David MacDonald (Director)

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David MacDonald (born May 9, 1904 in Helensburgh , Scotland , † June 22, 1983 in London , England ) was a British film director , screenwriter and film producer .

life and career

MacDonald worked in a managerial position on a rubber plantation in British Malaya before moving to the USA in 1929 , where he was employed by Cecil B. DeMille as a production assistant. Together with this he went in 1932 to the production company Paramount Pictures ; In 1936 MacDonald embarked for England, where he began his career as a director, initially for the British Paramount films, which were necessary due to the production regulations. He celebrated his first success with comedic thrillers with Barry K. Barnes as the leading actor. During the Second World War, as a member of the British Film Army Unit, he made documentaries about war such as Desert Victory and Men of the Lightship , which are now considered classics of the genre.

After the war, films such as The Brothers (1947, based on their own script) and Christopher Columbus (1949) were made a spectacular failure. Later he turned mainly commercially oriented films and also television series such as The Vise (1954-55) and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1956), which he also produced. His often claustrophobic thrillers of the post-war years received particular praise .

Filmography (selection)

Film director

  • 1937: The Last Curtain
  • 1940: Men of the Lightship (documentary)
  • 1947: The Brothers
  • 1948: Dance into the Abyss (Good-Time Girl)
  • 1949: The Sinful Poet (The Bad Lord Byron)
  • 1949: Christoph Columbus (Christopher Columbus)
  • 1949: Men, Girls, Diamonds (Diamond City)
  • 1950: Warning! Cairo ... Opium Smugglers (Cairo Road)
  • 1951: Devils of the Desert (The Adventurers)
  • 1954: Devil Girl from Mars
  • 1958: The Avenger in the Purple Coat (The Moonraker)

Screenwriter (selection)

  • 1947: The Brothers
  • 1955: Operation Malaya

Film producer (selection)

  • 1943: Desert Victory
  • 1946: Burma Victory
  • 1956: ITV Television Playhouse (3 episodes)
  • 1956: The Scarlet Pimpernel (6 episodes)
  • 1957: Overseas Press Club - Exclusive! (13 episodes)
  • 1959: The Flying Doctor (39 episodes)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David MacDonald in: Helensburgh-heritage
personal data
SURNAME MacDonald, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British film director, screenwriter and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH May 9, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Helensburgh , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH June 22, 1983
Place of death London , England