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Earl St. John

October 15, 2023

Earl St. John (14 June 1892 – 26 February 1968) was an American film producer in overall charge of production for The Rank Organisation at Pinewood Studios from 1950 to 1964, and was credited as executive producer on 131 films. He was known as the "Earl of Pinewood".[1] John Davis of Rank called him "the greatest showman that The Rank Organisation has ever had, and probably the greatest showman to have lived in this country. "[2]

Earl St. John
Born(1892-06-14)June 14, 1892
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
DiedFebruary 26, 1968(1968-02-26) (aged 75)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFilm producer
Years active1950–1964
Known forExecutive producer, Rank Organisation

Early life Edit

St. John was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father wanted him to become a soldier but he ran away from a military academy aged 17 and began his career as a page boy for Sarah Bernhardt's company.[3][4]

St. John's uncle worked in the film business and he worked for him when he was 21. He worked as a poster boy then took two religious films around the US and Mexico. He worked during the Mexican Civil War and met Pancho Villa.[5] He fell out with his uncle and joined the Mutual Film Company.[4]

Move to England Edit

St. John served in France with the Texas division during World War I. He demobilised in Liverpool, England, and elected to stay on in the country.

St. John ran a small picture theatre in Manchester and became successful.[3] In 1924, he joined Paramount Theatres Limited, building up its circuit and opening the Plaza and Carlton cinemas. In 1930, they took over the Astoria Cinemas and St. John was responsible for them as well.[6]

Paramount was bought out by Odeon in 1938 and St. John joined The Rank Organisation. In 1939 he became personal assistant to John Davis.[7]

Rank Organisation Edit

In 1946 St. John was appointed chief production adviser for the Rank Organisation.[8]

Two Cities Edit

In May 1947 he was appointed joint managing director of Two Cities Films along with Josef Somlo. Their films included Hamlet, Fame is the Spur, Uncle Silas, The October Man, Vice Versa, The Mark of Cain and One Night with You.

Head of Rank Edit

Early films Edit

In 1948 he was appointed Executive Producer at the studios by Rank's Managing Director John Davis with a brief to rein in financial losses.[9] "Some producers objected because he was a showman," said one producer of this time.[4]

Under his austere and autocratic control, location filming was cut back, and budgets slashed.

Early films made under St. John at Rank included the musical Trottie True (1949) with Jean Kent, and the fantasy The Rocking Horse Winner (1949) with John Mills. The Woman in Question (1950) was a thriller with Kent and Dirk Bogarde, and Highly Dangerous (1950) was an unsuccessful attempt to restore Margaret Lockwood to her mid 1940s popularity. The Reluctant Widow (1950) starred Kent and Guy Rolfe; Rolfe was in Prelude to Fame (1950). More successful than these were a war movie, They Were Not Divided (1950) and the drama The Browning Version (1951). The latter was based on a play by Terence Rattigan and St. John would go on to approve a number of films based on plays: "I started out as manager of a small out-of-town cinema, and I viewed films from the out-of-London angle," he explained in 1951; "This experience made me realise that the ordinary people in the remotest places in the country were entitled to see the works of the best modern British playwrights."[10] The film was directed by Anthony Asquith, and St. John promptly agreed to finance another play adaptation from that director, The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), which was popular. St. John would also finance a version of Romeo and Juliet (1954) shot in Italy.

Also popular was Encore (1951) based on the stories of W. Somerset Maugham, Venetian Bird (1952), a thriller from the director-producer team of Ralph Thomas and Betty E. Box who would become crucial to Rank, and The Card (1952) with Alec Guinness.

Less popular were dramas like It Started in Paradise (1952), Personal Affair (1953) and The Final Test (1953).

Colonial and war movies Edit

St. John decided to finance an action drama set during the Malayan Emergency, The Planter's Wife (1952), directed by Ken Annakin and starring Jack Hawkins and Anthony Steel. In an attempt to appeal to American audiences, St. John arranged for Claudette Colbert to co-star. The movie was not successful in the US but was a big hit in Britain, and led to St. John making several movies with imperial settings.[11]: 44–45 

These included Malta Story (1952), a hugely popular World War Two story with Guinness, Hawkins and Steel; The Seekers (1954), an adventure tale set in New Zealand with Hawkins and Glynis Johns; Above Us the Waves (1955), a war film with Mills and John Gregson; Simba (1955), set in the Mau Mau Uprising; and The Black Tent (1956) set in Africa, all three with Donald Sinden.

