John Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015) was a French-British film director, writer and producer who was most active in big-budget, action-adventure films throughout his lengthy career. His more well-known films include ''

I Was Monty's Double ''I Was Monty's Double'' (released in the US as ''The Counterfeit General Montgomery''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure ''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'' is a 1959 Eastmancolor adventure film directed by John Guillermin, produced by Sy Weintraub and Harvey Hayutin, and written by Les Crutchfield, based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. With a stro ...

'' (1959), ''

Never Let Go ''Never Let Go'' is a 1960 British thriller film starring Richard Todd, Peter Sellers and Elizabeth Sellars. It concerns a man's attempt to recover his stolen Ford Anglia car. Sellers plays a London villain, in one of his rare serious roles. P ...

'' (1960), ''

Tarzan Goes to India ''Tarzan Goes to India'' (1962) is the first film featuring Jock Mahoney as Tarzan. It was written by Robert Hardy Andrews and directed by John Guillermin, who also directed '' Tarzan's Greatest Adventure''. The film also stars Indian Bollywood ...

'' (1962), '' Waltz of the Toreadors'' (1962), ''

The Blue Max ''The Blue Max'' is a 1966 British war film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Karl Michael Vogler, and Jeremy Kemp. The film was made in DeLuxe Color and filmed in CinemaScope. The plot i ...

'' (1966), ''

The Bridge at Remagen ''The Bridge at Remagen'' is a 1969 DeLuxe Color war film in Panavision starring George Segal, Ben Gazzara and Robert Vaughn. The film, which was directed by John Guillermin, was shot in Czechoslovakia. It is based on the nonfiction book ''The ...

'' (1969), ''

The Towering Inferno ''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The Towe ...

'' (1974), ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'' (1976), ''

Death on the Nile ''Death on the Nile'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at se ...

'' (1978), '' Sheena'' (1984) and ''

King Kong Lives ''King Kong Lives'' (released as ''King Kong 2'' in some countries) is a 1986 American monster adventure film directed by John Guillermin. Produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group and featuring special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, the film sta ...

'' (1986). In the 1980s, he worked on much less prestigious projects, and his final films consisted of lower-budgeted theatrical releases and TV movies. According to one obituary, "Regardless of whether he was directing a light comedy, war epic or crime drama, Mr. Guillermin had a reputation as an intense, temperamental perfectionist, notorious for screaming at cast and crew alike. His domineering manner often alienated producers and actors...But Mr. Guillermin's impeccable eye and ability to capture both intimate moments and large-scale action scenes usually overcame that reputation."

Early life

Guillermin was born Yvon Jean Guillermin in London on 11 November 1925. His parents, Joseph and Geneviève, were French. Joseph Guillermin worked in the perfume industry. "I have a British passport but actually I'm a bloody

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

," said Guillermin. Yvon Jean Guillermin grew up in Purley, Surrey ("one of those towns you drive through and never stop at on your way to the coast"), where he attended St Anne's School for Boys. Later he studied at St John's Secondary School For Boys, then for three years at the City of London School. He joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

in 1942 at the age of 17, lying about his age. This involved studying for six months at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

; when he was 18, he became a British citizen. He also studied flying at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona. "The war basically saved me," he said later. "It got me away from my mother." He wanted to be a director since he had seen ''Treasure Island'' at the cinema when he was seven. After mustering out of the Royal Air Force at the age of 22, Guillermin's directorial career began in France with documentary filmmaking, some of which was for the perfume company his father worked for. According to a critical review of Guillermin's work, "One of his stylistic constants, an expert use of handheld camera to add grit and muscle to key scenes, may be rooted in those early efforts, and they function as counterweights to Guillermin's penchant for forceful lines, a very plastic sense of interior spaces, and use of overhead shots...Guillermin's interest in conveying how people and spaces relate to one another and how decisions are reached and carried out suggests a spark to his filmmaking that one might call Griersonian even if the grandfather of British documentary focused on social development and progress as opposed to collapse."

British films

Robert Jordan Hill

In 1948, he moved back to London. With

Robert Jordan Hill Robert Jordan Hill was a British director, writer, editor and producer of films. He had a partnership with John Guillermin for a time. Filmography References External links Robert Jordan Hillat IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Intern ...

he set up a small production company, Advent Films. Together they made ''

Bless 'Em All "Bless 'Em All", also known as "The Long and the Short and the Tall" and "Fuck 'Em All", is a war song. The words have been credited to Fred Godfrey in 1917 set to music composed by Robert Kewley, however, early versions of the song may have ex ...

