John Henry Graham Cutts (1884 – 7 February 1958), known as Graham Cutts, was a British

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, one of the leading British directors in the 1920s. His fellow director

A. V. Bramble Albert Victor Bramble (1884–1963) was an English film actor, actor and film director. He began his acting career on the stage. He started acting in films in 1914 and subsequently turned to directing and producing films. He died on 17 May 196 ...

believed that

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, east London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The co ...

had been built on the back of his work. Cutts worked with many leading figures in the UK film and stage world, including

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 ...

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was a British actress, singer and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

, and

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 ...

.BFI Database
/ref> He started his career as a northern exhibitor and moved into direction. When opportunities were limited in Britain, he filmed extensively in Europe. Ernest Betts describes him as " eeminglikely to become a major talent in British films with ''Woman to Woman'' which he directed in 1922. Cutts had a polish, a know-how, an intimacy with worldly affairs which impressed the ordinary filmgoer … ''The Rat'', ''The Wonderful Lie'' and ''The Blackguard'' which Cutts made in the 1920s showed a director who had learned much from the continental school and could match Hollywood in technical virtuosity." Anthony Slide observes that "Both Graham Cutts and Herbert Wilcox deserve recognition as prominent British filmmakers who realized the necessity to bring over American actors (or more precisely former stars) to appear in their productions and thus assure them an American market." Cutts directed the sensational ''

Cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

'' (1922), the most controversial film of the 1920s. Reviewing '' Paddy the Next Best Thing'' (1923), ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' concluded "This is one of the best British films yet made", and the ''

Kinematograph Weekly ''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971. Etymology The word Kinematograph was derived from the Greek ' Kinumai ', (to move, to be in motion, to ...

'' lauded Cutts' "smooth" direction and his skill in the humorous sections. His daughter was actress

Patricia Cutts Patricia Cutts (20 July 1926 – 6 September 1974)Patricia Cu ...

(1926–1974).

Selected filmography

* '' The Wonderful Story'' (1922) * ''

'' (1922) * ''

Flames of Passion ''Flames of Passion'' is a 1922 British silent film drama directed by Graham Cutts, starred Mae Marsh and C. Aubrey Smith. The film was made by the newly formed Graham-Wilcox Productions company, a joint venture between Cutts and producer Her ...

'' (1922) * '' Woman to Woman'' (1923) with

as assistant * '' The White Shadow'' (1923) with Hitchcock as assistant * '' Paddy the Next Best Thing'' (1923) * ''

The Prude's Fall ''The Prude's Fall'' is a 1925 British silent drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Jane Novak, Julanne Johnston, and Warwick Ward. The film was shot at Islington Studios, produced by a company that would soon develop into Gains ...

'' (1924) aka ''Dangerous Virtue'' with Hitchcock as assistant * ''

The Passionate Adventure ''The Passionate Adventure'' is a 1924 British silent drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Clive Brook and Alice Joyce. The film was adapted from a novel by Frank Stayton by Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Morton, with Hitchcock al ...

'' (1924) with Hitchcock as assistant * '' The Rat'' (1925) based on

play * ''

Die Prinzessin und der Geiger ''The Blackguard'' () is a 1925 British-German silent drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Jane Novak, Walter Rilla, and Frank Stanmore.

'' (UK/Germany, 1925) UK title ''

The Blackguard ''The Blackguard'' () is a 1925 British-German silent drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Jane Novak, Walter Rilla, and Frank Stanmore.

'' with Hitchcock as assistant * ''

The Triumph of the Rat ''The Triumph of the Rat'' is a 1926 British silent film drama, directed by Graham Cutts for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Ivor Novello, Isabel Jeans and Nina Vanna. Background The film is the second in a trilogy featuring Novello as Pi ...

'' (1926) * '' The Sea Urchin'' (1926) * ''

Chance the Idol ''Chance the Idol'' (German: ''Die Spielerin'') is a 1927 German silent film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Jack Trevor, Agnes Esterhazy and Harry Liedtke. It was based on a play by Henry Arthur Jones. Cutts was working in Germany at t ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Rolling Road ''The Rolling Road'' is a 1927 British silent drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Carlyle Blackwell, Flora le Breton, Clifford Heatherley and A.V. Bramble. The screenplay concerns a young woman in a Cornish fishing village who h ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Queen Was in the Parlour ''The Queen Was in the Parlour: a romance in three acts'' is a play by the English writer Noël Coward. Although written in 1922 it was not produced until 24 August 1926, when it was premiered at the St Martin's Theatre. The play is Coward's on ...

'' (1927) based on the

play * '' God's Clay'' (1928) * ''

The Return of the Rat ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1929) * '' The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case'' (1932) * ''

Looking on the Bright Side ''Looking on The Bright Side'' is a 1932 British musical comedy film It was directed by Graham Cutts and Basil Dean and starring Gracie Fields, Richard Dolman and Julian Rose. Plot summary Gracie (Fields) and Laurie (Dolman) are lovers who t ...

'' (1932) * '' The Temperance Fête'' (1932) * ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

'' (1933) * ''

Oh, Daddy! ''Oh, Daddy!'' is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and Austin Melford and starring Leslie Henson, Frances Day, Robertson Hare, and Barry MacKay. It was made at Islington Studios. The film's sets were designed by the art ...

'' (1935) * ''

Car of Dreams ''Car of Dreams'' is a 1935 British romantic comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and Austin Melford and starring Grete Mosheim, John Mills, Norah Howard and Robertson Hare. A tycoon's son falls in love with a woman who works at his father's f ...

'' (1935) * ''

Aren't Men Beasts! ''Aren't Men Beasts!'' is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Robertson Hare, Alfred Drayton and Billy Milton. Premise A number of people try to prevent a man getting married. Cast * Robertson Hare as Herbert ...

'' (1937) * ''

Over She Goes ''Over She Goes'' is a 1937 British musical comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Stanley Lupino, Claire Luce, Laddie Cliff, Gina Malo and Max Baer. It was based on a successful London stage play by Lupino, with music by Billy Mayer ...

'' (1938) * '' She Couldn't Say No'' (1939) * ''

Just William ''Just William'' is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for ...

'' (1940)

Notes

References

External links

*
Graham Cutts
at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, d ...

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and tele ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutts, Graham 1884 births 1958 deaths English film directors Mass media people from Brighton British silent film directors English male screenwriters Silent film screenwriters