Ken Hughes

Ken Hughes
Kenneth Graham Hughes (19 January 1922 – 28 April 2001) was an English film director, writer and producer. He was the co-writer and director of the children's film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). He has been called "a filmmaker whose output was consistently interesting and entertaining, and deserved more critical attention than it has received."
Early life and career
Hughes was born in Yates St, Toxteth, Liverpool. His family moved to London soon after. Hughes won an amateur film contest at age 14 and worked as a projectionist. When he was sixteen he went to work for the BBC as a technician and became a sound engineer.
In 1941 he began making documentaries and short features; he also made training films for the Ministry of Defence. Hughes eventually returned to the BBC where he made documentaries.
Director
Hughes's first film as director was the "B" movie Wide Boy (1952). He did a short feature, The Drayton Case (1953), which became the first of Anglo-Amalgamated's Scotland Yard film series (1953-61), and several of the later installments including The Dark Stairway (1953) and Murder Anonymous (1955). He did Black 13 (1954) then made The House Across the Lake (1954) for Hammer Films, based on Hughes's own novel.
He made The Brain Machine (1955), Little Red Monkey (1955), and Confession (1955). Timeslip (1955) was science fiction. He was one of several writers on The Flying Eye (1955) and Portrait of Alison (1955).
Hughes received notice for Joe MacBeth (1955) a modernised re-telling of Macbeth set among American gangsters of the 1930s, but shot at Shepperton Studios in Surrey. He shared an Emmy Award in 1959 for writing the television play Eddie (for Alcoa Theatre) which starred Mickey Rooney.
The later 1950s
Hughes made some films for Columbia: Wicked as They Come (1956), and The Long Haul (1957). He wrote High Flight (1957) made by Warwick Films, producers Albert Broccoli and Irving Allen, who released through Columbia. For British TV he wrote episodes of Solo for Canary (1958).
For Warwick Films, he directed two films with Anthony Newley, Jazz Boat (1960) and In the Nick (1960). Warwick liked his work and hired Hughes to direct The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) with Peter Finch. It was well received, and was Hughes favourite among his films because he did not make any concessions in its production.
Career peak
Hughes wrote and directed The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963), based on Hughes's television play Sammy which had been broadcast by the BBC in 1958. Anthony Newley was the title lead in both playing a confidence trickster and gambler. He directed episodes of the TV series Espionage (1964).
He replaced Bryan Forbes, who in turn had replaced Henry Hathaway as director of Of Human Bondage (1964), starring Laurence Harvey and Kim Novak. It was financed by Seven Arts who used Hughes on the Tony Curtis comedy Drop Dead Darling (1965). Hughes also wrote episodes for the TV series An Enemy of the State (1965). He was subsequently one of several directors who worked on the James Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967).
He co-wrote and directed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) for producer Broccoli. Although it was a success at the box-office, it received a negative response from critics who objected to its sentimentality. It was a project he did not enjoy working on. "The film made a lot of money, but that doesn't really make me feel any better about it. On the other hand, I've made pictures that got awards at Berlin and places, and didn't make any money, and that doesn't make me feel any better either".
Irving Allen produced Cromwell (1970), a dream project of Hughes who called it the "best thing I've ever done". It starred Richard Harris in the title role and Alec Guinness as Charles I, but was not a financial success. It meant he was unable to raise funds for a proposed film of Ten Days That Shook the World.
In 1969 Hughes sold his company, Ken Hughes Productions, to Constellation Investments for the issue at par of 300,000 of 6 per cent convertible unsecured loan stock. The stock was deposited by the vendors as security for warranties that profits of Ken Hughes Productions during the next ten years would exceed £500,000 after corporations tax and be available to Constellation.
Later career
Hughes directed The Internecine Project (1974) for British Lion and Alfie Darling (1975), a sequel to Alfie (1966); they both flopped. He wrote and directed episodes of Oil Strike North (1975).