'' (1948) which Guillermin helped produce; it was directed by Hill and featured

Max Bygraves Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ...

in his film debut. Guillermin and Hill then wrote and produced two films starring the cockney character actor Ben Wrigley: '' Melody in the Dark'' (1949), directed by Hill, and '' High Jinks in Society'' (1949), directed by Hill and Guillermin. Both films were distributed by Adelphi Pictures for whom Guillermin would write and direct '' Torment'' (1950), a thriller. He went to Hollywood in 1950 to study film-making methods.

Vandyke Productions

Guillermin made several movies for the low-budget Vandyke Productions, a company run by Roger and Nigel Proudlock. Two were based on scripts by

Alec Coppel Alec Coppel (17 September 1907 – 22 January 1972) was an Australian-born screenwriter, novelist and playwright. He spent the majority of his career in London and Hollywood, specialising in light thrillers, mysteries and sex comedies. He is best ...

, '' Smart Alec'' (1951), a thriller starring Peter Reynolds, and '' Two on the Tiles'' (1951), a comedy. Also for Vandyke Guillermin directed '' Four Days'' (1951), a thriller with Reynolds, and ''

Song of Paris ''Song of Paris'' is a 1952 British comedy film directed by John Guillermin and starring Dennis Price, Anne Vernon and Hermione Baddeley. It was shot at Walton Studios outside London. It was distributed in the United States by Lippert Pictures ...

'' (1952), a comedy with Denis Price. Guillermin received an offer from the short-lived

Group 3 Films Group 3 Films was a short lived British film production company that operated from 1951 to 1955. Background It was set up by the NFFC to help finance movies from newer filmmakers. Its films were to be distributed by ABFD and mostly financed by ...

to make ''

Miss Robin Hood ''Miss Robin Hood'' is a 1952 British comedy film directed by John Guillermin, and starring Margaret Rutherford and Richard Hearne. Other actors involved include Dora Bryan, James Robertson Justice, Peter Jones, Sid James, Reg Varney, Kenneth ...

'' (1952), a comedy starring Margaret Rutherford. Back at Vandyke, he codirected ''

Strange Stories ''Strange Stories'' was a pulp magazine which ran for thirteen issues from 1939 to 1941. It was edited by Mort Weisinger, who was not credited. Contributors included Robert Bloch, Eric Frank Russell, C. L. Moore, August Derleth, and ...

'' (1953) with

Don Chaffey Donald Chaffey (5 August 1917 – 13 November 1990) was a British film director, writer, producer, and art director. Chaffey's film career began as an art director in 1947, and his directorial debut was in 1953. He remained active in the indu ...

. He made episodes of the TV series '' Your Favorite Story'' (1953). Guillermin went to another low-budget outfit, Nettleford, to direct the thriller '' Operation Diplomat'' (1953) with Guy Rolfe. This was described as "the first example of prime Guillermin...a 70-minute programmer so tautly directed that every image counts, every detail matters, every actor's movement feels perfectly timed—a true gem." It was followed by ''

Adventure in the Hopfields ''Adventure in the Hopfields'' is a 1954 British children's film directed by John Guillermin and starring Mandy Miller. It was made for the Children's Film Foundation. Location filming took place in and around Goudhurst in Kent. Plot After ...

'' (1954), made for Vandyke by the

Children's Film Foundation The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) was a non-profit organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom originally to be shown as part of childrens' Saturday morning matinée cinema programming. The films typically were about 55 ...

, starring

Mandy Miller Mandy Miller (born Carmen Isabella Miller, 23 July 1944) is an English child actress who made a number of films in the 1950s and is probably best remembered for her recording of the 1956 song "Nellie the Elephant". Early life and career She was ...

. He also did ''

The Crowded Day ''The Crowded Day'' is a 1954 British comedy drama film directed by John Guillermin and starring John Gregson, Joan Rice, Cyril Raymond and Josephine Griffin. The film follows a group of shopgirls working in Bunting and Hobbs, a London departm ...

