John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

s who became known for their series of satirical comedies in the 1950s and 1960s. They produced many of their films through their own production company, Charter Film Productions, which they founded in 1937.

Early life

The twin brothers were born to Arthur Boulting and his wife Rosetta (Rose) ''née'' Bennett in Bray,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, England, on 21 December 1913. John was the elder by half an hour. John was named Joseph Edward John Boulting and Roy was named Alfred Fitzroy Clarence Boulting. Their elder brother Sydney Boulting became an actor and stage producer as

Peter Cotes Peter Cotes (19 March 1912 – 10 November 1998) was an English director, producer, actor, writer and production manager. Cotes was born as Sydney Boulting in Maidenhead, Berkshire. His brothers John and Roy Boulting became noted film makers. H ...

; he was the original director of ''

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 ...

''. A younger brother, Guy, died aged eight. Both twins were educated at

Reading School Reading School is a grammar school for boys with Academy (English school), academy status in the England, English town of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thu ...

, where they formed a film society. They were extras in

Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on '' The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among ot ...

's 1931 film '' Tell England'' while still at school. As a teenager, Roy emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, working for a while as a shop assistant, but also writing dialoque for at least one Canadian film. He worked his passage home aboard a cattle freighter in about 1933, working first in film sales before moving into film production as assistant director on a 1936 comedy quickie ''Apron Fools''. The money he made on his passage home went to finance the brothers' first work, a short entitled ''Ripe Earth'' (1938), about the village of Thaxted,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, narrated by Leo Genn. From January-November 1937, John served on the Republican side in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

as an ambulance driver with the Spanish Medical Aid Committee (not, as sometimes reported, with the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed ...

), where — according to

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...

— he was nearly captured.

Careers

The brothers constituted a producer-director team. For most of their careers one produced while the other directed, but the product remained essentially a 'Boulting Brothers film'. They were socialists, as John demonstrated with the

, and wanted all film, including comedies, to reflect the real world.

Charter Film Productions

In 1937, they set up Charter Film Productions and made several short features, including ''The Landlady'' (1937) and ''Consider Your Verdict'' (1938), which attracted critical and commercial attention. They made

quota quickies Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a trade restriction on the quantity of goods imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * In ...

such as ''

Trunk Crime ''Trunk Crime'' is a 1939 British thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is part ...

'' (1939) and ''

Inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a co ...

'' (1939).

Feature films

Being eager to speak out against the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the brothers made their film, '' Pastor Hall'' (1940), a biopic of

Martin Niemöller Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (; 14 January 18926 March 1984) was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known for his opposition to the Nazi regime during the late 1930s and for his widely quoted 1946 poem " First they ...

, a German preacher who refused to kowtow to the Nazis. Roy directed and John produced. The film had to have its initial release delayed by the British Government, which was not yet ready to be openly critical of Nazism. Once released, the film was well received by the critics and the public. They followed up with '' Thunder Rock'' (1942) with

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Mourning Becomes El ...

, a passionate anti-isolationist allegory distinguished by imaginative cinematography and a theatrical but highly atmospheric lighthouse setting. It was financed by MGM.

Military service

In 1941, Roy joined the

Army Film Unit The Army Film and Photographic Unit was a subdivision of the British armed forces set up on 24 October 1941, to record military events in which the British and Commonwealth armies was engaged. During the war, almost 23 percent of all AFPU soldier ...

, where he was responsible for ''

Desert Victory ''Desert Victory'' is a 1943 film produced by the British Ministry of Information, documenting the Allies' North African campaign against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps. This documentary traces the struggle between General Erw ...

'', which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1944. He also worked on ''

Tunisian Victory ''Tunisian Victory'' is a 1944 United Kingdom, Anglo-United States, American propaganda film about the victories in the North Africa Campaign. The film follows both armies from the planning of Operation Torch and Operation Acrobat (the latter of ...

'' (1944) and ''

Burma Victory ''Burma Victory'' is a 1945 British documentary about the Burma Campaign during World War II. It was directed by Roy Boulting. The accompanying music is by Alan Rawsthorne. Production The film was a project of Louis Mountbatten. It was originally ...

'' (1945). John joined the RAF Film Unit, where he made '' Journey Together'' in 1945, a dramatised documentary about the training and combat experience of a bomber crew with

in the lead part.

Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wa ...

worked on the script.

Post-war films

After the war, the Boultings made the drama '' Fame Is the Spur'' (1947) with Redgrave. More successful at the box-office was '' Brighton Rock'' (1947), starring Attenborough as the gangster "Pinkie" from the novel by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

. Also well liked was '' The Guinea Pig'' (1948), starring Richard Attenborough as a young working-class boy sent to a public school. It was made for Pilgrim Pictures who the Boultings left shortly afterwards. The Boultings co-directed the thriller '' Seven Days to Noon'' (1950), which won an Oscar for Best Story. It led to a less popular sequel, ''

High Treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

'' (1951). John directed ''

The Magic Box ''The Magic Box'' is a 1951 British Technicolor biographical drama film directed by John Boulting. The film stars Robert Donat as William Friese-Greene, with numerous cameo appearances by performers such as Peter Ustinov and Laurence Ol ...

