Guy Green
About
Biography
Biography
While in his teens, Guy Green was hired to work as a clapper boy for a firm that made advertising films. He went into partnership operating a photographic portrait studio and then at age 20 entered the British film industry. Working his way up from camera assistant to camera operator to director of photography. In 1942, he was camera operator for "In Which We Serve," the patriotic documentary-like drama fashioned by Noel Coward and co-directed by Coward and David Lean. After serving a similar function on the Powell-Pressburger "One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" (also 1942), he shot his first feature, "Escape to Danger" (1943). Lean tapped him as director of photography for "Great Expectations" (1946) and Green's mood-enhancing work earned an Oscar. He and Lean had another triumph with "Oliver Twist" (1948). From the opening shots of an impending storm through to the film's last sequence, the expert camerawork garnered almost universal praise. He continued to provide fine work on films like "The Story of Robin Hood" (1952) and "Decameron Nights" (1953).
Green segued to the director's chair with the modest thriller "River Beat" (1954). But he excelled at social dramas ranging from the underrated "The Angry Silence" (1960), about a strike organizer, "The Mark" (1961), with Stuart Whitman in an Oscar-nominated portrayal of a sex offender whose past is held against him, and "A Patch of Blue" (1965), an interracial love story starring Sidney Poitier and Elizabeth Hartman. Many of his later features were on par with soap opera (e.g. "A Walk in the Spring Rain" 1970) or flat-out camp (i.e., "Once Is Not Enough" 1975). Green capped off his directing career with a series of TV-movies, generally built around strong female leads.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cinematography (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Production Companies (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Short)
Life Events
1929
Worked as a clapper boy for advertising films
1933
Returned to working in the film industry
1935
First credit as director of photography, "The Immortal Swan"
1942
First screen collaboration with David Lean, as camera operator on "In Which We Serve"
1947
Shot David Lean's "Great Expectations"; won Best Cinematography Oscar
1948
Served as cinematographer for Lean's "Oliver Twist"
1954
Film director "River Boat"
1955
Co-wrote and directed "Portrait of Alison/Postmark for Danger"
1961
Helmed "The Mark", featuring Stuart Whitman as a ex-con
1965
Wrote and directed the social drama "A Patch of Blue", co-starring Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Hartman and Shelley Winters
1975
Directed the soapy "Once Is Not Enough"
1977
Final film, "The Devil's Advocate"
1978
First TV-movie, "The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel" (CBS)
1986
Helmed the syndicated miniseries "Arthur Hailey's 'Strong Medicine'"
Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