Thrillers Edit

St. John commissioned a number of thrillers at Rank, including: Hunted (1952), and Desperate Moment (1953), both with Dirk Bogarde; The Long Memory (1953) with John Mills; The Net (1953); Turn the Key Softly (1953); The Kidnappers (1953); Forbidden Cargo (1954); Passage Home (1955); Lost (1956); and House of Secrets (1956).

Dramas tended to be less popular such as The Young Lovers (1954); The Woman for Joe (1955); and Jacqueline, (1956).

Comedies Edit

In the early 1950s, St. John moved Rank more into the comedy area with films such as: Made in Heaven (1952); Penny Princess (1953) with Bogarde; Always a Bride (1953); and A Day to Remember (1953). He was a big believer in making films in colour to compete with television. He also imported many actors from Europe to appear in Rank films.[12]

St. John spotted Norman Wisdom on television in a Christmas Party special, signed him to a seven year contract and starred him in Trouble in Store (1953), which was a huge success. It led to a series of popular Wisdom movies such as: Man of the Moment (1955); and One Good Turn (1955).[13]

Another great St. John success was Genevieve, directed by Henry Cornelius, starring John Gregson, Dinah Sheridan, Kenneth More and Kay Kendall. However his most profitable comedies were the "Doctor" series from Thomas and Box, starring Dirk Bogarde, starting with Doctor in the House (1954). This led to several sequels including Doctor at Sea (1955).

Less popular were the musicals, such as: As Long as They're Happy (1955). Later comedies with Sinden included :You Know What Sailors Are (1954); Mad About Men (1954); The Beachcomber (1954) with Robert Newton; To Paris with Love (1955) with Guinness; All for Mary (1955); Value for Money (1955) with Gregson and Diana Dors; Simon and Laura (1955) with Peter Finch and Kendall; An Alligator Named Daisy (1955), with Donald Sinden and Dors again; and Jumping for Joy (1956) with Frankie Howerd.

St. John put writer Norman Hudis under long term contract early in that writers career.[14]

According to a 1954 profile:

His highly-paid job gives him power to say what films will be made, how they will be made and who will make them. He works with 12 producer - director teams, 21 contract artists, a varying number of guest artists, a story department consisting of an editor, two assistants and three readers, and three contract scriptwriters. Pinewood Studios' quota of 15 films a year, for which St. John is responsible and which average £150,000 each, is the largest in Britain today. In his films, St. John has fostered such stars as Petula Clark, Kay Kendall, Anthony Steel, Terence Morgan, Dirk Bogarde and John Gregson and he has helped to promote Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns and Norman Wisdom. In the past four years he has supervised the making of more than 50 films... St. John has earned a reputation for being a driving showman with a gift for succinct expression.[4]

"He is like a ringmaster who is happy as long as his charges are performing correctly," said producer Peter Rogers. "His approach is: do what you want, but you know what I want," said director Robert Hamer.[4]

International films Edit

Rank had ambitions to make films that appeared in America. St. John used Gregory Peck in The Million Pound Note (1954) and The Purple Plain (1954).[15]

In the late 1950s St. John financed a series of adventure films shot on location overseas in colour based on some best-selling novel. These included Campbell's Kingdom (1957), set in Canada, with Bogarde; Dangerous Exile (1957), a French Revolution tale with Louis Jourdan; Windom's Way (1957), set in Malaya, with Peter Finch; Robbery Under Arms (1957), set in Australia, with Finch; Sea Fury (1958), made in Spain with Victor McLaglen; The Wind Cannot Read (1958), set in India, with Bogarde; A Tale of Two Cities (1958), set in France, with Bogarde; The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958) with Melinda Mercouri; A Night to Remember (1958) with Kenneth More; Nor the Moon by Night (1959), set in South Africa with Michael Craig; The 39 Steps (1959) and North West Frontier (1959) with More; and Ferry to Hong Kong (1960), made in Hong Kong with Orson Welles.[16]

Rank continued to make comedies such as The Captain's Table (1959) with Gregson and Sinden and Too Many Crooks (1959).

