Alexander Mackendrick

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Alexander Mackendrick

#1 Post by Murdoch » Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:26 pm

Alexander Mackendrick (1912-1993)

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"Every bit of a film ought to be a necessary part of the whole effect."


Filmography

Director

1967 Don't Make Waves

1967 Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad (uncredited)

1965 A High Wind in Jamaica (R1 Fox DVD / R2 Eureka DVD)

1964 The Defenders (TV series)
– The Hidden Fury (1964)

1963 Sammy Going South (R2 Optimum DVD)

1961 The Guns of Navarone (uncredited) (R1 Sony DVD)

1959 The Devil's Disciple (uncredited)

1957 Sweet Smell of Success (Criterion blu-ray and DVD / R1,R2 MGM DVD)

1955 The Ladykillers (Studio Canal blu-ray / Ealing Studios blu-ray / available in R1 Lions Gate Alec Guinness box / R2 Warner DVD OOP)

1954 The Maggie (R2 Ealing Studios DVD / R2 Studio Canal RB blu-ray and R2 DVD)

1952 Mandy aka Crash of Silence (R2 Optimum DVD)

1951 The Man in the White Suit (R2 Ealing Studios DVD and RB blu-ray / R1 Anchor Bay OOP / available in R1 Lions Gate Alec Guinness box / available in R2 Optimum Alec Guinness - The Screen Icons Collection box)

1949 Whisky Galore (R2 Ealing Studios DVD / Optimum R2 DVD and RB blu-ray)

1945 Le Fosse Ardeatine (Massacre of the Fort Ardeatine)

1944 I Granai del Popolo (Grain of the People) co-directed with Peter Proud

1943 Nero (short)

1943 Contraries (short)

1942 Save Your Bacon (aka Kitchen Waste for Pigs) (short)


Forum Discussions

Sweet Smell of Success

Mandy


Internet Resoources

Senses of Cinema

BFI

Directors Guild of America


Publications

by Mackendrick:

On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director

on Mackendrick:

Whisky Galore! and The Maggie (British Film Guides) by Colin McArthur
_________________________________________________________________

Additional items by antnield:
antnield wrote:As director (all short films):

Save Your Bacon (aka Kitchen Waste for Pigs) - 1942 Ministry of Information short
Contraries - 1943 MoI short
Nero - 1943 MoI short starring Alastair Sim and George Cole

These were all 90 seconds long and not available on disc to the best of my knowledge, though I've a few WWII doc compilations where they may possibly figure. If so I'll let you know...

As co-director (both shorts, each made for the Army Pyschological Warfare Branch):

I Granai del Popolo (Grain of the People) - 1944 co-directed with Peter Proud
Le Fosse Ardeatine (Massacre of the Fort Ardeatine) - 1945 co-directed with Marcello Pagliero [part of the Gliorni di Gloria/Days of Glory series]

As writer or co-writer:

On Parade (1936)
Sky Pirates (1937)
Love on the Range (1937)
What Ho She Bumps (1937)
South Sea Sweethearts (1938)

The five above were all animated stop-motion Horlicks cinema commercials by George Pal either 6 or 7 minutes long each.

Carnival in the Clothes Cupboard (1940)
Fable of the Fabrics (1940)
Train Trouble (1940)
Abu's Dungeon (1943)
Abu's Poisoned Well (1943)
Abu's Harvest (1943)
Abu Builds a Dam (1943)

More animation, this time seven for John Halas and Joy Batchelor. Mackendrick was co-writer on the Abu films with Nuri.

Midnight Menace (aka Bombs Over London) - 1937 feature of 78 mins. Mackendrick gets a co-story credit alongside Roger MacDougall (also his collaborator on the MoI shorts) as their original script was rewritten by G.H. Moresby-White and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis. The director was Sinclair Hill.

Subject for Discussion - 1944 short on VD produced by Basil Wright and directed by Hans Neiter for the Council for Health Education.

Saraband for Dead Lovers (aka Saraband) - 1948
The Blue Lamp - 1950
Dance Hall - 1950

Three screenwriting credits for Ealing. Co-writer on Saraband (which he also apparently storyboarded). Additional dialogue on The Blue Lamp and second unit direction. Co-writer and 2nd unit again on Dance Hall. Saraband and The Blue Lamp are both on UK R2 courtesy of Optimum.

Fanfare - 1958

Mackendrick was brought in as an advisor but received a co-writer credit nonethless. Apparently this was one of the most successful Dutch movies ever though I'll confess to having never heard of it. Perhaps its popularity means there's a Dutch disc out there somewhere...

Finally, some TV work in the shape of eight commercials for Horlicks:

Record Player (1958)
Fireside (1958)
Kitchen: Broken Dish (1958)
Milk Bottle (1958 - interestingly co-directed with Karel Reisz)
Shop (1959)
Conveyer Belt (1959)
Tea Party (1959)
Clothes Dryer (1959)
Last edited by Murdoch on Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:12 pm, edited 12 times in total.

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Alexander Mackendrick PLEASE MOVE TO FILMMAKERS

#2 Post by matrixschmatrix » Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:06 pm

How is Whisky Galore? I haven't seen that one, but I really enjoyed the other Mackendrick Ealing movies I've seen.

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: Alexander Mackendrick

#3 Post by Murdoch » Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:19 pm

I've been slowly moving my way through Mackendrick's features, haven't yet got to Whiskey Galore although it's hanging around my queue. I don't have a handle over him yet having only seen three of his nine features that he was the sole director on (Sweet Smell of Success, Ladykillers, Man in the White Suit), and they differ so wildly that it's hard to compare between them, but they are all such brilliantly photographed and written films that I find it saddening that he's not more celebrated. This guy's been one of my major discoveries of the past year and I can't wait to dive more into his oeuvre.

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swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: Alexander Mackendrick PLEASE MOVE TO FILMMAKERS

#4 Post by swo17 » Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:30 pm

matrixschmatrix wrote:How is Whisky Galore? I haven't seen that one, but I really enjoyed the other Mackendrick Ealing movies I've seen.
I watched it several years ago and remember really enjoying it but little else about it. The title is rather accurate, as I recall.

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

Re: Alexander Mackendrick

#5 Post by Jeff » Fri Dec 31, 2010 2:47 am

Thanks so much for making this, Murdoch. Mackendrick doesn't get nearly enough credit. His On Filmmaking should be on the forum's required reading list. After Sweet Smell of Success and the Ealings, be sure to see A High Wind in Jamaica. It's a charming adventure film, told from a child's perspective, with great performances from Anthony Quinn and James Coburn.

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: Alexander Mackendrick

#6 Post by Murdoch » Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:58 am

Studio Canal is releasing The Maggie on blu August 24th. Hooray for more Mackendrick on blu!

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