Sydney Box: Difference between revisions

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In 1951 Box founded his own production company [[London Independent Producers]] with [[William MacQuitty]].
In 1951 Box founded his own production company [[London Independent Producers]] with [[William MacQuitty]].


Box ended his cinema career in 1958 to concentrate on working in television. He was part of a consortium that launched the ITV franchise, [[ITV Tyne Tees|Tyne Tees Television]] in 1959.
Box was part of a consortium that launched the ITV franchise, [[ITV Tyne Tees|Tyne Tees Television]] in 1959.
 
In September 1959 Box announced he was quitting filmmaking due to medical advice.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1959-10-07_216_6/page/11/mode/1up?|date=7 October 1959|title=Lesser reportedly back of winding 'Too Hot' Mansfield British pic}}</ref>
 
In December 1959 Rank announced Sydney Box Associates would make a series of films for the company including ''[[The Night We Got the Bird|Love Birds]]'' starring Brian Rix, ''Not in the Book'' produced by Norman Williams and scripted by Peter Blackmore from Arthur Watkyn’s play, ''No Concern of Mine'' from Jeremy Kingston's play, ''Milk and Honey'' from Philip King’s play: ''[[Watch It, Sailor!]]'' also based on a Philip King play, ''[[Taste of Fear|See No Evil]]'' an original by Jimmy Sangster, and ''[[The Frightened City|Time to Kill]]'' another original by Leigh Vance.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|page=99|first=Bill|last=Edwards|date=17 December 1959|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_kine-weekly_1959-12-17_511_2724/page/n101/mode/1up|title= A significant year}}</ref> Some of these films would be made by other companies.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1960-04-20_218_8/page/59/mode/1up?|date=20 April 1960|title=Peter Rogers announces top product from the Sydney Box Group of Companies|page=59}}</ref>


According to Sue Harper and Vincent Porter:
According to Sue Harper and Vincent Porter:
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==Selected filmography==
==Selected filmography==
'''Screenwriter and producer'''
===Screenwriter and producer===
* ''[[Alibi Inn]]'' (1935)
* ''[[Alibi Inn]]'' (1935)
* ''For Dealers Only'' ([[Ford Motor Company]] short) (1937)
* ''[[29 Acacia Avenue]]'' (1945)
* ''[[29 Acacia Avenue]]'' (1945)
* ''[[The Seventh Veil]]'' (1945)
* ''[[The Seventh Veil]]'' (1945)
* ''[[The Years Between (film)|The Years Between]]'' (1946)
* ''[[The Years Between (film)|The Years Between]]'' (1946)
* ''[[A Girl in a Million]]'' (1946)
* ''[[A Girl in a Million]]'' (1946)
===London Independent Producers===
* ''[[The Happy Family (1952 film)|The Happy Family]]'' (1952)
* ''[[The Happy Family (1952 film)|The Happy Family]]'' (1952)
* ''[[Street Corner (1953 film)|Street Corner]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Street Corner (1953 film)|Street Corner]]'' (1953)
*[[The Beachcomber (1954 film)|''The Beachcomber'']] (1954)
*''[[Forbidden Cargo (1954 film)|Forbidden Cargo]]'' (1954)
*''[[Above Us the Waves]]'' (1955)
*''[[The Prisoner (1955 film)|The Prisoner]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Too Young to Love (film)|Too Young to Love]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Too Young to Love (film)|Too Young to Love]]'' (1959)
 
*''[[Accident (1967 film)|Accident]]'' (1967)
'''Producer'''
*''[[The Man Outside (1967 film)|The Man Outside]]'' (1967)
*''[[Theatre of Death]]'' (1967)
*''[[The Long Duel]]'' (1967)
*''[[The Limbo Line]]'' (1968)
*''[[Amsterdam Affair]]'' (1968)
*''[[Taste of Excitement]]'' (1968)
===Producer===
* ''[http://timeimage.org.uk/films-of-the-british-council/country-town-1943/ Country Town]'' (1943)
* ''[http://timeimage.org.uk/films-of-the-british-council/country-town-1943/ Country Town]'' (1943)
* ''[[Don't Take It to Heart]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Don't Take It to Heart]]'' (1944)
*''[[The Brothers (1947 film)|The Brothers]]'' (1947)
*''[[The Brothers (1947 film)|The Brothers]]'' (1947)
*[[The Happy Family (1952 film)|''The Happy Family'']] (1952)
===Rank Organisation Film Productions===
*[[The Beachcomber (1954 film)|''The Beachcomber'']] (1954)
*[[Eyewitness (1956 film)|''Eyewitness'']] (1956)
*[[Eyewitness (1956 film)|''Eyewitness'']] (1956)
*''[[Floods of Fear]]'' (1958)
===Orbit Films===
*''[[Subway in the Sky]]'' (1959)
===Beaconsfield===
*''[[The Passionate Stranger]]'' (1957)
*''[[The Truth About Women]]'' (1957)
*''[[The Truth About Women]]'' (1957)
*''[[Subway in the Sky]]'' (1959)
*''[[Heart of a Child]]'' (1958)
 