Producer Betty Box called St. John "a wonderful old drunk. He got locked into some cellars over one weekend. He was quite happy. It was a whole weekend. And he was a boy from Alabama. He was a real deep south American. He was huge. He was six foot six. And heavy and hand- some. He was a wonderful man. But he didn’t quite fit into the British filmmaking tradition."[17] Anthony Havelock-Allan said "he did what [Rank chairman John] Davis told him to... nice man but not creative at all, not imaginative. He just did what he was told."[18]

Sir John Davis later said St. John "was jolly good. As executive producer his function was to produce films - to get together the units to make them. He was both a creative influence and a facilitator, with a grasp of the technical side of making films, and he understood the creative atmosphere."[19]

Michael Powell called him "John Davis' yes-men at Pinewood"[20] adding:

Everybody in show business knew Earl St. John, but nobody but John Davis would have thought of putting him in charge of production at Britain's premiere studio... He made many friends in show business, and few enemies. One doesn't kick a dog, and Earl was like a great St. Bernard dog in his desire to please, in his size and shape, in his great, lined face, and in his anxiety to agree with the last speaker. He puzzled artists with whom he had to work. Nobody disliked him, but nobody trusted him either. To put such a man — or such a dog — in charge of creative artists was a joke, or a crime, or both. To call such a man a has-been was a mistake. He had never been; he had just been around.[21]

Contemporary historical consensus is that St. John's influence was limited, and he mainly did what Davis told him to do.[11]: 42–43 

Roy Ward Baker later said "Earl was not [Daryl F. Zanuck. He was not a positive leader and ruthless driver if need be like Zanuck at Fox. He had no organisation to support him to speak of. He had a story department, dreamy, quite charming but dreamy... He found himself in charge of the studio and did his best to be in charge of the studio, he liked being in charge of the studio but he wasn't really a super positive contributor like Zanuck was."[22]

However, when Bryan Forbes ran EMI Films he said he was influenced by Earl St. John and would find "myself thinking, 'How would Earl have handled this situation?'".[23] He called him:

That enigmatic quasi-Englishman who convinced most strangers that he was a distinguished member of the aristocracy, whereas his apparent title sprang from the same line as Duke Ellington and King Vidor. Earl was a survivor. Frequently out of favour with the higher echelons, he stepped into the wings on several occasions to allow more flashy luminaries to occupy the stage. And when they departed to scant applause, as depart they inevitably did, there was Earl, unruffled and word perfect, to resume a familiar role. I certainly owe him more than one debt of gratitude, for in later years he gave me my first chance at direction. And when eventually I occupied a similar position at EMI, I often found myself thinking, how would Earl have handled this situation? He loved films, even bad films, and now when the industry is mostly in the control of men who treat films as just another commodity... one realizes what a giant Earl was."[24]

Earl St. John had an at times difficult relationship with Dirk Bogarde but he cast Bogarde in Doctor in the House, which made him a big star, and suggested him for the lead in Victim.[25]

Val Guest recalled "it was a bit disturbing at first, when you went to see Earl he was always in his office in full make-up. He used to wear pancake all the time."[26]

Later years Edit

St. John's slate of films became less successful in the 1960s. The British film industry turned to riskier subject matter. For instance St. John bought the film rights to the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning but the Rank board refused to let him make the film, which became a big success.[27] He also refused to make a film of Look Back in Anger.[11]: 42–43 

St. John retired in 1964, after The High Bright Sun (1964), the last collaboration between Ralph Thomas, Betty Box and Dirk Bogarde.

