Betty Box was one of the most prolific British producers of the post-war
years, and one of the most undervalued. She started her career as a
commercial artist, but during World War II was invited by her brother
Sydney Box to work for Verity Films, making documentaries
for the War Office. By the end of the war she had 10 units working for
her - a testament to her organisational abilities. She helped Sydney
when he moved to Riverside Studios, where he made the unexpected box-office
sensation The Seventh
Veil (1945), and followed him to Gainsborough
Studios in late 1946. "My instructions were to try to do between
four and six features a year," she remembered. "It was a tacky
little studio. We were making films there in the winter when we had
power cuts, and I had to hire a generator to get any juice into the
studio."
Her Gainsborough days yielded such titles as the mermaid movie Miranda
(1948) and Patricia Roc film When
the Bough Breaks (1947). It was at Pinewood, though, that she earned
her reputation as Betty Box-Office. Starting with The
Clouded Yellow (1951) she and her director partner Ralph
Thomas were responsible for a string of hits. "Here is freshness,
here is vitality', trumpeted the trade press when Doctor
in the House (1954) did record business. Rank Organisation boss
John Davis insisted she carry on making 'Doctor...' films when she and
Thomas would have preferred more challenging material. "No, I didn't
want to do them," she later admitted, "but I did them willingly
in as much as they made money." She had an eye for talent, introducing
Brigitte Bardot to British audiences in Doctor
at Sea (1955), and always brought her films in on time and on budget.
As she said, "I don't think film is a medium for social statement.
Its raison detre is to entertain." This unpretentious philosophy
(shared by her husband Peter Rogers, producer of the 'Carry On...' films)
ensured critics seldom gave her the credit she deserved.