'' (1954), a shop girl melodrama with John Gregson, which was an attempt by Adelphi to enter bigger budgeted filmmaking.The Crowded Day/Song of Paris, Johnston, Trevor. ''Sight and Sound''; London Vol. 21, Iss. 4, (Apr 2011): 85. The market for British B films was growing tighter due to competition from television; Guillermin directed episodes of shows such as ''

The Adventures of Aggie ''The Adventures of Aggie'' is a black-and-white sitcom starring Joan Shawlee that was made by ME Films and broadcast on ITV.Sailor of Fortune ''Sailor of Fortune'' is a 1955 British-Canadian TV series starring Lorne Greene. There were 26, 25 minute episodes film for this television series. Several episodes were directed by John Guillermin. It was filmed at New Elstree Studios and Net ...

'' (1957–58). According to the BFI, "it was a modest beginning but he soon hit his stride with a string of films that transcended their meagre budgets to reveal a genuine talent."

Maxwell Setton

Guillermin returned to features with ''

Thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

'' (1956), shot in Spain for British Lion starring Carlos Thompson. Two of the (uncredited) producers were Maxwell Setton and

Mike Frankovich 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, Kathryn ...

. Setton hired Guillermin for what would be his breakthrough movie: ''

Town on Trial ''Town on Trial'' is a 1957 British mystery film directed by John Guillermin and starring John Mills, Charles Coburn, Barbara Bates and Derek Farr. A whole town comes under suspicion when two grisly murders are carried out—particularly membe ...

'' (1957), starring John Mills as a detective investigating a small-town murder. Maureen Connell had a small role; she would soon marry Guillermin. According to the BFI, "Detractors have too often accused Guillermin of being merely a journeyman, lacking any real style of his own. The defence would do worse than to offer ''Town on Trial'' as its Exhibit A, drawing particular attention to its breathtaking PoV shot of the killer stalking a second victim that anticipates the camera gymnastics of

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and critic. His influential work in the horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ''giallo'', has led him ...

." Following this, Guillermin announced he would make ''Insurrection'' about the 1916 Easter Rising for

Carl Foreman Carl Foreman, CBE (July 23, 1914 – June 26, 1984) was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' and ''High Noon'', among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were black ...

based on a story by

Liam O'Flaherty Liam O'Flaherty ( ; 28 August 1896 – 7 September 1984) was an Irish novelist and short-story writer, and one of the foremost socialist writers in the first part of the 20th century, writing about the common people's experience and from their ...

. Instead Guillermin made another movie with Mills and Setton, ''

I Was Monty's Double ''I Was Monty's Double'' (released in the US as ''The Counterfeit General Montgomery''Operation Copperhead with

M. E. Clifton James Meyrick Edward Clifton James (April 1898 – 8 May 1963) was an actor and soldier, with a resemblance to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. That was used by British intelligence as part of a deception campaign during the Second World War. Ear ...

playing himself; it was made for Associated British. In between the two, Guillermin directed '' The Whole Truth'' (1958), a thriller produced by

Jack Clayton Jack Isaac Clayton (1 March 1921 – 26 February 1995) was a British film director and producer who specialised in bringing literary works to the screen. Overview Starting out as a teenage studio "tea boy" in 1935, Clayton worked his way up ...

with

Stewart Granger Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

and Donna Reed; it was distributed by Columbia.

MGM and Independent Artists

Guillermin was hired by producer Sy Weintraub to help re-invigorate the Tarzan series. The result was ''

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure ''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'' is a 1959 Eastmancolor adventure film directed by John Guillermin, produced by Sy Weintraub and Harvey Hayutin, and written by Les Crutchfield, based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. With a stro ...

'' (1959), now regarded as one of the best Tarzan movies. One writer called it "the most relentless and brutal Tarzan film ever made - it's Guillermin's ''

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The no ...

''". It was followed by a heist film with

Aldo Ray Aldo Ray (born Aldo Da Re; September 25, 1926 – March 27, 1991) was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for Columbia Studios before achieving stardom through his roles in ''The Marrying Kind, ...

and Peter O'Toole, '' The Day They Robbed the Bank of England'' (1960), also made for MGM. Guillermin was hired by Independent Artists to make the crime thriller ''

'' (1960) with

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...

and Peter Sellers; Guillermin also wrote the story. For the same company, Guillermin made '' Waltz of the Toreadors'' (1962), based on a

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ''Antigone'', an a ...

play, which reunited him with Sellers. The latter was particularly successful at the box office. In between the two movies, Guillermin directed ''

'' (1962), another popular Tarzan movie.

