Alexander Mackendrick

One of the most distinguished (if frequently overlooked) directors ever to emerge from the British film industry, Alexander Mackendrick, was in fact born in the US (to Scottish parents), but grew up in his native Scotland, where he studied at the Glasgow School of Art. He started out as a commercial illustrator, and his first film endeavors were in animation (for advertising films) but he soon found himself attracted by live-action, shooting numerous short documentaries and writing screenplays throughout the 1940s.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 626-630. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

He made his feature debut in 1948 with the Ealing comedy classic Whisky Galore! (1949), set in his native Scotland, and more than half his total feature output would be for the studio including such masterpieces as The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955) -- comedies with a rather darker, more satirical edge to them than the rather cosy and parochial British comedy more typical of the era.

His first Hollywood film pushed this style to its limit in Sweet Smell of Success (1957), a vicious, no-holds-barred portrait of the world of ruthless New York gossip columnists. Although now acclaimed as one of the great American films, and a career high-point for Mackendrick, stars Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis and cinematographer James Wong Howe, it was a critical and box-office disaster that, sadly, ensured that Mackendrick would never again scale such heights.

Began directing The Devil's Disciple (1959) and The Guns Of Navarone (1961), but was fired from both after disagreements with their producers. He was replaced by Guy Hamilton and J. Lee Thompson, respectively.

In 1969 he became Dean of the Film Department at the California Institute for the Arts. He stayed there for several years, then began teaching and did that until his death in 1993.