Bryan Forbes
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"I want to encourage the film of ideas which is also entertaining, which is adult, which does not pander to the lowest common denominator, which does not depend on violence for its spurious shock value or sex for its transient excitement." --Bryan Forbes, at the time of his appointment as head of production at EMI
Biography
The multi-talented London-born Bryan Forbes began his career as an actor, establishing himself as a competent supporting player on both stage and screen, but it was as a writer that he finally promoted himself through the ranks. A short story writer and journalist, he received his first screenwriting credit on Jose Ferrer's "The Cockleshell Heroes" (1955), although he previously had made uncredited contributions to "The Black Knight" (1954) and "An Alligator Named Daisy" (also 1955). With Richard Attenborough, Forbes formed the production company Beaver Films in 1959, and their initial offering was "The Angry Silence" (1960), for which Forbes won a British Film Academy Award for Best Screenplay. He then got his first opportunity to direct when he replaced Guy Green at the helm of Beaver Films' "Whistle Down the Wind" (1961) and delivered a poignant, believable story of childhood innocence, starring Haley Mills as one of three children who discover a fugitive (Alan Bates) and believe him to be Christ.
Forbes followed that success by directing two of his own screenplays, eliciting a fine performance from Leslie Caron facing pregnancy alone in "The L-Shaped Room" (1962) and orchestrating the remarkable, suspense-filled thriller "Seance on a Wet Afternoon" (1964). Though the latter film earned Kim Stanley a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her Method acting, Attenborough as the docile, defeated husband was by far the better of the two leads. "King Rat" (1965), starring George Segal, took Forbes stateside to direct his adaptation of the James Clavell novel and was praised for its many exciting scenes and thoughtful presentation of the effect of captivity on Allied prisoners during World War II. "The Whisperers" (1967) featured Dame Edith Evans' searing portrait of a dotty old lady struggling to stand tall in the face of a hurricane wind of ill-fortune, although the writer-director went for the tear ducts at every possible occasion. The melodrama as a whole may have fallen short of the desired mark, but Evans' riveting performance (one of her best on screen) elevated the film to a work of importance.
In 1969 Forbes accepted the post of production chief at London's EMI-Elstree Studios, which had just swallowed up the Associated British Picture Corporation. Though responsible for a number of notable films during his tenure (Richard Fuest's "And Soon the Darkness" and Leonard Jeffries' "The Railway Children" in 1970 and Joseph Losey's "The Go-Between" and the ballet film "The Tales of Beatrix Potter" in 1971), he encountered hostility for his humane but unwise refusal to downsize, resigning in March 1971 to concentrate on his writing. Since then, he has directed such popular films as "The Stepford Wives" (1974) and the ill-advised sequel "International Velvet" (1978), which he also wrote and produced. Forbes adapted his own best-selling novel "The Endless Game," directing it as a 1990 Showtime cable movie starring George Segal, and collaborated with William Boyd and William Goldman on the screenplay for Attenborough's biopic "Chaplin" (1992). Accused of having no dominant themes or personal style in his films, he has consistently proved himself an actor's director, coaxing fine performances from many of his leads, several of whom (i.e., Caron, Stanley, Evans, Attenborough) have won awards for their work.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Production Companies (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (Short)
Life Events
1942
Became a "question master" on a BBC radio quiz program, Junior Brains Trust
1945
Served in British Army, first in the Intelligence Corps and then in the Combined Forces Entertainment Unit
1948
Acted on stage in "Gathering Storm"
1948
Film actor in "The Small Back Room"
1951
Moved to Hollywood with first wife Constance Smith and acted in Raoul Walsh's "The World in His Arms" (1952) before returning to England alone the following year
1953
Wrote article about himself ("Behind the Forbes Frown") under pseudonym of Paul Ridgway
1955
First screenplay credit, Jose Ferrer's "The Cockleshell Heroes"
1959
Joined forces with Richard Attenborough to form a production company called Beaver Films
1960
Wrote, co-produced and acted in "The Angry Silence", directed by Guy Green and starring Attenborough
1961
Acted in "The Guns of Navarone"
1961
Got first directorial assignment, "Whistle Down the Wind", when Green dropped out; starred Hayley Mills and Alan Bates and was based on a novel by Mills' mother Mary Haley Bell
1962
Wrote, directed and played a small part in "The L-Shaped Room", based on Lynne Reid Banks' novel; star Leslie Caron received a Best Actress Oscar nomination
1964
Produced, wrote and directed "Seance on a Wet Afternoon", adapted from a novel by Mark McShane; starred Attenborough (who also produced) and Kim Stanley, who was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award
1965
On his second more successful trip to Hollywood, directed "King Rat", adapted from the James Clavell novel; starred George Segal
1966
Bombed with his second film for Columbia, "The Wrong Box"
1967
Produced, directed and wrote "The Whisperers", a tour de force for Dame Edith Evans who garnered a Best Actress Academy Award nomination
1969
Appointed chief of production and managing director of Associated British (EMI)
1969
Directed Katharine Hepburn, Charles Boyer and Evans in "The Madwoman of Chaillot", misfire screen version of the Jean Girdeaux' play
1970
Angered folks at EMI by taking time to make "The Raging Moon/Long Ago Tomorrow", even though he worked on film without pay
1971
Resigned post at EMI
1973
Produced and directed two British TV biographies, "I Caught Acting Like the Measles" (Dame Edith Evans) and "Goodbye Norma Jean, and Other Things" (Elton John)
1973
Began as director of Capital Radio
1974
Directed "The Stepford Wives" from a screenplay by William Goldman and adapted from the Ira Levin novel
1978
Wrote, produced and directed "International Velvet", a sequel to 1944's "National Velvet" with wife Nanette Newman as the adult Velvet Brown
1980
Directed first TV drama, "Jessie", starring Nanette Newman
1980
Directed Peter O'Toole in Old Vic stage production of "Macbeth"
1980
Initial collaboration with Roger Moore, the English segment of the episodic feature "Sunday Lovers"
1980
Wrote screenplay for "Hopscotch", starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson; from novel by Brian Garfield
1985
Adapted and directed Sidney Sheldon's novel "The Naked Face", starring Moore
1990
Adapted novel "The Endless Game" as a Showtime TV movie; also directed; reunited with George Segal
1992
Collaborated on screenplay (with William Boyd and Goldman) for Attenborough's biopic "Chaplin"; ninth feature with Attenborough
Videos
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Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"I want to encourage the film of ideas which is also entertaining, which is adult, which does not pander to the lowest common denominator, which does not depend on violence for its spurious shock value or sex for its transient excitement." --Bryan Forbes, at the time of his appointment as head of production at EMI