20th Century Fox

Guns at Batasi ''Guns at Batasi'' is a 1964 British drama film starring Richard Attenborough, Jack Hawkins, Flora Robson, John Leyton and Mia Farrow. The film is based on the 1962 novel ''The Siege of Battersea'' by Robert Holles and was directed by John Guil ...

'' (1964) was an adventure-drama set in the last days of British colonialism. It was meant to be made by the Boulting Brothers, but they dropped out, and Guillermin took over. The film, starring

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 Televisi ...

, was released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American 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 of Walt Disn ...

, whose head of production Darryl F. Zanuck became a fan of Guillermin and signed him for two more films. These were ''

Rapture The rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an Eschatology, end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurre ...

'' (1965), shot in France with Melvyn Douglas, and ''

'' (1966), an expensive aerial epic starring

George Peppard George Peppard (; October 1, 1928 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor. He is best remembered for his role as struggling writer Paul Varjak in the 1961 film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', and for playing commando leader Col. John "Hannibal ...

and James Mason. Peppard said working with Guillermin was "the most exciting, creative experience I've ever had." Zanuck was a mentor to Guillermin. "If he'd said he'd wanted a picture on a lab technician in the Sahara, I'd have done it eagerly", said Guillermin. The film was a huge commercial success.

Hollywood career

Guillermin received an offer to work in Hollywood, reuniting him with Peppard: '' P.J.'' (1968) (formerly known as ''Criss Cross''), a detective movie for Universal. It was followed by another with Peppard, ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...

'' (1968). Neither were that popular. ''

'' (1969) was a movie set in the Second World War, shot in Czechoslovakia and produced by David Wolper. It was a difficult shoot, complicated by the 1968 Soviet invasion. '' El Condor'' (1970) was a Western shot in Spain with Jim Brown. Guillermin returned to MGM with '' Skyjacked'' (1972), a popular thriller with Charlton Heston. For the same studio, he made '' Shaft in Africa'' (1973).

Blockbusters

He had a big hit with ''

'' (1974) for producer

Irwin Allen Irwin Allen (born Irwin O. Cohen, June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991) was an American film and television producer and director, known for his work in science fiction, then later as the "Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genr ...

. Allen got most of the critical kudos which annoyed the director. "I wanted to fight it because dammit I made that picture," said Guillermin. "But I let the studio talk me out of it.They said it would only hurt business. But I was wrong. I should have fought." He was meant to make ''Hennessy'' but was replaced by Don Sharp.

''King Kong''

He was meant to direct '' Midway'' (1976) but was replaced by

Jack Smight John Ronald Smight (March 9, 1925 – September 1, 2003) was an American theatre and film director. His film credits include ''Harper'' (1966), '' No Way to Treat a Lady'' (1968), '' Airport 1975'' (1974), '' Midway'' (1976), and '' Fast Break ...

. His next job came from

Dino De Laurentis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...

who was looking for a director for his remake of ''

'' (1976). He had been turned down by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Forman ...

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...

and

Sydney Pollack Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 20 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 movies or shows and produced over 44 films. For his film '' Out ...

before going with Guillermin. "To me John Guillermin is a talent guy," said De Laurentis. "He is a strange character, but this don't mean anything to me. All directors are strange characters. Bergman is a strange character, Fellini is a strange character - all directors. He was very open to special effects. And then, he believe in the story; he believe in the love story. And if he believes in it, it works. Because John Guillermin believes in this fantastically human love story...Every director at one point jump from one category to another category. No director can be genius from first movie. You must give a chance when people are talented. And I recognize in John some quality. And he did it with KONG. He surprised you, surprised all critics." "The original 'Kong' was part of my childhood and I loved it," said Guillermin. "I dreamed about it. What I wanted to do was to re-create what I'd felt about it the first time I saw it, but still adapt the story to our own day. I didn't think and still don't that you could simply remake it...We all wanted and tried to get back to that lyrical childhood idea of the beauty and the beast. It was tricky trying to balance all the jokes on the one hand and the danger of bathos on the other, but I wanted it to be obvious that we regarded the material with sincerity." ''King Kong'' stars Jeff Bridges who recalled "so many problems" on the film. "Every week or so John Guillermin would just explode, yelling at everybody. It got to the point where we waited for his blow ups." Writer