He died while on vacation in Spain, survived by his wife whom he married in 1946.[28][29]

Some Film Productions Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ Falk, Quentin (1987). The golden gong : fifty years of the Rank Organisation, its films and its stars. Columbus Books Falk. p. 103.
  2. ^ "Long Shots". Kinematograph Weekly. 20 September 1962. p. 4.
  3. ^ a b "American is big British movie man". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 3 December 1952. p. 57. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Hustling Showman Of British Films". The Newcastle Sun. NSW. 19 July 1954. p. 11. Retrieved 31 October 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Mr Earl St John The Guardian [London (UK)] 28 Feb 1968: 5.
  6. ^ Astoria Cinemas. The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Dec 2, 1930; pg. 16; Issue 45685
  7. ^ "MAKING MORE & BETTER PICTURES" Karr, Jack. The Times of India [New Delhi, India] 16 May 1948: 5.
  8. ^ "St John is Made Chief Prod", Variety, 21 August 1946, p22
  9. ^ "FILM PRODUCTION CHANGES" The Manchester Guardian [Manchester (UK)] 23 Dec 1948: 8.
  10. ^ "FILMS REVIEWED Another "Mr. Chips"". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 28 April 1951. p. 15. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  11. ^ a b c Harper, Sue; Porter, Vincent (2003). British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198159346.
  12. ^ "Comedy and color are behind new British film boom". The Australian Women's Weekly. 1 October 1952. p. 58. Retrieved 17 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ Wisdom, Norman (1992). Don't laugh at me : an autobiography. p. 142-144.
  14. ^ Bright, Morris (2000). Mr. Carry On : the life and work of Peter Rogers. p. 72-73.
  15. ^ "Mr Earl St John." The Times [London, England] 28 Feb. 1968: 12. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.
  16. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (Feb 18, 1958). "M. Chevalier Young at 69: Boulevardier Still in Demand; Rank Organization Flourishes". Los Angeles Times. p. A7.
  17. ^ Macnab, Geoffrey (1994). J Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry. p. 221.
  18. ^ J Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry p 222
  19. ^ Brian McFarlane, An Autobiography of British Cinema p 159
  20. ^ Powell, Michael (1992). Million dollar movie. Random House. p. 285.
  21. ^ Powell p 295
  22. ^ "Transcript of Interview with Roy Ward Baker" (PDF). History Project. 1989. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  23. ^ Moody, Paul (2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 16.
  24. ^ Forbes, Bryan (1974). Notes for a life. p. 259.
  25. ^ John Coldstream (2011-09-03). "Victim's victory – Fifty years of the movie thriller that helped decriminalise homosexuality in Britain". The Spectator. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  26. ^ Fowler, Roy (1988). "Interview with Val Guest". British Entertainment History Project.
  27. ^ Mayer, Geoff (2004). Roy Ward Baker - Geoff Mayer - Google Books. ISBN 9780719063541. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  28. ^ Obituary 2 -- No Title Chicago Tribune 28 February 1968: a10.
  29. ^ "Earl St. John dies on holiday" The Irish Times 28 February 1968: 7