'' (1951), a biopic of William Friese-Greene and a film containing numerous cameo appearances. It was shown at the 1951

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

but on general release the following year proved a box office disappointment.

Hollywood-financed films

Roy received an offer to direct a World War Two naval film, ''

Sailor of the King ''Single-Handed'' is a 1953 British war film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Jeffrey Hunter, Michael Rennie and Wendy Hiller. It is based on the 1929 novel ''Brown on Resolution'' by C. S. Forester. Set largely in the Pacific, Hunter ...

'' (1953), starring

Jeffrey Hunter Jeffrey Hunter (born Henry Herman McKinnies Jr.; November 25, 1926 – May 27, 1969) was an American film and television actor and producer known for his roles in films such as ''The Searchers'' and ''King of Kings''. On television, Hunter ...

for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

. ''

Seagulls Over Sorrento ''Seagulls Over Sorrento'' is a 1954 British war drama film made by the Boulting brothers based on the play of the same name by Hugh Hastings. The film stars Gene Kelly and was one of three made by Kelly in Europe over an 18-month period t ...

'' (1954) was another war naval story financed by a Hollywood studio (in this case MGM) with an imported star ( Gene Kelly); it was not a big success. The brothers collaborated on a comedy, '' Josephine and Men'' (1955) then Roy was hired by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

to do an action film with Hollywood stars, '' Run for the Sun'' (1956).

Satires

In the mid-50s, the Boulting brothers became identified with "affectionate" satires on British institutions. The sequence began with John's '' Private's Progress'' (1956), a look at army life, starring Attenborough, Terry-Thomas and

Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ...

and co written by Frank Harvey. It was the second most commercially successful film in Britain in 1956. They followed it with ''

Lucky Jim ''Lucky Jim'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel and won the 1955 Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. The novel follows the exploits of the eponymous James (Jim) Dixon, a relucta ...

'' (1957), set in academia, adapted from the novel by

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social and ...

. It starred Carmichael and Terry-Thomas. '' Brothers in Law'' (1957) with Carmichael, Attenborough and Thomas, took on the legal profession. They had a break from satirising institutions with '' Happy Is the Bride'' (1958), an adaptation of '' Quiet Wedding'', then returned to it with '' Carlton-Browne of the F.O.'' (1959), focusing on diplomacy. The Boultings took on increasingly powerful trade unions and ever corrupt board room power with '' I'm All Right Jack'' (1959), a sequel to ''Private's Progress'' with Carmichael, Thomas and Attenborough reprising their roles, and Harvey co-writing. The film featured a performance by

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

as trade union foreman Fred Kite. It was the most popular film at the British box office in 1959. ''

Suspect In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated ...

'' (1960) was a return to the thriller genre for the brothers. ''

A French Mistress ''A French Mistress'' is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Cecil Parker, James Robertson Justice, Agnès Laurent, Ian Bannen, Raymond Huntley, Irene Handl and Thorley Walters. It is based on a stage play, '' ...

'' (1960) was a comedy farce. ''

Heavens Above! ''Heavens Above!'' is a 1963 British satirical comedy film starring Peter Sellers, directed by John and Roy Boulting, who also co-wrote along with Frank Harvey, from an idea by Malcolm Muggeridge. It is in a similar vein to the earlier collabor ...

'' (1963) looked at religion in Britain, starring Sellers and Carmichael. It was a minor hit. '' Rotten to the Core'' (1965) was a heist comedy which attempted to make a star of Anton Rodgers in a Peter Sellers-type role, playing multiple parts. It featured a young

Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress, known for her work in European arthouse films in English, French, and Italian. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role ...

Hayley Mills

The Boultings directed and produced the northern comedy '' The Family Way'' (1966), starring

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

and his teenage daughter Hayley. Roy Boulting and

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promisi ...

began a relationship during the shoot despite a 33-year age difference; they married in 1971. Roy wrote and directed '' Twisted Nerve'' (1968), a thriller starring Mills and

Hywel Bennett Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in '' The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' ( ...

. The brothers had a massive hit with ''

There's a Girl in My Soup '' There's a Girl in My Soup'' is a 1970 British romantic comedy film based on the stage play of the same name, directed by Roy Boulting and starring Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn. The film was Sellers' last commercial success until '' Retur ...

'' (1970) starring Sellers and

Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program '' Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and ...

. Roy was called in to replace the director on '' Mr. Forbush and the Penguins'' (1971), and he brought in Mills to star. The movie was not successful. Neither was the comedy '' Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' (1974) made by the brothers starring Peter Sellers. Roy Boulting lost a considerable amount of money on the film. In 1975, Roy was working on a stage play, ''The Family Games''. He worked on the script for '' The Kingfisher Caper'' (1975), starring Mills.

