginia Water is a commuter village in the Borough of Runnymede in northern Surrey, England. It is home to the Wentworth Estate and the Wentworth Club. The area has much woodland and occupies a large minority of the Runnymede district. Its na ...

, Surrey, due to complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

.Grimes, William
"Clive Donner, 1960s-Era Film Director, Dies at 84"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 9 September 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2010. His Australian wife, Jocelyn Rickards, a costume designer whom he met while working on ''Alfred the Great'' and married in 1971, had died in 2005.

Bibliography

Donner discusses the making of all his films in the book ''Six English Filmmakers'' (2014, Paul Sutton)

Selected filmography

As editor

*''

'' (1943) (uncredited) *'' On Approval'' (1944) (uncredited) *''

The Way Ahead ''The Way Ahead'' (also known as ''Immortal Battalion'') (1944) is a British Second World War drama film directed by Carol Reed. The screenplay was written by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov. The film stars David Niven, Stanley Holloway and Wi ...

'' (1944) (uncredited) *''

'' (1948) (uncredited *'' The Passionate Films'' (1949) (uncredited) *'' Madeleine'' (1950) (uncredited) *'' Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'' (1951) (uncredited) * '' Scrooge'' (1951) *''

'' (1952) *'' Meet Me Tonight'' (1952) *''

'' (1953) *''

'' (1954) * '' The Purple Plain'' (1954) *'' I Am a Camera'' (1955)

As director

* '' The Secret Place'' (1957) * '' Heart of a Child'' (1958) * ''

Marriage of Convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. Cases whe ...

'' (1960) *''

'' (1961) (TV series) *''

'' (1961) (TV series) * '' The Sinister Man'' (1961) * '' Some People'' (1962) *'' Walter and Connie'' (1963) (TV series) * '' The Caretaker'' (1963) * '' Nothing but the Best'' (1964) * '' What's New Pussycat?'' (1965) * '' Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'' (1967) * '' Luv'' (1967) * ''

'' (1969) * '' Vampira'' (1974) * '' Rogue Male'' (1976) * '' Spectre'' (1977) * '' The Three Hostages'' (1977) * '' She Fell Among Thieves'' (1978) * '' The Thief of Baghdad'' (1978) * ''

'' (1980) * '' Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen'' (1981) * ''

'' (1982) * ''

'' (1982) * '' To Catch a King'' (1984) * ''

'' (1984) * '' Arthur the King'' (1985) * '' Dead Man's Folly'' (1986) * '' Babes in Toyland'' (1986) * '' Stealing Heaven'' (1988) * '' Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less'' (1990) *'' Terror Stalks the Class Reunion'' (1992) * '' Charlemagne, le prince à cheval'' (1993)

References

External links

* *

interview British Entertainment History Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Donner, Clive 1926 births 2010 deaths Military personnel from London 20th-century British Army personnel British film directors British film editors British television directors Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England People from Hampstead Royal Army Educational Corps soldiers English Jews English people of Polish-Jewish descent Deaths from dementia in England