External links Edit

October 15, 2023
earl, john, june, 1892, february, 1968, american, film, producer, overall, charge, production, rank, organisation, pinewood, studios, from, 1950, 1964, credited, executive, producer, films, known, earl, pinewood, john, davis, rank, called, greatest, showman, t. Earl St John 14 June 1892 26 February 1968 was an American film producer in overall charge of production for The Rank Organisation at Pinewood Studios from 1950 to 1964 and was credited as executive producer on 131 films He was known as the Earl of Pinewood 1 John Davis of Rank called him the greatest showman that The Rank Organisation has ever had and probably the greatest showman to have lived in this country 2 Earl St JohnBorn 1892 06 14 June 14 1892Baton Rouge LouisianaDiedFebruary 26 1968 1968 02 26 aged 75 NationalityAmericanOccupationFilm producerYears active1950 1964Known forExecutive producer Rank Organisation Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Move to England 1 2 Rank Organisation 1 3 Two Cities 2 Head of Rank 2 1 Early films 2 2 Colonial and war movies 2 3 Thrillers 2 4 Comedies 3 International films 4 Later years 5 Some Film Productions 6 References 7 External linksEarly life EditSt John was born in Baton Rouge Louisiana His father wanted him to become a soldier but he ran away from a military academy aged 17 and began his career as a page boy for Sarah Bernhardt s company 3 4 St John s uncle worked in the film business and he worked for him when he was 21 He worked as a poster boy then took two religious films around the US and Mexico He worked during the Mexican Civil War and met Pancho Villa 5 He fell out with his uncle and joined the Mutual Film Company 4 Move to England Edit St John served in France with the Texas division during World War I He demobilised in Liverpool England and elected to stay on in the country St John ran a small picture theatre in Manchester and became successful 3 In 1924 he joined Paramount Theatres Limited building up its circuit and opening the Plaza and Carlton cinemas In 1930 they took over the Astoria Cinemas and St John was responsible for them as well 6 Paramount was bought out by Odeon in 1938 and St John joined The Rank Organisation In 1939 he became personal assistant to John Davis 7 Rank Organisation Edit In 1946 St John was appointed chief production adviser for the Rank Organisation 8 Two Cities Edit In May 1947 he was appointed joint managing director of Two Cities Films along with Josef Somlo Their films included Hamlet Fame is the Spur Uncle Silas The October Man Vice Versa The Mark of Cain and One Night with You Head of Rank EditEarly films Edit In 1948 he was appointed Executive Producer at the studios by Rank s Managing Director John Davis with a brief to rein in financial losses 9 Some producers objected because he was a showman said one producer of this time 4 Under his austere and autocratic control location filming was cut back and budgets slashed Early films made under St John at Rank included the musical Trottie True 1949 with Jean Kent and the fantasy The Rocking Horse Winner 1949 with John Mills The Woman in Question 1950 was a thriller with Kent and Dirk Bogarde and Highly Dangerous 1950 was an unsuccessful attempt to restore Margaret Lockwood to her mid 1940s popularity The Reluctant Widow 1950 starred Kent and Guy Rolfe Rolfe was in Prelude to Fame 1950 More successful than these were a war movie They Were Not Divided 1950 and the drama The Browning Version 1951 The latter was based on a play by Terence Rattigan and St John would go on to approve a number of films based on plays I started out as manager of a small out of town cinema and I viewed films from the out of London angle he explained in 1951 This experience made me realise that the ordinary people in the remotest places in the country were entitled to see the works of the best modern British playwrights 10 The film was directed by Anthony Asquith and St John promptly agreed to finance another play adaptation from that director The Importance of Being Earnest 1952 which was popular St John would also finance a version of Romeo and Juliet 1954 shot in Italy Also popular was Encore 1951 based on the stories of W Somerset Maugham Venetian Bird 1952 a thriller from the director producer team of Ralph Thomas and Betty E Box who would become crucial to Rank and The Card 1952 with Alec Guinness Less popular were dramas like It Started in Paradise 1952 Personal Affair 1953 and The Final Test 1953 Colonial and war movies Edit St John decided to finance an action drama set during the Malayan Emergency The Planter s Wife 1952 directed by Ken Annakin and starring Jack Hawkins and Anthony Steel In an attempt to appeal to American audiences St John arranged for Claudette Colbert to co star The movie was not successful in