Sir John Woolf (15 March 1913, London – 28 June 1999, London) and his brother James Woolf (2 March 1920, London – 30 May 1966, Beverly Hills, California) were British film producers. John and James founded the production companies Romulus Films and Remus Films, which were active during the 1950s and 1960s,Tom Vallanc
"Obituary: Sir John Woolf"
''The Independent'', 1 July 1999 and the distribution company Independent Film Distributors (known as IFD), which was active 1950–59 and handled the UK distribution of films such as '' The African Queen'' and '' Gift Horse'', as well as several films made by their two production companies (such as '' Room at the Top'').

Biography

John and James Woolf were the sons of the British producer C. M. Woolf (1879–1942), who was co-producer with

Michael Balcon Sir Michael Elias Balcon (19 May 1896 – 17 October 1977) was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in west London from 1938 to 1956. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British film ...

of two early

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

films, '' Downhill'' (1927) and '' Easy Virtue'' (1928). Woolf senior was a major figure at

Gaumont British The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was a British company that produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of France's Gaumont. Film production Gaumont-British was fou ...

and established

General Film Distributors General Film Distributors (GFD), later known as J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors and Rank Film Distributors Ltd., was a British Empire, British film distribution company based in London. It was active between 1935 and 1996, and from 1937 it was p ...

in 1937. John and James were educated at Eton, while the older brother also attended Institut Montana, Switzerland."Sir John Woolf, 86, Producer Of 'African Queen' and 'Oliver'"
''New York Times'', 1 July 1999 John was the sales manager of General Film Distributors until it was taken over by the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

James worked for Columbia Pictures in the Hollywood publicity department. John Woolf served in World War II. In February 1943 the army refused to give him leave to take over GFD. Charles Woolf died in 1943 and John Wolf inherited half his father's holdings in GFD; the other half went to John's brother Maurice and sister Rosemary. He was demobilised in 1945 with the rank of major.

Romulus Films and Independent Film Distributors

When their father died in 1943, J. Arthur Rank became director of General Film Distributors. John returned from the Army as joint managing director. However, neither John or James enjoyed working for a large corporation. In 1948, they went to S.G. Warburg for financial backing for two new companies, Independent Film Distributors, and a production arm, Romulus Films. According to critic Ronald Bergan in his obituary of Sir John Woolf: "Their aims were ambitious: to produce artistically valuable and yet commercially viable films, whose subjects would be wider than the Little Englanderism of British pictures of the period, and featuring big stars." James Woolf's obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' stated that John "was the main financial brain and James primarily in charge of artistic policy.""Mr. J. Woolf." Times ondon, England1 June 1966: 14. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 12 July 2012. According to John Woolf, "Independent he distribution armstarted by putting up seventy per cent of the cost of a number of films, most of which weren't very successful. In fact I started off as badly as my father M Woolfhad with General Film Distributors." He said he had more success with films in which they produced directly as Romulus. Their first film was '' Shadow of the Eagle'' (1950), shot party in Italy, which was a box office flop.Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 102. This was followed by two co productions with Hollywood:L '' I'll Get You for This'' (1951) (or ''Lucky Nick Cain'') with George Raft and Coleen Gray, and '' Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'' (1951) with

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

and

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' att ...

. The latter was produced and directed by Albert Lewin who had begun to prepare the film for MGM, but James Woolf discovered on a Hollywood visit that the studio had cancelled the project because of Lewin's problems with the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

; Romulus stepped in to co finance. John Woolf recalled "''Pandora'' wasn’t all that successful, although it covered its costs eventually. It was a rather turgid film but we didn’t have much experience as film producers then... It was too long and I couldn’t get Lewin to agree to cut it, but in many ways it was a brilliant film." The film was one of the most popular films at the British box office 1951. Romulus' next three films were more British-based efforts: two thrillers, '' She Shall Have Murder'' (1950) and '' The Late Edwina Black'' (1951), and a comedy directed by

Henry Cornelius Henry Cornelius (born Owen Henry Cornelius 18 August 1913 – 2 May 1958) was a South African-born film director, film producer, producer, screenwriter and film editor. He directed five films between 1949 and 1958. Biography Born into a Ger ...

, '' The Galloping Major'' (1952). These did not perform particularly well commercially and resulted in the brothers deciding to concentrate on transatlantic projects.

