Ronald Neame

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Birthday:

23 April 1911, London, England, UK

A British filmmaker who, over the years, worked as assistant director, cinematographer, producer, writer and ultimately director, Ronald Neame was born on April 23, 1911. His father, Elwin Neame, was a film director and his mother, Ivy Close, was a film star. During the 1920s, he started working at famous Elstree Studios. One of his first jobs was assistant cameraman for Alfred Hitchcock on Blackmail (1929), the first talking picture made in England.Neame became a cinematographer during the 1930s. In 1942, he and sound designer C.C. Stevens received a special effect Oscar nomination for One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), a film by the Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger team. In 1944, after working together on In Which We Serve (1942), Neame, David Lean and producer Anthony Havelock-Allan formed a production company, Cineguild. The screenplays for its films Brief Encounter (1945) and Great Expectations (1946) received best writing Oscar nominations.After a fall-out with Lean and the demise of Cineguild in 1947, Neame turned to directing with Take My Life (1947). As a director, he would be quite versatile, touching genres like comedy (The Card (1952), Hopscotch (1980)), psychological studies (The Chalk Garden (1964)), musical (Scrooge (1970)), thriller (The Odessa File (1974)) and even disaster movies (The Poseidon Adventure (1972), the one that started the trend, produced by Irwin Allen). Under Neame's guidance, Alec Guinness won the best actor trophee at the 1958 Venice festival for The Horse's Mouth (1958), a comedy based on a book adapted by Guinness himself. Two years later, John Mills received the same award for Tunes of Glory (1960), also directed by Neame. In 1969, Maggie Smith got her first Oscar for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) under Neame's direction, and in 1970, Albert Finney got his first Golden Globe for his role in Neame's "Scrooge".In 1996, Neane was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition for his contributions to the film industry. In 2003, he published his autobiography, "Straight from the Horse's Mouth". Keeping up the family tradition, his son Christopher Neame is a movie producer and his grandson, Gareth Neame, works for the BBC. Ronald Neame died at age 99 of complications from a fall on June 16, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Show less «

[on David Lean] "If he heard his best friend was dying while he was on the set, I doubt if he'd take it in. Once he's started a film, there'...Show more »

[on David Lean] "If he heard his best friend was dying while he was on the set, I doubt if he'd take it in. Once he's started a film, there's really nothing else in his life." Show less «

[on working with Judy Garland in I Could Go on Singing (1963)] Suddenly, Judy had become the real Judy. It was no longer acting and it was a...Show more »

[on working with Judy Garland in I Could Go on Singing (1963)] Suddenly, Judy had become the real Judy. It was no longer acting and it was absolutely wonderful. Show less «

[About his working relationship with J. Arthur Rank] I always remember him as a rather big man, but that may be because I was a very slim, y...Show more »

[About his working relationship with J. Arthur Rank] I always remember him as a rather big man, but that may be because I was a very slim, young man at the time. He wasn't fat. I remember a mustache, a good-natured face. You know when you met him that this was a good man. And so we started to choose subjects, prepare scripts, and knew that we had a lovely studio to shoot them in. And we knew nobody was going to say, "This won't go in America," or "This doesn't seem too good," or "This costs too much." None of that. We didn't make films with an American market in mind, which quite frankly would have been fatal. Even today I think that if Britain tries to make a film that will go well in America, it's a mistake. They are making films in England, and they should make the film they believe in. Show less «

[About the early 40s] At that time everybody was asking why it was that America could shoot 20 setups a day and in England we seemed to only...Show more »

[About the early 40s] At that time everybody was asking why it was that America could shoot 20 setups a day and in England we seemed to only manage about nine? It was partly union problems - too many cups of tea in the afternoon - but it was also equipment. We were very, very short of cameras. Show less «

[About Alexander Korda] I once had a meeting with him. I remember thinking, Korda can make you think black is white, or white is black that ...Show more »

[About Alexander Korda] I once had a meeting with him. I remember thinking, Korda can make you think black is white, or white is black that he would say at a meeting, "Well, you see, black is white, Ronnie." And you'd say, "Yes, yes." And then halfway up Brook Street after you'd left, you'd say, "Well, no. That's not so. Black isn't white." Show less «

David Lean and I are fighting a rear guard action. We want movies to return to greatness. If that's being old-fashioned, then I stand condem...Show more »

David Lean and I are fighting a rear guard action. We want movies to return to greatness. If that's being old-fashioned, then I stand condemned. Show less «

I consider myself a good craftsman. I know my job. I was brought up in a school to make films a certain way. The most important thing you le...Show more »

I consider myself a good craftsman. I know my job. I was brought up in a school to make films a certain way. The most important thing you learn as a director is not to direct too much. You must force the audience to work too. Show less «

I was never comfortable in the limelight. I am the first to admit some of my recent films have been among my weakest, but that is the fault ...Show more »

I was never comfortable in the limelight. I am the first to admit some of my recent films have been among my weakest, but that is the fault of changes in the industry. It wasn't in my temperament to retire as David Lean did for such a lengthy period. I remain the determined optimist, hopeful that my brand of small, character study portraits will eventually come back into favor. Show less «

[on British quota quickies] Many were made in a week... one take for each scene. The cinemas ran them in the mornings to fulfill the require...Show more »

[on British quota quickies] Many were made in a week... one take for each scene. The cinemas ran them in the mornings to fulfill the requirement. What killed them off? Well, the Dominions started making them even cheaper, and the government simply gave up. Show less «