the US but was a big hit in Britain and led to St John making several movies with imperial settings 11 44 45 These included Malta Story 1952 a hugely popular World War Two story with Guinness Hawkins and Steel The Seekers 1954 an adventure tale set in New Zealand with Hawkins and Glynis Johns Above Us the Waves 1955 a war film with Mills and John Gregson Simba 1955 set in the Mau Mau Uprising and The Black Tent 1956 set in Africa all three with Donald Sinden Thrillers Edit St John commissioned a number of thrillers at Rank including Hunted 1952 and Desperate Moment 1953 both with Dirk Bogarde The Long Memory 1953 with John Mills The Net 1953 Turn the Key Softly 1953 The Kidnappers 1953 Forbidden Cargo 1954 Passage Home 1955 Lost 1956 andHouse of Secrets 1956 Dramas tended to be less popular such as The Young Lovers 1954 The Woman for Joe 1955 and Jacqueline 1956 Comedies Edit In the early 1950s St John moved Rank more into the comedy area with films such as Made in Heaven 1952 Penny Princess 1953 with Bogarde Always a Bride 1953 and A Day to Remember 1953 He was a big believer in making films in colour to compete with television He also imported many actors from Europe to appear in Rank films 12 St John spotted Norman Wisdom on television in a Christmas Party special signed him to a seven year contract and starred him in Trouble in Store 1953 which was a huge success It led to a series of popular Wisdom movies such as Man of the Moment 1955 and One Good Turn 1955 13 Another great St John success was Genevieve directed by Henry Cornelius starring John Gregson Dinah Sheridan Kenneth More and Kay Kendall However his most profitable comedies were the Doctor series from Thomas and Box starring Dirk Bogarde starting with Doctor in the House 1954 This led to several sequels including Doctor at Sea 1955 Less popular were the musicals such as As Long as They re Happy 1955 Later comedies with Sinden included You Know What Sailors Are 1954 Mad About Men 1954 The Beachcomber 1954 with Robert Newton To Paris with Love 1955 with Guinness All for Mary 1955 Value for Money 1955 with Gregson and Diana Dors Simon and Laura 1955 with Peter Finch and Kendall An Alligator Named Daisy 1955 with Donald Sinden and Dors again and Jumping for Joy 1956 with Frankie Howerd St John put writer Norman Hudis under long term contract early in that writers career 14 According to a 1954 profile His highly paid job gives him power to say what films will be made how they will be made and who will make them He works with 12 producer director teams 21 contract artists a varying number of guest artists a story department consisting of an editor two assistants and three readers and three contract scriptwriters Pinewood Studios quota of 15 films a year for which St John is responsible and which average 150 000 each is the largest in Britain today In his films St John has fostered such stars as Petula Clark Kay Kendall Anthony Steel Terence Morgan Dirk Bogarde and John Gregson and he has helped to promote Jack Hawkins Glynis Johns and Norman Wisdom In the past four years he has supervised the making of more than 50 films St John has earned a reputation for being a driving showman with a gift for succinct expression 4 He is like a ringmaster who is happy as long as his charges are performing correctly said producer Peter Rogers His approach is do what you want but you know what I want said director Robert Hamer 4 International films EditRank had ambitions to make films that appeared in America St John used Gregory Peck in The Million Pound Note 1954 and The Purple Plain 1954 15 In the late 1950s St John financed a series of adventure films shot on location overseas in colour based on some best selling novel These included Campbell s Kingdom 1957 set in Canada with Bogarde Dangerous Exile 1957 a French Revolution tale with Louis Jourdan Windom s Way 1957 set in Malaya with Peter Finch Robbery Under Arms 1957 set in Australia with Finch Sea Fury 1958 made in Spain with Victor McLaglen The Wind Cannot Read 1958 set in India with Bogarde A Tale of Two Cities 1958 set in France with Bogarde The Gypsy and the Gentleman 1958 with Melinda Mercouri A Night to Remember 1958 with Kenneth More Nor the Moon by Night 1959 set in South Africa with Michael Craig The 39 Steps 1959 and North West Frontier 1959 with More and Ferry to Hong Kong 1960 made in Hong Kong with Orson Welles 16 Rank continued to make comedies such as The Captain s Table 1959 with Gregson and Sinden and Too Many Crooks 1959 Producer Betty Box called St John a wonderful old drunk He got locked into some cellars over one weekend He was quite happy It was a whole weekend And he was a boy from Alabama He was a real deep south American He was huge He was six foot six And heavy and hand some He was a wonderful man But he didn t quite fit into