John Huston

The Woolf brothers were approached by

Sam Spiegel Samuel P. Spiegel (November 11, 1901December 31, 1985) was an American independent film producer. Financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th century, Spiegel produced films that won the Academy ...

, looking for finance for '' The African Queen'' (1951), which was going to star Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, and be directed by John Huston.

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; ; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)

, an old friend of their father, advised against being involved: "Two old people going up and down an African river . . . who's going to be interested in that? You'll be bankrupt!". The brothers decided to cover below the line costs of £250,000. The movie was a large success critically and commercially (making $6 million on an estimated cost of $800,000), and established Romulus within the industry. The brothers wanted to make another film with Huston and suggested ''

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (Par ...

'' (1952) starring

Jose Ferrer Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean * Jose ben Halafta ...

. Made for a budget of over $1 million, it was another large hit at the box office. A third collaboration with the director, '' Beat the Devil'' (1953), was less successful - John Woolf called it a "disaster" on release although the film subsequently develped a cult reputation. A key figure on both behind the scenes was

Jack Clayton Jack Isaac Clayton (1 March 1921 – 26 February 1995) was an English film director and producer, known for his skill directing literary adaptations. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for his feature-length debut, Room a ...

, who became an important executive for Romulus. During this period, Romulus continued to finance other films such as the comedy '' Treasure Hunt'' (1952). The Woolfs formed a relationship with producer Daniel Angel which resulted in the social drama films '' Women of Twilight'' (1952), directed by Gordon Parry, and '' Cosh Boy'' (1952), directed by Lewis Gilbert. Angel recalled, "Jimmy Woolf had these two stories, we made the films with the idea of showing them in cinemas together on the one programme. They turned out better than we'd expected and we showed them separately." ''Women of Twilight'' featured Laurence Harvey who Romulus put under contract, due to the enthusiasm of James Woolf who became a great champion of the actor. Romulus then invested in the comedy '' Innocents in Paris'' (1953), directed by Parry, and the crime film, ''

The Good Die Young ''The Good Die Young'' is a 1954 British crime film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Joan Collins, Stanley Baker, Richard Basehart and John Ireland. It was made by Remus Films from a screenplay by ...

'' (1954), directed by Gilbert. Gilbert says James Woolf found the original book and insisted Laurence Harvey be cast; there were some American actors in the cast to appeal to American audiences. Romulus did two films based on stage plays: the courtroom drama '' Carrington V.C.'' (1955) starring

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

, and '' I Am a Camera'' (1955), directed by Cornelius from the stories of Christopher Isherwood, with Harvey in a key role. The latter was popular at the British box office. In January 1955 James Woolf announced:

Although there are a number of cases where pictures bring in large grosses in Europe and fail in America, the single common denominator for boxoffice success throughout the world seems to be the comedy feature. One of the main reasons our company embarked upon ‘I Am a Camera’ was the simple fact that we found an acute shortage of adult comedy films.

Alex Korda and ''Room at the Top''

In the mid '50s the Woolf brothers helped provide almost £1 million to help finance four films for Alex Korda: ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' (1955) from

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

, '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1955) from

Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for '' Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), '' The Third Man'' (1949), and '' Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded th ...

, '' Summertime'' (1955) from

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...

and ''

Storm Over the Nile ''Storm Over the Nile'' is a 1955 British adventure film adaptation of the 1902 novel '' The Four Feathers'', directed by Terence Young and Zoltan Korda. The film not only extensively used footage of the action scenes from the 1939 film ver ...

'' (1956) from Terence Young and

Zoltan Korda Zoltan Korda (May 3, 1895 – October 13, 1961) was a Hungary, Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, film director, director and film producer, producer. He made his first film in Hungary in 1918 and worked with his brother Alexander Korda ...

. All four were successful, ending Korda's career on a note of triumph prior to his death in 1956. The popularity of ''A Kid for Two Farthings'' led to Romulus financing a short, '' The Bespoke Overcoat'' (1956), which launched Jack Clayton's career as a director and won an Oscar for Best Short Film. Romulus made some more parochial comedies based on stage successes: '' Sailor Beware'' (1956) directed by Gordon Parry (a huge hit at the British box office), '' Dry Rot'' (1956) and ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

'' (1956), starring Harvey. It also financed ''

The Iron Petticoat ''The Iron Petticoat'' (also known as ''Not for Money'') is a 1956 British Cold War comedy film starring Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn, and directed by Ralph Thomas. The screenplay by Ben Hecht became the focus of a contentious history behind t ...