Lorenzo Semple Jr Lorenzo Elliott Semple III (March 27, 1923March 28, 2014) was an American screenwriter and sometime playwright, best known for his work on the campy television series '' Batman'', who also received writing credit on the political/espionage film ...

said there was "a creative tension" between Guillermin and De Laurentiis which "helped us all". Guillermin said in a 1976 interview "I've been directing all over the bloody world for 27 years, learning my craft, and by now it's dripping from my fingers. I was ready for ''Kong'' and it was a lovely opportunity. It could've been better if we'd had more time. Still I'm damned proud. It works. It ain't bad." "I'm tired of being anonymous," he said around this time. "I admit I've been antagonistic towards the press and publicity. You must admit directors were not taking seriously for a long time." He added that "I've outlived most of my contemporaries who are either destitute or gone on to other things. I may have been anonymous but I've been working with quiet satisfaction and I've made a lot of money. My price per film now is one million dollars plus ten percent of the gross."‘King Kong’ directed by a cloaked ‘Frog’ by Ian Brodie 23 Dec. 1976, ;;The Daily Telegraph;; (London, England) He received an offer to direct the all-star film ''

'' (1978) for

EMI Films EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief conne ...

shot in Egypt. "In Britain they seem to have run out of things to film," he said. "Over here there's an extraordinary freedom to take on an enormous variety of subjects." "Guillermin was not very nice to me," said

Lois Chiles Lois Cleveland Chiles (born April 15, 1947)Profile
entertainment.msn.com; accessed April 9, 2016. ...

, who had a small role in the film. "On my very first day when I questioned a direction I didn't understand, he stood there swearing at me. It was awful." In the late 1970s, Guillermin was attached to make ''

The Godfather Part III ''The Godfather Part III'' is a 1990 American crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegn ...

'' and worked on a script with Dean Reisner and

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author, screenwriter, and journalist. He is known for his crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably '' The Godfather'' (1969), whi ...

. He made the Canadian horror film '' Mr. Patman'' (1980). After this, he was briefly connected to a movie of ''Tai Pan'' to star

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

Later career

He was replaced on ''Sahara'' (1983) by Andrew McLaglen. There were two attempts to repeat the success of ''King Kong'': '' Sheena'' (1984) and ''

'' (1986). ''Sheena'' starred

Tanya Roberts Tanya Roberts (born Victoria Leigh Blum; October 15, 1949 – January 4, 2021) was an American actress. She played Julie Rogers in the final season of the television series ''Charlie's Angels'' (1980–1981), Stacey Sutton in the James Bond fi ...

who recalled: "John screams until you get it right. He shouted at me to be 'honest’, and he wouldn't let up until I was. I'd be upset, but I worked harder until he was satisfied. He did his research, and he got sustained performances out of all of us.” Her co-star Ted Wass said Gullermin was "a tough cookie and uncompromising in his vision. He either says 'That's a pile of crap and it won't be in my picture' or he goes for it. I think John...takes fantastic stories and then grounds them in a reality he finds a lot of time in the geographic locations." Guillermin's son Michael-John died in a car accident during the making of ''Sheena''. Guillermin was still grieving while making ''King Kong Lives''. He occasionally left the set halfway through a day's shooting to go sailing. After one argument with the production staff, he stayed away for days. Filming was completed by uncredited, 21-year-old documentary film-maker Charles McCracken. Guillermin's last film was ''The Tracker'' (1988), a TV western starring

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...

. For TV, he was one of the directors on '' La Révolution française: Les Années lumière'' (1989).

Personality

'' (1957) showed his early craftsmanship, with Guillermin managing to obtain a menacing performance from the usually benign

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 ...

. Guillermin in time became known more as a general entertainment director than as an auteur director, and in his later career as a director for films with big budgets and spectacular effects. He also became known as a pipe-smoking exacting perfectionist, filming and refilming scenes to get exactly what he wanted. Unusual camera angles and hand-held camera shots were among his preferred options. Memoirs of actors, editors and producers indicate that Guillermin was a difficult man to work with. He is described in Norma Barzman's book where he is mentioned in connection with the shooting of ''

