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Maurice Elvey

{{Short description|British film director (1887–1967)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Maurice Elvey

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name = William Seward Folkard

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|11|11|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Stockton-on-Tees, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|8|28|1887|11|11|df=yes}}

| death_place = Brighton, England

| othername =

| occupation = Film director
Film producer

| years_active = 1913–1958

| spouse = Philippa Preston
({{abbr|m.|married}} 191?; {{abbr|div.|divorced}} 191?)
Florence Hill Clarke
({{abbr|m.|married}} 1916; {{abbr|div.|divorced}} 19??)
Isobel Elsom
({{abbr|m.|married}} 1923; {{abbr|div.|divorced}} 19??)}}

Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history.{{Cite web|url=http://www.britmovie.co.uk/directors/Maurice-Elvey|title=Maurice Elvey|publisher=Britmovie.co.uk|access-date=July 6, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406181114/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/directors/Maurice-Elvey|archive-date=April 6, 2012}} He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year.{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/449112/credits.html |title=Maurice Elvey credits |publisher=BFI Screenonline

|access-date=6 July 2010}} He also produced more than fifty films – his own as well as films directed by others.{{cite book | last=Low | first=R. | title=The History of British Film (Volume 3): The History of the British Film 1914–1918 | publisher=Taylor & Francis | issue=v. 3 | year=2013 | isbn=9781136206061 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVHaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 | page=93}}

Biography

Born William Seward Folkard in Stockton-on-Tees, he ran away from home at the age of nine, seeking his fortune in London. There he worked variously as a kitchen hand and hotel pageboy, before ending up as stagehand and actor at the age of 17. He quickly rose to directing and producing plays and established his own theatrical company before switching to films with The Great Gold Robbery in 1913. He directed a wide array of popular features in a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, literary adaptations – including Robert Louis Stevenson's The Suicide Club (1914) and a version of William Shakespeare's As You Like It entitled Love in a Wood (1916) – and biographical profiles of figures including Florence Nightingale and Lord Nelson. The Life Story of David Lloyd George (originally titled The Man Who Saved The Empire[https://books.google.com/books?id=r7I7CCd-A9cC&dq=%22The+Man+Who+Saved+The+Empire%22&pg=PA8 Sarah Barrow, John White: Fifty Key British Films, Routledge 2012, page 8] Linked 2015-03-18), suppressed for political reasons just prior to its release in 1918, had its world premiere in Cardiff in May 1996 and was hailed by critics and film historians as one of the best silent films produced in the UK.

Between 1921 and 1923, Elvey directed 45 two-reel short films in three series: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1921), The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1922) and The Last Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1923), and two feature films, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four){{Cite web |title=Restoration of Silent Sherlock: Three Classic Cases to premiere at the 68th BFI London Film Festival |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/london-film-festival/news/restoration-silent-sherlock-three-classic-cases-premiere-68th-bfi-london-film-festival |website=British Film Institute |date=August 28, 2024 |access-date=March 9, 2025}} with Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes. The actor was Arthur Conan Doyle's favourite among those who portrayed his literary sleuth.

Elvey was employed by the Fox Film Corporation in 1924 and made 5 films for them in America before returning to Europe the following year.{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/449112/index.html|title = BFI Screenonline: Elvey, Maurice (1887–1967) Biography}}

Elvey worked with such performers as Leslie Howard, Ivor Novello, Ida Lupino, Benita Hume, Gracie Fields, Claude Rains, Alastair Sim, Leslie Banks, and Fay Wray, and mentored future directors Carol Reed, David Lean, and Ronald Neame. In 1944, he was charmed by Petula Clark when he saw her perform at the Royal Albert Hall, and he launched her film career by casting her as a precocious waif in his wartime drama Medal for the General. The two collaborated on three additional films.

Elvey was married three times, to actress Philippa Preston, sculptor Florence Hill Clarke, and actress Isobel Elsom, whom he met on the set of The Wandering Jew in 1923. The couple went on to make eight films together.

The loss of an eye and failing health prompted Elvey's retirement at the age of 70. Ten years later he died in Brighton.{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/449112/index.html|title = BFI Screenonline: Elvey, Maurice (1887–1967) Biography}}

Filmography

Director

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Producer (selection)[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002061/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1#producer IMDb: Maurice Elvey Filmography – Producer] Linked 2015-03-18

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References

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External links

  • {{IMDb name|0002061}}
  • {{Screenonline name|449112}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20160505234920/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f115bbe Maurice Elvey] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}

{{Maurice Elvey}}

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Category:1887 births

Category:1967 deaths

Category:British film directors

Category:British film producers

Category:British male screenwriters

Category:People from Stockton-on-Tees

Category:20th-century British screenwriters

Category:British silent film directors