Ken Hughes(1922-2001)
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Ken Hughes was an award-winning writer and director who flourished in
the 1950s and 1960s, though he continued directing into the early
1980s. Born in Liverpool, England, on January 19, 1922, Hughes decided
early in his life that he wanted to be a filmmaker. When he was 14
years old he won an amateur movie-making contest.
In 1952 his first feature, the crime drama
Wide Boy (1952), was released. By 1955
he was working with imported American character actor
Paul Douglas in the quirky
Joe MacBeth (1955), a retelling of
William Shakespeare's
tragedy recast as a modern film noir. Hughes directed the movie and
wrote the screenplay. That film led to his directing more English
pictures with imported Hollywood B-list stars, including
Arlene Dahl and
Victor Mature. In a reverse of the
Atlantic trade, he exported a script to the US, which was picked up by
"Alcoa Theater" and aired as
Eddie (1958),
starring Mickey Rooney and
directed by Jack Smight. It brought Hughes
an Emmy Award for his teleplay.
His favorite of his many movies was
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960),
starring Peter Finch as the doomed
writer. He was nominated for three BAFTA Awards and Finch took home the
BAFTA as Best Actor. It also won the Samuel Goldwyn Award for Best
English-Language Foreign Film at the Golden Globes.
During the 1960s Hughes worked on A-List pictures, including
Of Human Bondage (1964), an
adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's
book, but it did not make anyone forget the
Bette Davis-Leslie Howard
classic of 30 years earlier
(Of Human Bondage (1934)). He
also toiled as one of the five directors on the cinematic mishmash
Casino Royale (1967), which was a
box-office smash but a critical bomb.
His greatest hit was the adaptation of another
Ian Fleming work, his children's
book
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
The movie was a huge hit, but Hughes was dissatisfied with it. His next
picture, the historical epic
Cromwell (1970) (1970), got good
reviews, but did not burn up the turnstiles at theaters.
His career slowed down in the 1970s, the low point of which was
undoubtedly his directing 83-year-old
Mae West, vamping eternally as the
30-something sexpot she imagined herself in her mind, in the Golden
Turkey Sextette (1977), a critical and
box-office dud. He ended his career directing the exploitation film
Night School (1981), a slasher pic
starring a then-unknown Rachel Ward.
After a period of declining health, Ken Hughes died on April 28, 2001,
in Los Angeles. He was 79 years old.
the 1950s and 1960s, though he continued directing into the early
1980s. Born in Liverpool, England, on January 19, 1922, Hughes decided
early in his life that he wanted to be a filmmaker. When he was 14
years old he won an amateur movie-making contest.
In 1952 his first feature, the crime drama
Wide Boy (1952), was released. By 1955
he was working with imported American character actor
Paul Douglas in the quirky
Joe MacBeth (1955), a retelling of
William Shakespeare's
tragedy recast as a modern film noir. Hughes directed the movie and
wrote the screenplay. That film led to his directing more English
pictures with imported Hollywood B-list stars, including
Arlene Dahl and
Victor Mature. In a reverse of the
Atlantic trade, he exported a script to the US, which was picked up by
"Alcoa Theater" and aired as
Eddie (1958),
starring Mickey Rooney and
directed by Jack Smight. It brought Hughes
an Emmy Award for his teleplay.
His favorite of his many movies was
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960),
starring Peter Finch as the doomed
writer. He was nominated for three BAFTA Awards and Finch took home the
BAFTA as Best Actor. It also won the Samuel Goldwyn Award for Best
English-Language Foreign Film at the Golden Globes.
During the 1960s Hughes worked on A-List pictures, including
Of Human Bondage (1964), an
adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's
book, but it did not make anyone forget the
Bette Davis-Leslie Howard
classic of 30 years earlier
(Of Human Bondage (1934)). He
also toiled as one of the five directors on the cinematic mishmash
Casino Royale (1967), which was a
box-office smash but a critical bomb.
His greatest hit was the adaptation of another
Ian Fleming work, his children's
book
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
The movie was a huge hit, but Hughes was dissatisfied with it. His next
picture, the historical epic
Cromwell (1970) (1970), got good
reviews, but did not burn up the turnstiles at theaters.
His career slowed down in the 1970s, the low point of which was
undoubtedly his directing 83-year-old
Mae West, vamping eternally as the
30-something sexpot she imagined herself in her mind, in the Golden
Turkey Sextette (1977), a critical and
box-office dud. He ended his career directing the exploitation film
Night School (1981), a slasher pic
starring a then-unknown Rachel Ward.
After a period of declining health, Ken Hughes died on April 28, 2001,
in Los Angeles. He was 79 years old.