Intelligent and dependable director Michael Anderson entered films
as office boy at Elstree
Studios and apprenticed as production-assistant under the likes
of Anthony Asquith,
David Lean and Peter
Ustinov during the 1940s. His debut sole-directorial effort was
Waterfront (1954) and he had a relatively undistinguished record in
films until directing The
Dam Busters (1954). The Dam Busters was one of the more successful
fact-based films about World War II mixing docudrama and model-work
special effects in a combination that pointed the way toward Anderson's
later career in international pictures. His thought-provoking adaptation
of George Orwell’s 1984 (1956) received mixed notices but his
next film, the Oscar-winning Best Picture Around the World in 80 Days,
brought him international recognition.
From 1957 Anderson worked in Hollywood as often as he did in England.
His many films included Yangtze Incident (1957) which reunited him with
Richard Todd, one-time Hitchcock project The Wreck of the Mary Deare
(1959), Operation Crossbow (1965), the Harold Pinter scripted The
Quiller Memorandum (1966) and The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968 starring
Anthony Quinn and Laurence Olivier. During the 1970s Anderson’s
career was in decline until he overcame a weak script to master the
cult science-fiction adventure Logan's Run (1976). The remainder of
Anderson’s time has been largely dedicated to made-for television
family films and mini-series. He became a citizen Canada in the 1980s
and has two sons in the film industry; actor Michael Anderson Jr. and
producer David Anderson.
