Gordon Parry (24 July 1908 – 6 May 1981) was a British film director and producer.

Early life

He was born in

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. It i ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, on 24 July 1908.

Career

He worked on the crew of such films as '' Strictly Illegal'' (1935) and was a key member of the team at

Two Cities Films Two Cities Films was a British film production company. Formed in 1937, it was originally envisaged as a production company operating in the two cities of London and Rome which gave the company its name. The driving forces behind the company were ...

. He directed his first film ''

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

'' in 1948. He died on 6 May 1981.Round the British Studios WITH Mepean, Edith. Picture Show; London Vol. 57, Iss. 1496, (1 Dec 1951): 11.

Personal life

He had 2 daughters, the actress

Natasha Parry Natasha Parry (2 December 1930 – 22 July 2015) was an English actress of Russian descent. The daughter of film director Gordon Parry (film director), Gordon Parry, she was married to theatre director Peter Brook from 1951 until her death, and ...

, who was married to the director

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

, and Nina.

Selected filmography

Non director

*'' Strictly Illegal'' (1935) - unit producer *''

The Stoker "The Stoker" (original German language, German: "Der Heizer") is a short story by Franz Kafka. Kafka wrote it as the first chapter of a novel he called ''Amerika (novel), Amerika'', but he abandoned the novel in 1913 and published the one complet ...

'' (1937) - unit producer *''

In Which We Serve ''In Which We Serve'' is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by Noël Coward and David Lean. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom), Ministry of Information. The scree ...

'' (1942) - location manager *''

The Demi-Paradise ''The Demi-Paradise'' (also known as ''Adventure for Two'') is a 1943 British comedy film made by Two Cities Films. It stars Laurence Olivier as a Soviet Russian inventor who travels to England to have his revolutionary propeller manufactured, an ...

'' (1943) - assistant to producer *''

The Way to the Stars ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1945) - associate producer * ''

Night Was Our Friend ''Night Was Our Friend'' is a 1951 British drama film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Elizabeth Sellars, Michael Gough and Ronald Howard. The title references a line from Virgil's epic poem ''The Aeneid''. Plot A young woman is acq ...

'' (1951) - producer

As director

* ''

'' (1948) * '' Third Time Lucky'' (1948) *''

Now Barabbas ''Now Barabbas'' is a 1949 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Richard Greene, Cedric Hardwicke and Kathleen Harrison. It is sometimes known as ''Now Barabbas Was a Robber''. It was based on a 1947 play of the same title by ...

'' (1949) * '' Golden Arrow'' (1949) *''

Midnight Episode ''Midnight Episode'' is a 1950 British thriller mystery film directed by Gordon Parry. It is based on the novel ''Monsieur La Souris'' written by Georges Simenon in the year 1938, and adapted for screen by Rita Barisse. It featured Stanley Ho ...

'' (1950) *''

Tom Brown's Schooldays ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

'' (1951) *''

Twilight Women ''Women of Twilight'' is a 1951 play by Sylvia Rayman that became a 1952 film directed by Gordon Parry. The latter stars Freda Jackson, Rene Ray and Lois Maxwell, with a screenplay by Anatole de Grunwald. It was the first British film to receiv ...

'' (1952) *''

Innocents in Paris ''Innocents in Paris'' is a 1953 British-French international co-production comedy film produced by Romulus Films, directed by Gordon Parry and starring Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Claire Bloom, Margaret Rutherford, Claude Dauphin, and Jimmy ...

'' (1953) * ''

Front Page Story ''Front Page Story'' is a 1954 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Allan and Eva Bartok. It was shot in black-and-white at Shepperton Studios with some location shooting in London. The film's sets we ...

'' (1954) * '' Fast and Loose'' (1954) *'' A Yank in Ermine'' (1955) * '' Sailor Beware!'' (1956) *'' A Touch of the Sun'' (1956) * ''

The Surgeon's Knife ''The Surgeon's Knife'' is a 1957 British crime film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Donald Houston, Adrienne Corri and Lyndon Brook. It is an adaptation of the 1940 novel '' The Wicked Flee'' by Anne Hocking. Synopsis When his patient ...

'' (1957) * ''

Tread Softly Stranger ''Tread Softly Stranger'' is a 1958 British crime drama directed by Gordon Parry and starring Diana Dors, George Baker and Terence Morgan. The film was shot in black-and-white in film noir style, and its setting in an industrial town in norther ...

'' (1958) *''

Friends and Neighbours ''Friends and Neighbours'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Arthur Askey, Megs Jenkins and Peter Illing. Plot At the height of the Cold War, a working-class British family have to entertain two visitors from R ...

'' (1959) *''

The Navy Lark ''The Navy Lark'' is a radio sitcom about life aboard a United Kingdom, British Royal Navy Frigate#Modern Age, frigate named HMS ''Troutbridge'' (a play on HMS Troubridge (R00), HMS ''Troubridge'', a Royal Navy destroyer) based in HMNB Portsm ...

'' (1959) *''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de H ...

'' (1960) (TV series)

References

External links

* 1908 births 1981 deaths British film directors British film producers People from Aintree Film people from Liverpool {{UK-film-director-stub