Albert Pierre de Courville (26 March 1887 – 15 March 1960) (born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

, England) was a writer and director of theatrical revues, many of which featured the actress and singer

Shirley Kellogg Shirley Kellogg (born 27 May 1887 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) was an American actress and singer who found greater success in Britain than in America, mostly in revue. Early life She was born on 27 May 1887 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Career She ...

, whom he married in June 1913.

Career

In about 1907 he began work in London as a journalist with the ''Evening News''. A good reporter, he was soon earning as much as £20 a week, but thought there were more possibilities, and money, in the theatre. He joined forces with London impresario Sir Edward Moss and staged revues at the

London Hippodrome The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Cranbourn Street and Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few s ...

. In the 1930s he turned to making films. His two most famous films, both featuring

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...

were '' There Goes the Bride'' (1932) and ''

The Midshipmaid ''The Midshipmaid'' is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Albert de Courville and starring Jessie Matthews, Frederick Kerr, Basil Sydney and Nigel Bruce. The film is based on the 1931 play of the same title by Ian Hay and Stephen King-Hall. ...

'' (1932). He also directed '' The Wrecker'', an adaptation of

Arnold Ridley William Arnold Ridley, OBE (7 January 1896 – 12 March 1984) was an English playwright and actor, earlier in his career known for writing the play '' The Ghost Train'' and later in life in the British TV sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (1968–1977) as ...

’s play of the same name, and '' Seven Sinners'' (1936).

Personal life

In June 1913, he married actress and singer

. He and the actress Edith Kelly married in 1927. There were fears that this marriage would not happen as de Courville was in hospital before the marriage. De Courville recovered sufficiently to allow the marriage to happen on 26 May at a registry office.

Selected filmography

References

External links

*
Albert de Courville
at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

Albert de Courville
at

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

Albert de Courville
at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

Revues by Albert de Courville
on Great War Theatre {{DEFAULTSORT:De Courville, Albert 1887 births 1960 deaths English film directors