===Sydney Box Associates===
*''[[Blind Date (1959 film)|Blind Date]]'' (1959)
*''[[SOS Pacific]]'' (1959)
*''[[Piccadilly Third Stop]]'' (1960)
===Alliance Film Distributors===
*''[[Strictly Confidential (1959 film)|Strictly Confidential]]'' (1959)
*''[[Too Hot to Handle (1960 film)|Too Hot to Handle]]'' (1960) - Wigmore - quit during production due to illness<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Daily Herald|date=26 September 1959|page=1|title=Mr X saves Jayne's new film}}</ref>
*''[[The Shakedown (1959 film)|Shakedown]]'' (1960)
*''[[Your Money or Your Wife]]'' (1960)
*''[[And Women Shall Weep]]'' (1960)
*''[[Witness in the Dark]]'' (1960)
*''[[Operation Cupid]]'' (1960)
===Welbeck Film Distributors===
*''[[To Dorothy a Son]] (1954)
*''[[Too Young to Love (film)|Too Young to Love]]'' (1959)
*''[[The Night We Dropped a Clanger]]'' (1959)
*''[[Desert Mice]]'' (1960)
*''[[Faces in the Dark]]'' (1960)
*''[[Beyond the Curtain]]'' (1960)
===Films as Head of Gainsborough===
===Films as Head of Gainsborough===
*''[[The Man Within (film)|The Man Within]]'' (1947)
*''[[The Man Within (film)|The Man Within]]'' (1947)

Revision as of 09:38, 12 June 2025

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main otherScript error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Frank Sydney Box (29 April 1907 – 25 May 1983) was a British film producer and screenwriter, and brother of British film producer Betty Box. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Jay Lewis.[1]

He produced and co-wrote the screenplay, with his then wife director Muriel Box, for The Seventh Veil (1945), which received the 1946 Oscar for best original screenplay.[2]

Sydney and Muriel married in 1935, had a daughter Leonora the following year, and divorced in 1969.[3]

Gainsborough Studios

The couple were hired after the war by the Rank Organisation to run Gainsborough Studios. They disapproved of the Gainsborough melodramas which had been the studio's major successes for several years, and switched production to a broader range of more "realistic" films with mixed results. Box made 36 films at Gainsborough, which was merged into the Rank Organization in 1949. It has been argued Box's overexpansion "killed" Gainsborough.[4]

In 1951 Box founded his own production company London Independent Producers with William MacQuitty.

Box was part of a consortium that launched the ITV franchise, Tyne Tees Television in 1959.

In September 1959 Box announced he was quitting filmmaking due to medical advice.[5]

In December 1959 Rank announced Sydney Box Associates would make a series of films for the company including Love Birds starring Brian Rix, Not in the Book produced by Norman Williams and scripted by Peter Blackmore from Arthur Watkyn’s play, No Concern of Mine from Jeremy Kingston's play, Milk and Honey from Philip King’s play: Watch It, Sailor! also based on a Philip King play, See No Evil an original by Jimmy Sangster, and Time to Kill another original by Leigh Vance.[6] Some of these films would be made by other companies.[7]

According to Sue Harper and Vincent Porter:

Box was a skilled entrepreneur who was able to raise regular loans from the NFFC and to encourage others' talents. According to his assistant David Deutsch, he provided, more effectively than anyone he had ever known, 'the right environment for creative people to work, welcoming, encouraging and subtly influencing'. Box’s position as an outsider—a socialist of sorts, a realist by instinct, and a feminist by default—meant that he became increasingly excluded from the meritocracy. He lacked a strong visual sense, but this was supplied by Muriel Box, whose lively inventiveness was accompanied by an uncompromising sexual radicalism, which pleased her but not the distributors or the audiences.[8]

Selected filmography

Screenwriter and producer

London Independent Producers

Producer

Rank Organisation Film Productions

Orbit Films

Beaconsfield

Sydney Box Associates

Alliance Film Distributors

Welbeck Film Distributors

Films as Head of Gainsborough

Selected plays

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:AcademyAwardBestOriginalScreenplay 1940-1960

Template:Authority control

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  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  6. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
  7. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
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  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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