Maxwell Setton (born 24 October 1909, date of death unknown) was a British film producer, notably active in the 1950s.McFarlane, Brian (28 February 2014). ''The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition''. Oxford University Press. pp. 688-689; He was born in Cairo"Maxwell Setton: Interview notes" '' The History Project''. Retrieved 4 June 2021. to British parents and studied law, becoming a barrister.
In 1937, he became legal adviser to Mayflower Productions, the production company of
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...
and
Erich Pommer
Erich Pommer (20 July 1889 – 8 May 1966) was a German-born film producer and executive. Pommer was perhaps the most powerful person in the German and European film industries in the 1920s and early 1930s.
As producer, Erich Pommer was involved ...
. After serving in the war, he became an assistant to Lord Archibald, who was managing Independent Producers Ltd.
After a few years, he set up as a producer with Aubrey Baring and they made movies for a newly organised Mayflower Productions, releasing through Rank. They produced six films together, predominantly adventure films set outside Britain written by Robert Westerby. Setton then set up his own company, Marksman Films, whose first film was ''Twist of Fate'' (1954).
In 1956 it was announced Setton would run the production company of Donna Reed and Tony Owen, Todon, to make six films, starting with ''The Nylon Web'' by Westerby. It ended up becoming '' Town on Trial''. However no films resulted. Neither did a proposed biopic of
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...
.
He made a number of films for
Mike Frankovitch
Mitchell John "M. J." Frankovich (September 29, 1909 – January 1, 1992), best known as Mike Frankovich, was an American football player turned film actor and producer. Frankovich was the adopted son of actor Joe E. Brown and his wife, Kathry ...
's company, Frankovitch Productions, who released through Columbia Pictures. He worked with Ken Hughes and John Guillermin a number of times.
He helped establish
Bryanston Films
Bryanston Distributing Company (formerly known as Bryanston Distributors and also traded as Bryanston Pictures) was an American film distribution company that was active during the 1970s. The company was founded by Louis Peraino and Philip Parisi ...
.
In 1964 he was appointed head of European production for Columbia. The following year he became a vice-president of Columbia as well. In 1969 he resigned and announced he was returning to film production with three properties for Columbia: '' Caravan to Vaccarès'' by Alistair MacLean, ''Those Who Walk Away'' by Patricia Highsmith and ''Rosy is My Relative'' by Gerald Durrell. In January 1970 he became Paramount's vice president in charge of foreign production.By A.H. WEILER. (1970, Jan 02) "'69 a bad year for good films, Catholic movie office finds" ''New York Times''
Selected filmography
*'' The Spider and the Fly'' (1949) - with Aubrey Baring, for Mayflower
*'' Cairo Road'' (1950) - with Aubrey Baring, for Mayflower
*'' The Adventurers'' (1951) aka ''Fortune in Diamonds'', ''The Great Adventure'' - with Aubrey Baring, for Mayflower
*'' So Little Time'' (1952) - with Aubrey Baring, for Mayflower
*'' Raiders in the Sky'' aka ''Appointment in London'' (1953) - with Aubrey Baring, for Mayflower
*''The Golden Mask'' aka '' South of Algiers'' (1953) - with Aubrey Baring, for Mayflower
*'' They Who Dare'' (1954) - with Aubrey Baring, for Mayflower
*'' Twist of Fate'' (1954) aka ''Beautiful Stranger'' - for Marksman
*'' Footsteps in the Fog'' (1955) - for Frankovitch Productions and Columbia Pictures
*''
Keep It Clean
''Keep It Clean'' is a 1956 British black-and-white comedy film directed by David Paltenghi and starring Ronald Shiner as Bert Lane and Joan Sims as Violet Tarbottom.
Plot
Advertising agent Bert Lane (Ronald Shiner) plans to market his brother- ...