'' (1956), an attempt at a comedy with international appeal starring Katherine Hepburn and Bob Hope; this was a difficult production but was profitable at the box office. According to Sue Harper and Vince Porter:

Outwardly modest and shy, John Woolf generally made films from successful and well-received novels or plays. He and James both had a keen sense of what might be popular in both the British and the American markets. Their films have no recurrent theme, unless it be that of a determined individual, usually a man, who is at odds with his immediate milieu. Once he had bought the story rights, John normally packaged the screenplay with internationally recognized stars and an established director.

''Dry Rot'' featured the actress Heather Sears, who was put under contract to Romulus. The studio created a vehicle for her, '' The Story of Esther Costello'' (1957) co-starring Joan Crawford. Romulus financed three movies for producer Peter Rogers: '' After the Ball'' (1957) a biopic of

Vesta Tilley Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece (13May 186416September 1952) was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 19 ...

starring Harvey; ''

Time Lock A time lock (also timelock) is a part of a locking mechanism commonly found in bank vaults and other high-security containers. The time lock is a timer designed to prevent the opening of the safe or vault until it reaches the preset time, ev ...

'' (1957) from an Arthur Hailey TV play; and '' The Vicious Circle'' (1957) a thriller with John Mills. Other projects included '' The Silent Enemy'' (1958), a biopic of

Lionel Crabb Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy), Lieutenant-Commander Lionel Kenneth Phillip Crabb, (28 January 1909 – presumed dead 19 April 1956), known as Buster Crabb, was a Royal Navy frogman and diver who Missing person, vanished during a reconnaiss ...

starring Harvey, and '' The Whole Truth'' (1958) a thriller with Stewart Granger and Donna Reed. In December 1957 Romulus announced a program worth $5.6 million the following year including '' The Night Comers'' (ultimately never made) and ''Room at the Top''. John Woolf became interested in ''Room at the Top'' after seeing an interview conducted by

Woodrow Wyatt Woodrow Lyle Wyatt, Baron Wyatt of Weeford (4 July 1918 – 7 December 1997) was a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster, close to the Queen Mother, Margaret Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch. For the last twenty years of his life, he ...

with the novel's author John Braine on ''Panorama'' on 8 April 1957.Tony Aldgate "Room at the Top" in Brian McFarlane ''The Cinema of Britain And Ireland'', London: Wallflower Press, 2005, p.106 He bought a copy of the book the next day, and quickly purchased the film rights. There were two strong roles for actors under contract to Romulus, Laurence Harvey and Heather Sears, and the job of directing was given to Jack Clayton. The movie was an enormous critical and commercial success, Romulus' biggest since ''The African Queen''; it established Harvey as a bona fide film star and Jack Clayton as a key director. By the end of 1959, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary. It estimated it had invested $18 million in films, and had borrowed (and returned) $2.1 millon from the National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC). Romulus claimed it had earned $8.5 million in foreign currency and that its films had played for 40,000 weeks in British cinemas and won more than 20 international awards. Individually, John was instrumental in the formation of Anglia Television in 1958 and James wrote novels. In 1958 John Woolf was briefly on the board of British Lion but he resigned in a few months.

Clash with FIDO

In the early 1960s the Woolf brothers and Daniel Angel ran into trouble from the film distributors' Defence Organisation owing to their refusal to withhold the rights to their old cinema films from the sale to television. There was some talk that their new films would be boycotted by British cinemas, but that did not happen.

Death of James Woolf

During the early 1960s the brothers worked increasingly separately. James Woolf produced ''

Term of Trial Term may refer to: Language *Terminology, context-specific nouns or compound words **Technical term (or ''term of art''), used by specialists in a field ***Scientific terminology, used by scientists *Term (argumentation), part of an argument in d ...

'' (1962) for director Peter Grenville, which introduced Sarah Miles. He developed ''

The L-Shaped Room ''The L-Shaped Room'' is a 1962 British drama romance film written and directed by Bryan Forbes, based on the 1960 novel by Lynne Reid Banks. It tells the story of Jane Fosset, a young French woman, unmarried and pregnant, who moves into a che ...