Later career

In the US, Roy directed '' The Last Word'' (1979), a comedy starring

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

that was barely seen. When John died of cancer in 1985, Roy stopped making films. His last credit was directing an episode of the ''

Miss Marple Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of ...

'' series for TV, '' The Moving Finger'' (1985). He was working on an adaptation of

's play ''Deja Vu'' when he died. When the National Film Theatre mounted its biggest retrospective to date of British cinema in the late 1980s, Roy who launched it, introduced ''Desert Victory''. The Boulting Brother's films have been described as being "a sensitive barometer of the changing times".

Personal lives

John Boulting was married four times. He had six children: two sons by his first marriage; three daughters by his second. He also had a third son. With his first wife, Veronica, daughter of Irish barrister, John Craig Nelson Davidson, he had sons Norris (b. 1941) and Nicholas (b. 1943). Norris is the father of TV presenter and journalist Ned Boulting. With his second wife, Jacqueline (Jackie), he had three daughters: Jody, Emma & Lucy; the last of whom, Lucy Boulting Hill, has become a successful casting director. John's grandson, Jordan Stephens (son of Emma), is one half of British hip hop duo

Rizzle Kicks Rizzle Kicks are a British hip hop duo from Brighton, England, consisting of Jordan "Rizzle" Stephens (born 25 January 1992) and Harley "Sylvester" Alexander-Sule (born 1991). Their debut album, '' Stereo Typical'', was released in 2011. As ...

. Roy Boulting was married five times. He had seven children, all sons: two by his second marriage; three by his third; one through his relationship with Victoria Vaughan; and one by his fourth. With his second wife, Jean Capon (née Gamage), he had sons Jonathan (b. 1944) and Laurence (b. 1945), the latter becoming a successful film producer and director in his own right. With his second marriage, in March 1951, to Enid Munnik (née Groenewald/Grünewald), he had three children: first, Fitzroy (b. 1951); then identical twins Edmund and Rupert (b. 1952). The couple divorced in 1964. Enid, an established fashion model and later fashion editor at the French magazine ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the ...

'', later married the 9th Earl of Hardwicke) in April 1970. The model and actress Ingrid Boulting is Enid's daughter from her first marriage, to Cornelius Munnik. Following his split with his third wife, Roy entered into a relationship with another fashion model, Victoria Vaughan. They had one son together. The relationship ended with his involvement with

. In 1971, Roy married, for the fourth time, Hayley Mills, 33 years his junior, whom he had met on the set of '' The Family Way''. Their son is musician and filmmaker Crispian Mills. The couple separated in 1975, and divorced in 1977. His fifth and final marriage, in October 1978, was to actress Sandra Payne. They divorced in 1984.

Deaths

John Boulting died on 17 June 1985 at his home in

Sunningdale Sunningdale is a large village with a retail area and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England. It has a railway station on the (London) Waterloo to Reading ...

, Berkshire, and Roy Boulting 16 years later on 5 November 2001 in the

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. History The initial proposals to build a hospital in Oxford were put forwa ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

; both died of cancer.

In popular culture

A still from '' The Family Way'' was used for

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to em ...

single " I Started Something I Couldn't Finish".

Filmography

Films directed jointly

*'' Seven Days to Noon'' (1950) *'' Suspect / The Risk'' (1960) *''

'' (1963)

Films directed by John

*'' Journey Together'' (1945) *'' Brighton Rock'' (1948) *''

'' (1951) *'' Private's Progress'' (1956) *''

'' (1957) *'' I'm All Right Jack'' (1959) *'' Rotten to the Core'' (1965)

Films directed by Roy

*''

'' (1939) *''

'' (1939) *'' Pastor Hall'' (1940) *'' Thunder Rock'' (1942) *''

'' (1944, documentary co-directed with

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

) *'' Fame is the Spur'' (1947) *'' The Guinea Pig / The Outsider'' (1948) *''

'' (1951) *'' Single-Handed / Sailor of the King'' (1953) *'' Seagulls Over Sorrento / Crest of the Wave'' (1954) *'' Josephine and Men'' (1955) *'' Run for the Sun'' (1956) *'' Brothers in Law'' (1957) *'' Happy Is the Bride'' (1958) *'' Carleton-Browne of the FO / Man in a Cocked Hat'' (1959) *''

'' (1960) *'' The Family Way'' (1966) *'' Twisted Nerve'' (1968) *''

'' (1970) *'' Mr. Forbush and the Penguins / Cry of the Penguins'' (1971) *'' Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' (1973) *''The Number / The Last Word'' (1979)

References

*Burton Alan, O'Sullivan Tim, Wells Paul; Eds. 2000. ''The Family Way: The Boulting Brothers and British Film Culture''. Trowbridge: Flicks Books.

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boulting, John And Ray British identical twins British people of the Spanish Civil War English anti-fascists English film directors English film producers English male screenwriters Sibling filmmakers People educated at Reading School People from Bray, Berkshire English twins 20th-century English screenwriters Best British Screenplay BAFTA Award winners 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English businesspeople