Edward Black (producer)

For other people with the same name, see Edward Black (disambiguation).

Edward Black
Born
Edward Black

(1900-08-18)18 August 1900
Birmingham, UK
Died30 November 1948(1948-11-30) (aged 48)
London, UK
NationalityEnglish
OccupationFilm producer
Years active1935 – 1948
Notable workThe Lady Vanishes

Edward Black (18 August 1900, Birmingham – 30 November 1948, London) was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of the Gainsborough melodramas.[1][2] He also produced such classic films as The Lady Vanishes (1938).

Black has been called "one of the unsung heroes of the British film industry"[3] and "one of the greatest figures in British film history, the maker of stars like Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, John Mills and Stewart Granger. He was also one of the very few producers whose films, over a considerable period, made money."[4] In 1946 Mason called Black "the one good production executive" that J. Arthur Rank had.[5]

Frank Launder called Black "a great showman and yet he had a great feeling for scripts and spent more time on them than anyone I have ever known. His experimental films used to come off as successful as his others."[6] A 1947 profile called him "one of the most important of the Back Room Boys in British films" who "probably found more stars than anyone else in British films."[7]

Black specialized in making comedies, thrillers and low-budget musicals.[3] He had considerable success producing comedy vehicles for stars such as Will Hay and Arthur Askey. He also made early films from Carol Reed and Alfred Hitchcock and was an early supporter of writer directors Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder.[8]

According to Robert Murphy, "Black concentrated on making films for British audiences. Like his brother George at the London Palladium, Ted had an almost superstitious faith in his ability to divine popular taste and was wary about involving himself with anything that might dilute it."[9]

Alfred Roome, a film editor at Gainsborough, said: "We often wondered why Ted Black didn’t mix with the elite of his profession. I don’t think he ever went to a premiere, star parties and the like. One day he explained his apparent aloofness. He said he didn’t want to get contaminated by people outside his band of entertainment. 'If I mix with the intellectual lot, it’ll impair my judgement', he said."[9]

Black helped promote new stars like Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave and Phyllis Calvert. He also employed variety performers like Will Hay, Will Fyffe and The Crazy Gang, and the comedian Arthur Askey.

Black was very strong in promoting writers. Frank Launder said: "Ted believed in writers. To him the screenplay was the be-all and end- all. He enjoyed script conferences and went in for them wholesale, which made it pretty arduous going for the script editor as well as the writers and directors."[10]

  1. ^ Gainsborough Pictures at BFI Screenonline
  2. ^ "Edward Black". BFI. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 By Robert Murphy p34
  4. ^ Wood, Alan (1952). Mr. Rank a Study of J.Arthur Rank and British Films. p. 145.
  5. ^ BRITISH FILM IDOL CASTS ORAL BRICKS: James Mason Says Rank Is Leading the English Movie Industry Into Trouble Outspoken Critic By THOMAS M. PRYOR. New York Times 15 Dec 1946: X6.
  6. ^ Round Table on British Films Cornelius, Henry; Dickinson, Thorold; Havelock-Allan, Anthony; John, Rosamund; Launder, Frank; et al. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 19, Iss. 3, (May 1, 1950): 114-122.
  7. ^ "Names pull 'em in". Daily Mirror. 12 September 1947. p. 4.
  8. ^ The final reel, The Guardian (1959-2003) [London (UK)] 27 Sep 2003 p B19
  9. ^ a b Murphy p 6
  10. ^ Murphy p 7