'' (1963) for Jack Clayton but ended up making it with

Bryan Forbes Bryan Forbes Order of the British Empire, CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2 ...

. Romulus invested in two popular Peter Sellers comedies, '' The Wrong Arm of the Law'' (1963) and '' Heavens Above!'' (1963). James Woolf also produced '' The Pumpkin Eater'' (1964) with Anne Bancroft and Peter Finch for director Jack Clayon. Forbes and James Woolf reunited on '' Of Human Bondage'' (1964), starring Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey; Forbes briefly took over directing after Henry Hathaway quit. During the making of ''Of Human Bondage'', James went to hospital after an overdose of barbituates that was possibly a suicide attempt. James Woolf then went to Hollywood to produce '' King Rat'' (1965), directed by Forbes. Back in England he made '' Life at the Top'' (1965) a sequel to ''Room at the Top'', wih Harvey reprising his role. In 1964 John Woolf was part of a short lived attempt to take over British Lion. In May 1966 James Woolf was staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel when he failed to keep a dinner arrangement with director

Lewis Gilbert Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter who directed more than 40 films during six decades; among them such varied titles as '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956), '' Sink the Bismarck! ...

about making a film version of the musical ''Oliver!''. A hotel employee found him dead, sitting up in bed with an open book on his lap; the cause was reported to be a heart attack. He was 46 years old.

later claimed the heart attack was brought on by an accidental overdose of painkillers. Gilbert had to pull out of the ''Oliver!'' project shortly before filming began because of his Paramount contract. John Woolf remembered '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), which suggested to him that its director, Sir Carol Reed, had the requisite skills to work with children.

John Woolf

John continued his career as a producer. In 1968 he bought British and American Film Holdings from Minster Trust. That year he produced his first film on his own, ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

'', which film ended up winning the Oscar for Best Picture. Woolf bought the screen rights to the Frederick Forsysth novel ''The Day of the Jackal'' which was turned into a popular movie. Another Forsyth adaptation, ''

The Odessa File ''The Odessa File'' is a thriller by English writer Frederick Forsyth, first published in 1972, about the adventures of a young German reporter attempting to discover the location of a former SS concentration-camp commander. The name ODESSA ...

'', was not as popular and Romulus ceased making movies. John Woolf was knighted in 1975 and remained a director of Anglia Television until 1983. While there he produced episodes of '' Tales of the Unexpected''. In 1982 he joined Bernard Delfont and Max Rayne to form First Leisure Corporation, of which he was a director. He was also a trustee of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund. John Woolf retired in 1988.

Personal lives

James was gay and was rumoured to be a lover of

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to Union of South Africa, South Africa at an early age, before ...

. John Woolf was married three times. His first wife (m 1937) was Dorothy Vernon. His second wife was the actress Edana Romney. His third wife, Ann, was the daughter of director Victor Saville. She survived him. In 1999, the year of his death, John Woolf was estimated to be worth £40 million, through a combination of his films and shrewd investments. In the late 1940s the brothers' uncle, Maurice Woolf, left £130,000 to a showgirl, Prudence Wise. John Woolf challenged the will and settled out of court.

Romulus revival

Sir John Woolf's son, Jonathan Woolf, revived Romulus Films as of 1999, producing the film ''

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

'' (2001). In 2013, Romulus Films, Ltd. changed directions from film production to regenerative medicine, being involved in a $5 million stock and warrant purchase funding arrangement with BioTime Inc. In April 2021, Romulus signed a worldwide distribution deal with

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

(which was owned by

Vivendi Vivendi SE (stylized in all lowercase) is a French investment company headquartered in Paris. It currently wholly-owns Gameloft as well as a number of investments in several companies, primarily involved in content, entertainment, media, and t ...

Canal+ Group Canal+ S.A., formerly Groupe Canal+, is a French Media conglomerate, media and telecommunications Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Paris. It runs its own Canal+ (streaming service), eponymous Over-the-top media service, over-the-to ...

from 2021 to 2024 and is owned by Canal+ from 2024 onwards).