Hughes sold his production company for £300,000 in 1969, but encountered financial difficulties in the 1970s. In July 1975 he declared bankruptcy. He told the London Bankruptcy Court he earned £44,177 in 1968 and £47,960 in 1969 but nothing in 1970. "The film industry collapsed," said Hughes. "It has not recovered yet." He had debts of £32,277 and had to sell his house to pay creditors. Hughes attributed his financial situation to paying maintenance to two wives and an inability to reduce expenses. He was also hit by a tax bill.
He worked in the United States for the first time directing Mae West in her last film, Sextette (1978).
His final film was the slasher movie Night School (1981), the film debut of Rachel Ward.
Personal life and death
Hughes had three marriages, to two women. From 1946 to 1957, he was married to Charlotte Epstein. From 1970 to 1976, he was married to Cherry Price, with whom he had a daughter Melinda, an opera singer. The marriage was dissolved in 1976, and Hughes remarried his first wife in 1982. They were married when Hughes died from complications from Alzheimer's disease. He had been living in a nursing home in Panorama City in Los Angeles.
Critical appraisal
Filmink magazine did a profile on Hughes which argued "he was a very “ups and downs” kind of guy with a solid overall average: the maker of a genuine classic (Trials of Oscar Wilde), a handful of terrific movies (Long Haul, Joe MacBeth, Wide Boy) and some films that have splendid things in them (Small World of Sammy Lee, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and yes, Casino Royale). He also made movies that were dull (Cromwell), dire (Alfie Darling), disappointing (Timeslip) and in one case, beyond belief (Sextette). He clearly worked best when attached to a feisty little production company with strong Hollywood links."
Filmography
Sammy (1952) - writer
Wide Boy (1952) - director
The Drayton Case (1953) - director, writer
The Missing Man (1953) - writer, director
The Candlelight Murder (1953) - writer, director
Black 13 (1953) - director, writer
The Dark Stairway (1953) aka The Greek Street Murder - director, writer
The Blazing Caravan (1954) (short) - writer, director
Passenger to Tokyo (1954) (short) - director
The Strange Case of Blondie (1954) (short) - writer, director
The House Across the Lake (1954) aka Heat Wave - director, writer
The Brain Machine (1955) - director, writer
Little Red Monkey (1955) aka Case of the Red Monkey - director, writer
Night Plane to Amsterdam (1955) - director
Confession (a.k.a., The Deadliest Sin, 1955) - director, writer
Timeslip (a.k.a. The Atomic Man, 1955) - director
The Flying Eye (1955) - writer
Joe MacBeth (1955) - director, writer
Postmark for Danger (1955) aka Portrait of Alisonr - writer
Murder Anonymous (1955) (short) - director
Wicked As They Come (1956) aka Portrait in Smoke - director, writer
Town on Trial (1957) - writer
The Long Haul (1957) - director, writer
High Flight (1957) - writer
Sammy (1958) - producer, writer, director
Solo for Canary (1958) - writer
Alcoa Theatre (1958) - writer episode "Eddie"
Jazz Boat (1960) - director, writer
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) - director, writer
In the Nick (1960) - director, writer
The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963) - director, writer
Espionage (1964) - writer, director
Of Human Bondage (1964) - director
An Enemy of the State (1965) - writer
Drop Dead Darling (1966) aka Arrivederci, Baby! - director, producer, writer
Casino Royale (1967) - director, writer
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) - director, writer
Shark! (1969) - writer
Cromwell (1970) - director, writer
Sammy (1972) - writer
Menace (1973) - writer
Colditz (1974) - writer
The Internecine Project (1974) - director
Fall of Eagles (1974) - writer
Dial M for Murder (1974) - writer
Alfie Darling (1975) - director, writer
Oil Strike North: Deadline (1975) - episode "Deadline" - writer
Sextette (1978) - director
Night School (1981) - director
Novels
The Long Echo (1955)
References
External links
1922 births
2001 deaths
English film directors
People from Toxteth
Film people from Liverpool
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease