Entering the film industry, after service in the Royal Flying Corps,
as a renter in 1919 Herbert Wilcox established a name for himself in
the twenties by importing stars from Hollywood and the Continent. In
1926 he co-founded Elstree
Studios and two years later became head of production at British
and Dominions. During the thirties he developed Anna
Neagle into a star, directing her in a number of historical roles,
the most prominent of which was Queen Victoria. Eventually he married
her. After the war he teamed her with Michael
Wilding in a number of frothy comedies acclaimed at the box-office,
but when the tide turned against the Wilcox-type of film he went bankrupt.
An energetic and tireless man of the cinema, he fought through difficult
years to keep the industry buoyant.
