Charles Saunders (director)

Charles Joel Saunders (8 April 1904^[1] – April 1997^[2]) was an English film director and screenwriter who started in the industry as a film editor, and who also contributed to television.^[3] He was the brother of the theatrical producer Sir Peter Saunders.

Career

Saunders entered the world of films in 1930 with his drama called No Exit (which he wrote, produced and directed),^[4] about a publisher's daughter who wrongly believes that a humble staff writer of her father's is secretly a best-selling author.^[5]

He then served as art director for three films in 1931 and 1932.^[6] However, his main occupation from 1930 to 1943 was in the film editing sphere, learning the trade by contributing to over 20 films,^[7] and rising to become supervising editor for the 1942 Gainsborough movie Alibi, a thriller which starred James Mason and Margaret Lockwood.^[8]

In 1944, he combined with Bernard Miles to co-direct (and co-screenwrite) Tawny Pipit, a film starring Miles himself as the Army colonel involved with village folk in an effort to protect rare birds' nests from egg thieves.^[9]

After working as a second unitdirector in 1945 on The Way to the Stars,^[10] and as a location director in 1947 on The White Unicorn,^[11] he began his career proper as a dedicated director.

Following his solo debut with Fly Away Peter in 1948,^[12] Saunders would go on to make around ten films (including 1951's One Wild Oat,^[13] featuring a very young Audrey Hepburn as a hotel receptionist) before switching to the medium of television, and in 1953 and 1954 he directed 8 episodes of the anthology series Douglas Fairbanks Presents, for Douglas Fairbanks Productions Limited.^[7]

He was still busy on the movie front, making The Golden Link, The Scarlet Web, and Meet Mr. Callaghan in 1954. He also made three films in 1955 – The Hornets Nest, One Jump Ahead, and A Time to Kill. Returning to television direction once more, he then made 7 episodes of the police drama series, Fabian of the Yard, broadcast on the BBC in 1955, before completing three more films in 1956 (Behind the Headlines, The Narrowing Circle, and Find the Lady).^[7]

After making three more episodes of "Fabian" in 1956, he continued working with the BBC, filming 9 instalments of another TV series, Adventures of the Big Man, for them, which presented stories about a public relations officer in a large store.^[14]

Seven films followed in 1957, before Saunders began to make films which marked a radical departure from the tried and trusted formula he had employed for many years.^[7] The 1958 "English sexploitation movie", Nudist Paradise,^[15] was perhaps the beginning of the end of Saunders' career in films, although he did make a B movie in the same year, called Womaneater (described as "one of the very worst British horror films ever"). It recounted the story of a crazed scientist who feeds women to a flesh-eating tree, in return for a life-giving serum.^[16]

After eight more films, culminating in the 1962 crime thriller Danger by My Side,^[17] Saunders retired from film-making.

He died in April 1997 at Denham, Buckinghamshire.

Selected filmography

References

External links

• Charles Saunders on IMDb