Anthony Asquith
Encyclopedia
Anthony Asquith was a leading English
film director
. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan
on The Winslow Boy
(1948) and The Browning Version
(1951), among other adaptations. His other notable films include Pygmalion
(1938), French Without Tears
(1940), The Way to the Stars
(1945), and a 1952 adaptation of Oscar Wilde
's The Importance of Being Earnest
.
, he was the son of H. H. Asquith
, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
during the First World War, and Margot Asquith who was responsible for 'Puffin' as his family nickname. He was educated at Winchester College
and Balliol College, Oxford
.
The film industry was viewed as disreputable when Asquith was young, and according to the actor Jonathan Cecil
, a family friend, Asquith entered his profession in order to escape his background. At the end of the 1920s he began his career with the direction of four silent films the last of which, A Cottage on Dartmoor established his reputation with its meticulous and often emotionally moving frame composition. Pygmalion
(1938) was based on the George Bernard Shaw
play featuring Leslie Howard
and Wendy Hiller
. He was a longtime friend and colleague of Terence Rattigan
, they collaborated on ten films, and producer Anatole de Grunwald
. His later films included Rattigan's The Winslow Boy
(1948) and The Browning Version
(1951), and Oscar Wilde
's The Importance of Being Earnest
(1952).
Asquith, an alcoholic, was a charming, gentle man and a closeted
homosexual who never married. Asquith died from lymphoma
at the age of 65.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...
on The Winslow Boy
The Winslow Boy (1948 film)
The Winslow Boy is a 1948 film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy. It was made by De Grunwald Productions and distributed by the British Lion Film Corporation. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald with Teddy Baird as associate producer. The...
(1948) and The Browning Version
The Browning Version (1951 film)
The Browning Version is a 1951 British film based on the 1948 play of the same name by Terence Rattigan. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and starred Michael Redgrave.-Plot:...
(1951), among other adaptations. His other notable films include Pygmalion
Pygmalion (1938 film)
Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on the George Bernard Shaw play of the same title, and adapted by him for the screen. It stars Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller....
(1938), French Without Tears
French Without Tears (film)
French Without Tears is a 1940 comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Ray Milland. It was based on the play of the same name by Terence Rattigan who also co-wrote the script.-Cast:* Ray Milland - Alan Howard* Ellen Drew - Diana Lake...
(1940), The Way to the Stars
The Way to the Stars
The Way to the Stars, also known as Johnny in the Clouds, is a 1945 British war drama film made by Two Cities Films and released by United Artists. It was produced by Anatole de Grunwald and directed by Anthony Asquith...
(1945), and a 1952 adaptation of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
's The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film)
The Importance of Being Earnest is a British film adaptation of the play by Oscar Wilde. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, who also adapted the screenplay, and was produced by Teddy Baird.-Adaptation:...
.
Biography
Born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he was the son of H. H. Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
during the First World War, and Margot Asquith who was responsible for 'Puffin' as his family nickname. He was educated at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
.
The film industry was viewed as disreputable when Asquith was young, and according to the actor Jonathan Cecil
Jonathan Cecil
Jonathan Hugh Gascoyne-Cecil , more commonly known as Jonathan Cecil, was an English theatre, film and television actor.-Early life:...
, a family friend, Asquith entered his profession in order to escape his background. At the end of the 1920s he began his career with the direction of four silent films the last of which, A Cottage on Dartmoor established his reputation with its meticulous and often emotionally moving frame composition. Pygmalion
Pygmalion (1938 film)
Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on the George Bernard Shaw play of the same title, and adapted by him for the screen. It stars Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller....
(1938) was based on the George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
play featuring Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard (actor)
Leslie Howard was an English stage and film actor, director, and producer. Among his best-known roles was Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind and roles in Berkeley Square , Of Human Bondage , The Scarlet Pimpernel , The Petrified Forest , Pygmalion , Intermezzo , Pimpernel Smith...
and Wendy Hiller
Wendy Hiller
Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...
. He was a longtime friend and colleague of Terence Rattigan
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...
, they collaborated on ten films, and producer Anatole de Grunwald
Anatole de Grunwald
Anatole "Tolly" de Grunwald was a British film producer and screenwriter.Anatole de Grunwald was born in Petrograd , Russia, the son of a diplomat in the service of Tsar Nicholas II. He was seven years old when his father was forced to flee with his family to England during the 1917 Bolshevik...
. His later films included Rattigan's The Winslow Boy
The Winslow Boy (1948 film)
The Winslow Boy is a 1948 film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy. It was made by De Grunwald Productions and distributed by the British Lion Film Corporation. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald with Teddy Baird as associate producer. The...
(1948) and The Browning Version
The Browning Version (1951 film)
The Browning Version is a 1951 British film based on the 1948 play of the same name by Terence Rattigan. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and starred Michael Redgrave.-Plot:...
(1951), and Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
's The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film)
The Importance of Being Earnest is a British film adaptation of the play by Oscar Wilde. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, who also adapted the screenplay, and was produced by Teddy Baird.-Adaptation:...
(1952).
Asquith, an alcoholic, was a charming, gentle man and a closeted
The Closet
The Closet may refer to:* The Closet , Chinese film* The Closet , French film* The closet, referring to undisclosed homosexuality- See also :* Closet* Closet * In the closet...
homosexual who never married. Asquith died from lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
at the age of 65.
Feature films
- Shooting StarsShooting Stars (film)Shooting Stars is a 1927 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Annette Benson, Brian Aherne and Wally Patch. It was Asquith's first film.The novelisation of the film was written by the popular novelist E. Charles Vivian....
(1927) - UndergroundUnderground (1928 film)Underground is a British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Brian Aherne, Elissa Landi, Cyril McLaglen, and Norah Baring. An electrician and a porter both fall in love with a shop girl they meet on the London Underground....
(1928) - The Runaway PrincessThe Runaway PrincessThe Runaway Princess is a 1929 British-German silent drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Mady Christians, Fred Rains, Paul Cavanagh and Anne Grey. An alternative German-language version known as Priscillas Fahrt ins Glück was directed by Fritz Wendhausen...
(1929) - A Cottage on DartmoorA Cottage on DartmoorA Cottage on Dartmoor is a 1929 British silent film, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Norah Baring and Uno Henning...
(1929) - Tell EnglandTell England (film)Tell England is a 1931 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Fay Compton, Tony Bruce and Carl Harbord. It is based on the novel Tell England by Ernest Raymond which featured two young men joining the army, and taking part in the fighting at Gallipoli...
(1931) - The Lucky NumberThe Lucky NumberThe Lucky Number is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Clifford Mollison, Gordon Harker, Joan Wyndham and Frank Pettingell. A professional footballer attempts to recover a winning pools ticket...
(1932) - Dance Pretty LadyDance Pretty LadyDance Pretty Lady is a 1932 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Ann Casson, Carl Harbord, Michael Hogan, Moore Marriot and Flora Robson. It was based on a novel by Compton MacKenzie.-Plot:...
(1932) - Unfinished SymphonyUnfinished Symphony (film)Unfinished Symphony is a 1934 British-Austrian musical drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Mártha Eggerth, Helen Chandler, Hans Jaray and Ronald Squire. The film is based on the story of Franz Schubert who, in the 1820s left his symphony unfinished after losing the love of his life....
(1934) - Moscow NightsMoscow Nights (film)Moscow Nights is a 1935 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Laurence Olivier, Penelope Dudley-Ward and Harry Baur. During the First World War a wounded Russian officer Captain Ignatoff falls in love with his nurse...
(1935) - PygmalionPygmalion (1938 film)Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on the George Bernard Shaw play of the same title, and adapted by him for the screen. It stars Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller....
(1938) - French Without TearsFrench Without Tears (film)French Without Tears is a 1940 comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Ray Milland. It was based on the play of the same name by Terence Rattigan who also co-wrote the script.-Cast:* Ray Milland - Alan Howard* Ellen Drew - Diana Lake...
(1940) - Freedom RadioFreedom RadioFreedom Radio is a 1941 British propaganda film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard, Raymond Huntley and Derek Farr. It is set in Nazi Germany during the Second World War about an underground German resistance group who run a radio station broadcasting against the...
(1941) - Quiet WeddingQuiet WeddingQuiet Wedding is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Margaret Lockwood, Derek Farr and Marjorie Fielding. The screenplay was written by Terence Rattigan and Anatole de Grunwald based on the play Quiet Wedding by Esther McCracken which was later remade as Happy is the...
(1941) - Cottage to LetCottage to LetCottage to Let is a 1941 spy film starring Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim and John Mills. Set in World War II Scotland, its plot concerns Nazi spies trying to kidnap an inventor.-Plot:...
(1941) - UncensoredUncensored (film)Uncensored is a 1942 British World War II drama, directed by Anthony Asquith for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Eric Portman and Phyllis Calvert...
(1942) - We Dive at DawnWe Dive at DawnWe Dive at Dawn is a 1943 war film directed by Anthony Asquith, starring John Mills and Eric Portman as Royal Navy submariners in the Second World War. It was written by Val Valentine and J. B. Williams with uncredited assistance from Frank Launder...
(1943) - The Demi-ParadiseThe Demi-ParadiseThe Demi-Paradise is a 1943 comedy film made by Two Cities Films and distributed in the U.S. by Universal Pictures. It starred Laurence Olivier as a Soviet inventor who travels to England to have his revolutionary propeller manufactured, and Penelope Dudley Ward as the woman who falls in love with...
(1943) - Fanny by GaslightFanny by Gaslight (film)Fanny by Gaslight was a 1944 British drama film, produced by Gainsborough Pictures, set in the 1870s and adapted from a novel by Michael Sadleir . It was one of its famous period-set "Gainsborough melodramas"...
