Maurice Elvey
Directing
Biography
Maurice Elvey was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England, the oldest son of William Clarence Folkard, an inspecting engineer, and Sarah Anna Seward Folkard (formerly Pearce). He never had a formal education, and was working on the streets of London by the age of nine after having run away from home. For a time he worked as a page boy in the Hyde Park Hotel, and a lucky encounter with a wealthy American set him on the road to a career in first the theatre and then in films. It was while in New York when working as a stage producer that he saw his first film, The Flying Dutchman (1923). This made such an impression on him that when he came back to England he was determined to produce and direct films; thus began a career spanning 44 years, during which time he made over 300 feature films and innumerable shorts. Amongst the "firsts" that Maurice Elvey can claim as a director are: Gaumont's first talking film (High Treason (1929)) and the first British colour film Sons of the Sea (1939)). Carol Reed and David Lean began their distinguished careers in film by working for him, and he directed Gracie Fields in her first movie, Sally in Our Alley (1931). Maurice Elvey was the older brother of Fred V. Merrick, and during the 1920s and 1930s they worked on a number of films together. In May 1996 the world premiere of a long-lost film about David Lloyd George, directed by Elvey, took place in Cardiff more than 70 years later than scheduled. The three-hour film was suppressed on the eve of its release under circumstances that have still not been fully explained. The film was acclaimed by cinema historians as a milestone in film making, and it is believed that had it been released in 1918, as originally planned, it may well have changed the course of British cinema. Maurice Elvey was married three times. His first marriage took place on 31st December 1910 to Adeline Maud Charlton Preston (aka actress 'Philippa Preston'. This marriage ended in divorce. He then married Florence Hill Clarke (a sculptor) on 2nd February 1916. This marriage, too, ended in divorce. On 13th January 1923 he married Isabella Reed (aka actress Isobel Elsom), but this marriage also ended in divorce. As Elvey's niece and god-daughter I was privileged to unveil a plaque in April 1997 at the Green Dragon Museum, Stockton-on-Tees as part of the Centenary of Cinema Celebrations.
Known For
Musical comedy telling the hilarious story of greengrocer Albert Speed’s (Albert Burdon) adventures with would-be revolutionaries in a mythical South American banana republic. He becomes mistaken for a gun-runner, and problems arise when Albert begins using the names of vegetables as code words for weapons and ammunition that they are smuggling! Albert saves not only his own skin, but also those of the Presidente and his attractive daughter.
Heat Wave
Road House is a 1934 British comedy crime film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Violet Loraine, Gordon Harker and Aileen Marson.
Road House
Revolution breaks out in a small European kingdom, and a young princess is forced to flee for her life. She heads for the neighboring country, which just happens to be ruled by the king she is betrothed to. Unfortunately, the new revolutionary government won't let citizens leave, which she actually doesn't mind all that much because she's not particularly jazzed about marrying the elderly king. He sends a young naval officer to bring her across the border, but in order to do so they are forced into a marriage of convenience. Complications ensue.
Princess Charming
Deborah and Charles, young executives at the thriving Pontifex Advertising Agency, are very much in love. Deborah is recognised by her employers as the most brilliant TV executive in the country, while Charles is regarded as 'thoroughly reliable'. But there is one hard-and-fast rule at the agency: the board of directors will not allow any married women on their staff; as soon as a girl marries, she must resign!
Second Fiddle
An engineer leads the building of a trans-Atlantic tunnel linking Britain and the United States.
The Tunnel
Big Bill Branigan, one of the tough characters of London's Limehouse district, falls in love with Curlytop because of her sweet innocence. He leaves his sweetheart, Bessie, for her and resolves to go straight. When he sets out to find a job, the jealous Bessie gets Curlytop drunk and hacks off her long curls.
Curlytop
'A good-looking chauffeur, employed by an aristocratic married lady is tempted to misconduct. His indifference arouses her wrath and he is charged with assault at the Assizes. ' (British Film Institute)
Potiphar's Wife
The head of Dartmouth Training College has been murdered, and his successor, Captain Hyde, suspects that he himself may have been the intended target. He enlists the help of his own son Philip, a reluctant cadet at the college, to help him confirm his suspicions about planned enemy action... but meanwhile, there is a Secret Service agent staying at the college observatory, the foreign-born professor of astronomy is behaving strangely, and Naval Intelligence disclaim any knowledge of what is going on...
Sons of the Sea
Jim Gay loves his racing greyhound but, out of town, he finds a dog with a better chance to win. His friends bet on his dog while he bets against.
The Gay Dog
During the War seven women from very different backgrounds find themselves together in the Auxiliary Territorial Services. They are soon drilling, driving lorries, and manning ack-ack batteries.
The Gentle Sex
Old Jerusalem: Matathias, spiteful over his lover's illness, spits on Jesus along the road to Calvary, and is cursed to live endlessly until His return. The Crusades, 1150: Matathias, now an anonymous knight, competes for glory in combat and for the wife of a soldier. Palermo, 1290: Matteos Battadios witnesses the death of his young son, leading to conflict with his wife over whether to take comfort in Christianity. Seville, 1560: Dr Matteos Battadios dedicates himself to the treatment and comfort of the poor, but his life and work are endangered by the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition.
The Wandering Jew
A fake psychic suddenly turns into the real thing when he meets a young beauty. (TCM)
The Clairvoyant
Farmer Chris Lowe meets and falls in love with Molly , a chorus-girl. Despite the fact that she is a city girl through and through, she accepts his proposal of marriage and after the wedding goes to live on the farm. Chris realises that the transition for Molly will be difficult, and in an attempt to ease her into farm life, buys her a strawberry roan calf to look after. Unfortunately Molly finds the adjustment to rural life extremely difficult and does not settle down. She fails to integrate into the local community and starts to feel she has made a big mistake.
Strawberry Roan
Sherlock Holmes (Eille Norwood) is on vacation when he stumbles into a house and discovers two bodies. Both have been dead for hours but there aren't any visible signs of violence and soon other bodies start to pile up.
The Devil's Foot
After the death in suspicious circumstances of Charles Baskerville, the last descendant of the lineage of the Baskervilles, Henry, returned to the old family mansion. The charismatic detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful assistant, Dr. Watson, investigating the case, and discover the existence of a supernatural hound that in addition murderer according to history, killed many years ago Hugo Baskerville, the first of the line, and it seems that the curse stalks his descendants.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Comedy about a trio of not particularly bright bookmakers who try to fix a horse race.
Dry Rot
The wealthy chairman of First Division Football Club, Burnville United, makes an unethical approach to a star player of another club, and the ensuing scandal costs him his job.
The Great Game
When a sickly Victorian woman dies suddenly, a postmortem reveals that her body contains a fatal dose of arsenic. Suspicion falls on her husband and her companion, who are lovers. Inspector Martin of Scotland Yard solves the mystery of her death... over a cup of tea.
The Late Edwina Black
An exciting tale of international crooks and stolen plans, in which an inventor is kidnapped by foreign agents whilst honeymooning in Scotland.
A Honeymoon Adventure
Poor Mr. Murray Selwyn (Guy Middleton)! He's suffering from 'Acute Apprehension Complex' and his doctors have strongly recommended that he avoid any stress or excitement in his life. Unfortunately -- thanks to a chance encounter in a London taxi cab -- he now finds himself at the very centre of an explosive international criminal caper and his life is filled with suitcases full of hot money, desperate gunmen and vanishing bodies! More dangerous still, he's been cared for by the rather ravishing Nurse Brook (Joan Winmill Brown) -- a girl guaranteed to stimulate any red-blooded English gentleman! How much excitement can one man take?