Lewis Allen


Director
Lewis Allen

About

Also Known As
Alfred Lewis Allen
Birth Place
Shropshire, England, GB
Born
December 25, 1905
Died
May 03, 2000

Biography

After a career as stage actor and director in England and later the USA, apprenticed at Paramount and directed his first feature film in 1943, the chilling, subdued ghost story, "The Uninvited." Although British, Allen filmed two slices of Americana: "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay" (1944), and "Those Endearing Young Charms" (1945) early in his career. He later added an exciting aura of m...

Family & Companions

Dorothy Skinner
Wife
Literary agent. Married until her death in 1969.
Trudy Allen
Wife
Second wife; survived him.

Notes

Not to be confused with the composer of the same name

Biography

After a career as stage actor and director in England and later the USA, apprenticed at Paramount and directed his first feature film in 1943, the chilling, subdued ghost story, "The Uninvited." Although British, Allen filmed two slices of Americana: "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay" (1944), and "Those Endearing Young Charms" (1945) early in his career. He later added an exciting aura of menace to several films noir: "Desert Fury" (1947) and the tautly suspenseful "Suddenly" (1954). Allen spent most of his career after the mid-1950s directing for TV.

Life Events

1943

Feature film directorial debut, "The Uninvited"

1963

Made last feature film, "Decision at Midnight"

Videos

Movie Clip

Suddenly (1954) -- (Movie Clip) Nothing Wrong Yet At this point, as far as we know Baron (Frank Sinatra) and posse (Paul Frees, Christopher Dark) might be legitimate, as they visit Ellen (Nancy Gates), son Pidge (Kim Carney) and Pops (James Gleason) before a still-secret presidential visit to a California town called Suddenly, 1954.
Suddenly (1954) -- (Movie Clip) She Doesn't Like Guns Opening scene, Sterling Hayden is Tod, the sheriff, Pidge (Kim Charney) the son of widowed Ellen (Nancy Gates) of whom, we learn, the sheriff is enamored, in a small California town for which the movie is named, Suddenly, the 1954 assassination drama co-starring Frank Sinatra.
Lord Of the Flies (1963) -- (Movie Clip) There Isn't Any Beastie Elected head of the marooned boys Ralph (James Aubrey) with the conch, assessing matters, supported by Jack (Tom Chapin), then hearing a concern voiced by Piggy (Hugh Edwards) for young Simon (Tom Gaman), in Peter Brook's Lord Of The Flies, 1963.
Lord Of the Flies (1963) -- (Movie Clip) Lots Of Blood Hunters led by Jack (Tom Chapin) make their first kill, but they've let the signal fire go out, as a plane passes over the island, infuriating lookout Piggy (Hugh Edwards) and leader Ralph (James Aubrey), in Lord Of The Flies, 1963, from the William Golding novel.
Illegal (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Napoleon Of The Courtroom The morning after he failed to stop the execution of an innocent man whom he convicted, D-A Scott (Edward G. Robinson) is despondent, drinking, his assistant and close friend Ellen (Nina Foch) unable to shake his determination to leave his post, in Illegal, 1955.
Illegal (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Am I To Believe You Have Scruples? High-roller racketeer Garland (Albert Dekker) dismisses Hugh Marlowe, ex-assistant to the D-A turned defense lawyer Scott (Edward G. Robinson), summoned because he swindled $10,000 from an underling, Jayne Mansfield introduced, with paintings from Robinson’s own collection, in Illegal, 1955.
Uninvited, The (1944) -- (Movie Clip) You'd Sell For That? Received by skittish Stella (Gail Russell), sibling Londoners Rick (Ray Milland) and Pam (Ruth Hussey) strike an odd deal to buy a seaside house from Commander Beech (Donald Crisp) in director Lewis Allens' The Uninvited, 1944.
Uninvited, The (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Don't Get Rattled On his first night in the house, Rick (Ray Milland) hopes the crying voice might be the maid, but is assured by sister Pam (Ruth Hussey) that's not the case, in director Lewis Allen's The Uninvited, 1944.
Uninvited, The (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Haunted Shores Opening credits and Ray Milland's scene-setting narration from director Lewis Allen's The Uninvited, 1944, also starring Ruth Hussey and Donald Crisp, from the play by Dorothy Macardle.
Uninvited, The (1944) -- (Movie Clip) The Most Howling Mistake Odd events begin, not recognized by siblings Rick (Ray Milland) and Pam (Ruth Hussey), as they assess the old seaside house they've just picked up for a song, in Lewis Allen's The Uninvited, 1944.
Uninvited, The (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Stella By Starlight Stella (Gail Russell) is flattered by the attention of Rick (Ray Milland), though nervous about visiting the house he’s bought with his sister, where her own mother died, leading to the introduction of the famous song by Victor Young, originally composed without lyrics, in The Uninvited, 1944.
Suddenly (1954) -- (Movie Clip) You're A Careful Man In the town for which the movie is named, Sheriff Shaw (Sterling Hayden), who’s just heard of the imminent presidential visit, greets Carney (Willis Bouchey), who finds out his old partner Pops (James Gleason), lives up on the hill with his family (Nancy Gates, Kim Charney) in Suddenly, 1954.

Trailer

Family

William Vincent Allen
Father
Wool trader, clothing manufacturer.
Sarah Allen
Mother
Jon Lewis Allen
Son
Survived him.

Companions

Dorothy Skinner
Wife
Literary agent. Married until her death in 1969.
Trudy Allen
Wife
Second wife; survived him.

Bibliography

Notes

Not to be confused with the composer of the same name