Appraisal

In 1971, film critic Alexander Walker wrote about James Woolf:

ewas a rarity in British films at the time, and would still be so if he was alive today: a man of taste and judgement who loved craftsmanship and supported a director instead of suffocating him or using him as a surrogate talent for the film he himself would have liked to direct had he dared... He was an obsessional filmmaker, loving the wheeling and dealing, relishing the juggling with human talents that it involved, and taking pleasure in spotting youthful proteges and promoting their careers, thereby gaining a vicarious satisfaction from their success that was lacking in his own basically lonely nature.

Filmmaker

concurred:

He was a midwife for talent and smacked many of us into life... He had a quick mind that panned and found the nuggets before other prospectors on the trail had even arrived at the mine... Jimmy was a shield, quite fearless when tackling the front offices. He knew everybody and he was rich enough in his own right not to have to depend on the largesse of others when it came to getting a project off the ground. He had taste: taste in actors, taste in subject matter... There was a sadness about him at times because he had demons to fight, and in the end he died alone.Bryan Forbes, ''A Divided Life'', Mandarin Paperbacks, 1993 p 285-86

Pauline Stone wrote "It was Jimmy Woolf more than any other single person who gave Larry his sense of style, who sharpened Larry’s instinctive recreation of a vanished elegance. At a time when other young actors were wearing jeans and t-shirts and riding about town on motor cycles, Jimmy taught Larry how to appreciate vintage wines and fine cigars, taught him the importance of good clothes and the joys of elegant motor cats." According to Stone, when James Woolf died, Harvey said "In his company, I was electrified and enkindled and driven. I shall feel utterly miserable and alone without him. No woman will ever fill that void, no woman will ever be able to give me the love that Jimmy gave to me. It was unselfish and real and utterly without strings. It completely transcended sex, and what woman is able to compete with that?’" Sue Harper and Vince Porter wrote:

John Woolf's success was based on an awareness that financial prosperity depended heavily on having the right distribution strategy, a readiness to take calculated risks in an era when public taste was changing fast, and an ability to produce subjects that he judged would be successful in both the British and the American markets. However, his readiness to indulge the creative whims of his brother James, including that of allowing James to cast Lawrence Harvey in many of their films, sometimes clouded his artistic and financial judgement.Harper & Porter p 173

In popular culture

In 2022, John Woolf was portrayed by Reece Shearsmith in the British-American film '' See How They Run''.

Selected filmography

* '' I'll Get You for This'' (1951) * '' Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'' (1951) * '' Galloping Major'' (1951) * '' The African Queen'' (1951) * '' The Late Edwina Black'' (1952) * '' Treasure Hunt'' (1952) * '' Women of Twilight'' (1952) * ''

'' (1952) * '' Cosh Boy'' (1953) * '' Innocents in Paris'' (1953) * '' Beat the Devil'' (1953) * ''

'' (1954) * '' Carrington V.C.'' (1955) * '' I Am a Camera'' (1955) * ''

'' (1955) * ''

'' (1955) * '' Sailor Beware'' (1956) * '' Dry Rot'' (1956) * '' The Bespoke Overcoat'' (1956) – short * ''

'' (1956) * ''

'' (1956) * '' After the Ball'' (1957) * '' The Story of Esther Costello'' (1957) * ''

'' (1957) * '' The Vicious Circle'' (1957) * '' The Silent Enemy'' (1958) * '' The Whole Truth'' (1958) * '' Room at the Top'' (1959) * ''

'' (1962) * ''

'' (1962) * '' The Wrong Arm of the Law'' (1963) * '' Heavens Above!'' (1963) * '' The Pumpkin Eater'' (1964) * '' Of Human Bondage'' (1964) * '' King Rat'' (1965) * '' Life at the Top'' (1965)

John Woolf only

* ''

'' (1968) – producer * '' The Day of the Jackal'' (1973) – producer * '' No Sex Please: We're British'' (1973) – executive producer * ''

'' (1974) – producer * '' Orson Welles' Great Mysteries'' (1974–77) (TV series) – executive producer * ''Alternative 3'' (1977) (TV movie) – executive producer * '' Joe and Mary'' (1977) (TV movie) – executive producer * '' Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected'' (1977–89) (TV series) – executive producer * ''Atom Spies'' (1979) (TV movie) – executive producer * '' Miss Morison's Ghosts'' (1981) (TV movie) – executive producer * ''The Kingfisher'' (1983) (TV movie) – executive producer