Boulting Brothers gallery

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BFI: Boulting Brothers gallery
Identical twins John and Roy Boulting were born on 21st November 1913. Their enthusiasm for the film medium started when they were very young and, as teenagers, they formed one of the first film societies in a public school. So began one of the most successful partnerships in British filmmaking history.

By the mid 1930s, both were working within the British film industry and, in 1937, they set up Charter Films as their own independent production company.

As a partnership, they came to prominence with their wartime feature films Pastor Hall (1940) and Thunder Rock (1942). When the war ended, John and Roy started making a series of films that reflected the uniqueness of the British character. Their work in the late 1940s, including Brighton Rock, was often dark and hard-edged and in 1950’s Seven Days To Noon, they played on the theme of social paranoia.

Strong underlying social observations were a marker of their films throughout the 1950s, although works like I’m All Right, Jack - which gave Peter Sellars one of his best roles - and Brothers In Law tended to relay their messages through satire.

Throughout their careers, John and Roy tended to work together, each taking the role of producer or director on a particular project. John directed his last film, Rotten to the Core, in 1966, although he continued to work as a producer and as Company Managing Director of British Lion until the early 1970s. Roy kept on directing until 1985, concluding this aspect of his career with two episodes of the BBC Miss Marple series.

Their prolific careers saw them make over sixty films between them. As champions of independent film production, they have left a truly remarkable legacy for today’s audiences and filmmakers