(1944) - The Way to the StarsThe Way to the StarsThe Way to the Stars, also known as Johnny in the Clouds, is a 1945 British war drama film made by Two Cities Films and released by United Artists. It was produced by Anatole de Grunwald and directed by Anthony Asquith...
(1945) - While the Sun ShinesWhile the Sun ShinesWhile the Sun Shines is a 1947 British comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith. It was based on Terrence Rattigan's 1943 play of the same name. -Plot:...
(1947) - The Winslow BoyThe Winslow Boy (1948 film)The Winslow Boy is a 1948 film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy. It was made by De Grunwald Productions and distributed by the British Lion Film Corporation. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald with Teddy Baird as associate producer. The...
(1948) - The Woman in QuestionThe Woman in QuestionThe Woman in Question is 1950 British mystery film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and John McCallum...
(1950) - The Browning VersionThe Browning Version (1951 film)The Browning Version is a 1951 British film based on the 1948 play of the same name by Terence Rattigan. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and starred Michael Redgrave.-Plot:...
(1951) - The Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film)The Importance of Being Earnest is a British film adaptation of the play by Oscar Wilde. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, who also adapted the screenplay, and was produced by Teddy Baird.-Adaptation:...
(1952) - The Final TestThe Final TestThe Final Test is a 1953 British sports film written by Terence Rattigan, directed by Anthony Asquith, and starring Jack Warner, Robert Morley, George Relph and Ray Jackson. A number of leading cricketers also appear including Denis Compton, Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook.-Plot:The film is a comedy...
(1953) - The NetThe Net (1953 film)The Net is a 1953 British film made by Two Cities Films, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring James Donald, Phyllis Calvert, Robert Beatty and Herbert Lom...
(1953) - The Young LoversThe Young LoversThe Young Lovers is a 1954 British Cold War romance drama, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Odile Versois and David Knight. The film was produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan, with cinematography from Jack Asher and screenplay by George Tabori and Robin Estridge...
(1954) - Carrington V.C. (1955)
- On Such a NightOn Such a Night (1956 film)On Such a Night is a 1956 British short comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring David Knight, Josephine Griffin and Marie Lohr....
(1956) - Orders to KillOrders to KillOrders to Kill was a 1958 British wartime drama film. It starred Paul Massie, Eddie Albert and Lillian Gish. It was directed by Anthony Asquith based on a story by Donald C. Downes.-Plot summary:...
(1958) - The Doctor's DilemmaThe Doctor's Dilemma (film)The Doctor's Dilemma is a 1958 British comedy drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Leslie Caron, Dirk Bogarde, Alastair Sim, Robert Morley and Terence Alexander. It is based on the 1906 play The Doctor's Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw....
(1958) - LibelLibel (film)Libel is a 1959 British drama film. It stars Olivia de Havilland, Dirk Bogarde, Paul Massie, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Robert Morley. The film's screenplay was written by Anatole de Grunwald and Karl Tunberg from a 1935 play of the same name by Edward Wooll, and it was directed by Anthony Asquith.The...
(1959) - The MillionairessThe MillionairessThe Millionairess is a 1960 British romantic comedy film set in London, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Sophia Loren and Peter Sellers...
(1960) - Two Living, One DeadTwo Living, One DeadTwo Living, One Dead is a 1961 Anglo-Swedish existentialist thriller, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Patrick McGoohan, Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.-Background:...
(1961) - Guns of DarknessGuns of DarknessGuns of Darkness is a 1962 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring David Niven, Leslie Caron and James Robertson Justice...
(1962) - The V.I.P.sThe V.I.P.sThe V.I.P.s, also known as Hotel International, is a 1963 British drama film. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, produced by Anatole de Grunwald and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
(1963) - The Yellow Rolls-RoyceThe Yellow Rolls-Royce-External links:, a promotional short subject for the film...
(1964)
Short films
- The Story of PapworthThe Story of PapworthThe Story of Papworth is a 1936 British short drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Madeleine Carroll, Gordon Harker and C. Aubrey Smith. A consumptive who is saved by the village of Papworth who raise funds for his treatment.-References:...
(1938) - Channel IncidentChannel IncidentChannel Incident is a 1940 British short drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Peggy Ashcroft, Gordon Harker and Robert Newton. The film was a propaganda effort, made during the Second World War, which depicts a the owner of a yacht heading across the Channel to help evacuate British...
(1940) - Rush HourRush Hour (1941 film)Rush Hour is a 1941 British Public Information short film made by the wartime Ministry of Information, and designed to pass on an important message to cinemagoers in a humorous manner...
(1941) - Two FathersTwo Fathers (film)Two Fathers is a 1944 British wartime propaganda short film made by the Crown Film Unit, a division of the Ministry of Information, and directed by Anthony Asquith.-Plot:...
(1944)