J. Lee Thompson
| J. Lee Thompson | |
|---|---|
J. Lee Thompson in the 1970s
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| Born |
John Lee Thompson 1 August 1914 Bristol, England |
| Died | 30 August 2002 (aged 88) Sooke, British Columbia |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 1950–1989 |
John Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 – 30 August 2002), better known as J. Lee Thompson, was a British film director, active in London and Hollywood.
Murder Without Crime was mostly ignored upon release. Thompson's first movie success was one he directed and co-wrote, The Yellow Balloon (1953), the story of a child who is blackmailed into helping a criminal after accidentally causing his friend's death. The Weak and the Wicked (1954), portrays the lives of women in prison and is based on memoirs by Joan Henry, who became Thompson's second wife.
Thompson earned a reputation in Britain for social dramas besides occasional comedies and musicals. He was also known for collaborating with top British actors. After the comedies For Better, For Worse (1954) starring Dirk Bogarde, As Long as They're Happy (1955), and An Alligator Named Daisy (1955) starring Donald Sinden, he returned to the theme of female prisoners in Yield to the Night (1956), an anti-capital punishment tale with Diana Dors as the condemned prisoner.
The late 1950s continued Thompson's 'kitchen sink' dramas, focusing on plights of the average Briton. Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), with Yvonne Mitchell, Anthony Quayle, and Sylvia Syms, deals with the collapse of a 20-year marriage. The Good Companions (1957) gives a dour, semi-musical view of the theatrical world.
Thompson's strongest period of British films was undoubtedly 1958–60, during which he made Ice Cold in Alex (1958), North West Frontier (1959), No Trees in the Street (1959), Tiger Bay (1959), and I Aim at the Stars AKA Wernher von Braun (1960). Ice Cold in Alex, the story of a British army unit trecking across North Africa in World War II, was a major success featuring John Mills, Sylvia Syms, Anthony Quayle, and Harry Andrews; it won three BAFTA Awards, including Best British Film. Hayley Mills also earned a BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer in Tiger Bay, portraying a 12-year-old girl who refuses to betray a sailor accused of murder.
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