Lindsay Shonteff
| Lindsay Shonteff | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Lindsay Craig Shonteff November 5, 1935 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | March 11, 2006 (aged 70) Canada |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, Film producer |
Lindsay Craig Shonteff (5 November 1935 – 11 March 2006) was a Canadian born film director, film producer and screenwriter who achieved fame for low-budget films produced in England.
Lindsay Shonteff was born in Toronto, Ontario and made his directing, producing, editing and screenwriting debut in 1959 with a Canadian made Western The Hired Gun/The Last Gunfighter that he edited in his own home. After the film's release, Shonteff went to England following his friend fellow Canadian Sidney J. Furie.
Shonteff's English debut was Devil Doll (1964) that Furie was originally scheduled to direct. Furie was offered a more prestigious film so recommended his fellow Canadian Shonteff. Richard Gordon said Furie advised Shonteff throughout the making of the film. Shonteff had to cut the horror tale of a ventriloquist's dummy for an X rating from the British Board of Film Censors.
This film led to interest from Columbia Pictures for a contract but Shonteff argued over the matter and the contract did not come through.
Shonteff then filmed the "African horror adventure" Curse of Simba (aka Curse of the Voodoo) for Richard Gordon again starring Bryant Haliday with outdoor sequences filmed in Regent's Park in London.
In 1965 Shonteff co-wrote and directed a James Bond type film for producer S.J.H. "James" Ward Licensed to Kill with Tom Adams as agent Charles Vine. The film was picked up for American and international release by Joseph E. Levine; re-edited and retitled The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World with a new title song written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen and performed by Sammy Davis Jr. The American publicity campaign for the James Bond exploitation film echoed the 'Number 2, but tries harder' advertising of the Avis Rent a Car System prevalent at the time. Reportedly Shonteff was offered a contract by 20th Century Fox but disagreed on conditions. Adams reprised Charles Vine in two more films without his Mauser C96 or Shonteff though Shonteff collaborated again with producer James Ward in Run With the Wind with Francesca Annis in 1966.
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