Born in Cheshire, England, Charles Crichton began as an editor between
1935-40 with London Films, working with Alexander
Korda on Sanders of the River (1935) Things
to Come (1936), and Elephant
Boy (1937). A meticulous perfectionist, Crichton then started working
for Ealing Studios, rising rapidly from editor to producer to director.
He directed the comic chiller "The Golfing Story" in the classic
horror anthology Dead
of Night (1945). Crichton reached his height in comedy, most notably
with the East End kids comedy Hue
and Cry (1947), the Oscar-winning
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and the eccentric railway comedy The
Titfield Thunderbolt (1953). Crichton briefly left the confines
of Ealing to direct the Dirk Bogarde melodrama Hunted
(1952). After the closure of Ealing in 1959, Crichton made fewer feature
films, becoming instead a prolific director of British television series.
Crichton’s post-Ealing films were satisfactory but not particularly
well received. Law and Disorder (1958)
starred Michael Redgrave as a
serial crook trying to prevent his son discovering his immoral past,
and The Battle of the Sexes (1959),
a Peter Sellers comedy about the
hindrance of modernization at a traditional Scottish tweed factory.
A black comedy, it misfires, portraying a negative view of women in
business. He became a prolific director during the 60's and 70's with
cult series such as Danger Man, The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase and
Space 1999. Crichton continued to do more work in television, directing
programmes such as The Professionals and Return of the Saint. Crichton
returned to the big screen as the request of John Cleese, to direct
A Fish Called Wanda
(1988), a black comedy in the Ealing style of Crichton’s earlier work.
This was to be his last film. Charles Crichton died in 1999.