the British filmmaking tradition 17 Anthony Havelock Allan said he did what Rank chairman John Davis told him to nice man but not creative at all not imaginative He just did what he was told 18 Sir John Davis later said St John was jolly good As executive producer his function was to produce films to get together the units to make them He was both a creative influence and a facilitator with a grasp of the technical side of making films and he understood the creative atmosphere 19 Michael Powell called him John Davis yes men at Pinewood 20 adding Everybody in show business knew Earl St John but nobody but John Davis would have thought of putting him in charge of production at Britain s premiere studio He made many friends in show business and few enemies One doesn t kick a dog and Earl was like a great St Bernard dog in his desire to please in his size and shape in his great lined face and in his anxiety to agree with the last speaker He puzzled artists with whom he had to work Nobody disliked him but nobody trusted him either To put such a man or such a dog in charge of creative artists was a joke or a crime or both To call such a man a has been was a mistake He had never been he had just been around 21 Contemporary historical consensus is that St John s influence was limited and he mainly did what Davis told him to do 11 42 43 Roy Ward Baker later said Earl was not Daryl F Zanuck He was not a positive leader and ruthless driver if need be like Zanuck at Fox He had no organisation to support him to speak of He had a story department dreamy quite charming but dreamy He found himself in charge of the studio and did his best to be in charge of the studio he liked being in charge of the studio but he wasn t really a super positive contributor like Zanuck was 22 However when Bryan Forbes ran EMI Films he said he was influenced by Earl St John and would find myself thinking How would Earl have handled this situation 23 He called him That enigmatic quasi Englishman who convinced most strangers that he was a distinguished member of the aristocracy whereas his apparent title sprang from the same line as Duke Ellington and King Vidor Earl was a survivor Frequently out of favour with the higher echelons he stepped into the wings on several occasions to allow more flashy luminaries to occupy the stage And when they departed to scant applause as depart they inevitably did there was Earl unruffled and word perfect to resume a familiar role I certainly owe him more than one debt of gratitude for in later years he gave me my first chance at direction And when eventually I occupied a similar position at EMI I often found myself thinking how would Earl have handled this situation He loved films even bad films and now when the industry is mostly in the control of men who treat films as just another commodity one realizes what a giant Earl was 24 Earl St John had an at times difficult relationship with Dirk Bogarde but he cast Bogarde in Doctor in the House which made him a big star and suggested him for the lead in Victim 25 Val Guest recalled it was a bit disturbing at first when you went to see Earl he was always in his office in full make up He used to wear pancake all the time 26 Later years EditSt John s slate of films became less successful in the 1960s The British film industry turned to riskier subject matter For instance St John bought the film rights to the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning but the Rank board refused to let him make the film which became a big success 27 He also refused to make a film of Look Back in Anger 11 42 43 St John retired in 1964 after The High Bright Sun 1964 the last collaboration between Ralph Thomas Betty Box and Dirk Bogarde He died while on vacation in Spain survived by his wife whom he married in 1946 28 29 Some Film Productions EditTottie True 1948 The Rocking Horse Winner 1949 The Woman in Question 1950 Highly Dangerous 1950 The Reluctant Widow 1950 Prelude to Fame 1950 They Were Not Divided 1950 The Browning Version 1951 Encore 1951 Made in Heaven 1952 The Planter s Wife 1952 a k a Outpost in Malaya The Venetian Bird 1952 a k a The Assassin It Started in Paradise 1952 The Importance of Being Earnest 1952 The Card 1952 a k a The Promoter Hunted 1952 Penny Princess 1952 The Long Memory 1953 Trouble in Store 1953 Personal Affair 1953 The Net 1953 a k a Project M7 The Final Test 1953 The Malta Story 1953 Always a Bride 1953 Desperate Moment 1953 A Day to Remember 1953 Genevieve 1953 You Know What Sailors Are 1953 Turn the Key Softly 1953 The Kidnappers 1953 a k a The Little Kidnappers The Million Pound Note 1954 a k a Man with a Million Mad About Men 1954 Romeo and Juliet 1954 The Beachcomber 1954 The Seekers 1954 a k a Land of Fury Forbidden Cargo 1954 Man with a Million 1954 The Purple Plain 1954 To