'' (1966) as having a "cold, stiff-lipped manner." Elmo Williams, producer of ''The Blue Max'', described Guillermin as a "demanding director, indifferent to people getting hurt as long as he got realistic action...he was a hard-working, overly critical man whom the crew disliked. However, Guillermin was a master at camera setup." Producer David L. Wolper wrote that Guillermin was "the most difficult director with whom I'd ever worked." Wolper further described Guillermin as "a real pain in the ass." Guillermin was directing Wolper's ''

'' (1969). When some members of the Czech crew were late for the first day of filming in 1968, Guillermin screamed at them. He was told by a crew member if he did this again, the entire crew would walk off the set. Guillermin later told Wolper he could not set foot on the set one day because of the complexity of the filming. Wolper told Guillermin he was therefore sacked. Guillermin apologised and was re-employed immediately. Ralph E. Winters was employed as editor for ''

'' (1976) after a nice conversation with Guillermin. Winters described the director as "A skinny guy, dark, with very sharp features." In the screening room, Winters witnessed a frustrated Guillermin kicking the seat in front until it broke; Winters got an apologetic phone call the next day. Twenty-three years after the film was released, Guillermin called to compliment him on his work on ''King Kong''.

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten ...

described Guillermin as an "imaginative and skillful director" with an "irascible streak." Before filming started on '' Midway'' (1976), producer

Walter Mirisch Walter Mortimer Mirisch (born November 8, 1921) is an American film producer. He is president and executive head of production of The Mirisch Corporation, an independent film production company, which he formed in 1957 with his brother Marvin ...

replaced Guillermin with

after Guillermin requested more time and equipment, particularly aeroplanes, than the budget allowed. Guillermin was also replaced as director on ''

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

'' (1983) by

Andrew V. McLaglen Andrew Victor McLaglen (July 28, 1920 – August 30, 2014) was a British-born American film and television director, known for Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart. According to one obituary "His career ...

. Novelist

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth United States Poet Laureate in 1966. He also received the Order of the South award. Dickey is best known for his n ...

, who worked with him on the unfilmed ''Alnilam'' project in 1989, wrote that Guillermin was "one of those megalomaniacal directors who have to be given the gates of Heaven before they consider doing a project." His work was re-appraised in ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...

''.

Why has Guillermin's career gone unrecognized? Easy: bad timing. Guillermin hit his stride at the end of the Fifties, just as a post-studio system style of filmmaking was arising with the French New Wave, Britain's Free Cinema, and so on. For the admirers of these idioms, Guillermin's meticulously executed and unapologetically classical works, such as ''The Blue Max'' (1966) or ''The Bridge at Remagen'' (1969), were anathema. The only Guillermin film that was somewhat in synch with the fashion of the day is ''Never Let Go'' (1960), an excursion into England's underworld that functions as a perfectly constructed parable about the new middle class's fear of falling—a kitchen-sink noir. The problem wasn't so much the disdain of new wave hipsters, as it was one of the director's attitude. Guillermin is something of a melancholic: In his coolly unflinching cinema, tired, traumatized men in desperate situations fight with dour determination for a few shreds of dignity. There's nothing conventionally uplifting about his films; his tales of violence, grimy glory, and defeat conceded with stoicism, don't make for easy viewing experiences. At their finest, Guillermin's films are howls from the soul's darker recesses—theirs is a savage heart.

"You know, there's really nothing like an exciting film on a big screen," he said in a 1990 interview. "Hopefully, I've made a few in my career."

Personal life and death

On 20 July 1956, Guillermin married actress and author

Maureen Connell Maureen Connell (born 2 August 1931) is a British actress. Personal life On 20 July 1956, Connell married British film director, writer and producer John Guillermin. They resided in the Los Angeles area beginning 1968. They had two children, ...

. They had two children, Michelle and Michael-John, the latter of whom died in 1984 in a car accident in Truckee, California. They resided in the Los Angeles area beginning 1968. His second wife was Mary Guillermin, a

family therapist Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relationsh ...

and artist. On 27 September 2015, Guillermin died in Topanga, California, from a heart attack. He was 89. Guillermin attributed much of his famed bad temper to depression.

Award

Evening Standard British Film Award The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by London's ''Evening Standard'' newspaper. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony ...

1980, for ''Death on the Nile''.Evening Standard British Film Awards 1980
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Filmography

Films

Director

Other roles

Television director

References

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

''
Obituary
at ''Washington Post''

at ''Los Angeles Times'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Guillermin, John 1925 births 2015 deaths English people of French descent English film producers Film directors from London Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century English businesspeople