Paris with Love 1954 Doctor in the House 1954 The Young Lovers 1954 As Long As They re Happy 1955 Man of the Moment 1955 Above Us the Waves 1955 The Woman for Joe 1955 All for Mary 1955 Value for Money 1955 Simba 1955 Passage Home 1955 One Good Turn 1955 Simon and Laura 1955 Doctor at Sea 1955 An Alligator Named Daisy 1955 Tears for Simon 1956 a k a Lost House of Secrets 1956 Jumping for Joy 1956 The Black Tent 1956 Jacqueline 1956 Eyewitness 1956 The Secret Place 1956 A Town Like Alice 1956 Checkpoint 1956 The Spanish Gardener 1956 Up in the World 1956 The Battle of the River Plate 1956 The One That Got Away 1957 Ill Met by Moonlight 1957 Miracle in Soho 1957 Hell Drivers 1957 High Tide at Noon 1957 True as a Turtle 1957 Doctor at Large 1957 Campbell s Kingdom 1957 Seven Thunders 1957 Windom s Way 1957 Just My Luck 1957 Robbery Under Arms 1957 Dangerous Exile 1957 Rockets Galore 1957 Across the Bridge 1957 The Square Peg 1958 The Captain s Table 1958 Innocent Sinners 1958 Sea Fury 1958 The Violent Playground 1958 A Tale of Two Cities 1958 The Gypsy and the Gentleman 1958 A Night to Remember 1958 Carve Her Name with Pride 1958 Nor the Moon by Night 1958 a k a Elephant Gun Floods of Fear 1958 Storm Over Jamaica 1958 a k a Passionate Summer The Wind Cannot Read 1958 The 39 Steps 1958 Northwest Frontier 1959 Operation Amsterdam 1959 Too Many Crooks 1959 The Heart of a Man 1959 Ferry to Hong Kong 1959 Sapphire 1959 Upstairs and Downstairs 1959 Interpol Calling 1959 TV series Follow a Star 1959 Make Mine Mink 1960 Doctor in Love 1960 Conspiracy of Hearts 1960 The Bulldog Breed 1960 No Love for Johnnie 1960 No My Darling Daughter 1961 The Singer Not the Song 1961 Flame in the Streets 1961 In the Doghouse 1962 On the Beat 1962 Tiara Tahiti 1962 The Wild and the Willing 1962 A Pair of Briefs 1962 A Stitch in Time 1963 80 000 Suspects 1963 The Informers 1963 Doctor in Distress 1963 Hot Enough for June 1964 The Beauty Jungle 1964 a k a Contest Girl The High Bright Sun 1965 References Edit Falk Quentin 1987 The golden gong fifty years of the Rank Organisation its films and its stars Columbus Books Falk p 103 Long Shots Kinematograph Weekly 20 September 1962 p 4 a b American is big British movie man The Australian Women s Weekly National Library of Australia 3 December 1952 p 57 Retrieved 31 October 2015 a b c d e Hustling Showman Of British Films The Newcastle Sun NSW 19 July 1954 p 11 Retrieved 31 October 2015 via National Library of Australia Mr Earl St John The Guardian London UK 28 Feb 1968 5 Astoria Cinemas The Times London England Tuesday Dec 2 1930 pg 16 Issue 45685 MAKING MORE amp BETTER PICTURES Karr Jack The Times of India New Delhi India 16 May 1948 5 St John is Made Chief Prod Variety 21 August 1946 p22 FILM PRODUCTION CHANGES The Manchester Guardian Manchester UK 23 Dec 1948 8 FILMS REVIEWED Another Mr Chips The Argus Melbourne National Library of Australia 28 April 1951 p 15 Retrieved 31 October 2015 a b c Harper Sue Porter Vincent 2003 British Cinema of the 1950s The Decline of Deference Oxford University Press ISBN 9780198159346 Comedy and color are behind new British film boom The Australian Women s Weekly 1 October 1952 p 58 Retrieved 17 December 2015 via National Library of Australia Wisdom Norman 1992 Don t laugh at me an autobiography p 142 144 Bright Morris 2000 Mr Carry On the life and work of Peter Rogers p 72 73 Mr Earl St John The Times London England 28 Feb 1968 12 The Times Digital Archive Web 6 Apr 2014 Scheuer Philip K Feb 18 1958 M Chevalier Young at 69 Boulevardier Still in Demand Rank Organization Flourishes Los Angeles Times p A7 Macnab Geoffrey 1994 J Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry p 221 J Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry p 222 Brian McFarlane An Autobiography of British Cinema p 159 Powell Michael 1992 Million dollar movie Random House p 285 Powell p 295 Transcript of Interview with Roy Ward Baker PDF History Project 1989 Retrieved 5 March 2023 Moody Paul 2018 EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema Palgrave MacMillan p 16 Forbes Bryan 1974 Notes for a life p 259 John Coldstream 2011 09 03 Victim s victory Fifty years of the movie thriller that helped decriminalise homosexuality in Britain The Spectator Retrieved 2017 04 08 Fowler Roy 1988 Interview with Val Guest British Entertainment History Project Mayer Geoff 2004 Roy Ward Baker Geoff Mayer Google Books ISBN 9780719063541 Retrieved 2017 04 08 Obituary 2 No Title Chicago Tribune 28 February 1968 a10 Earl St John dies on holiday The Irish Times 28 February 1968 7External links EditEarl St John at IMDb Earl St John at BFI Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Earl St John amp oldid 1175514034, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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