George King (film director)

George King
King in a trade advertisement (The Daily Film Renter, January 1938)
Born1899
London, England, United Kingdom
Died26 June 1966 (aged 66-67)
London, England, United Kingdom
Occupations
  • Film director
  • film producer
  • choreographer
  • screenwriter
  • actors agent
Years active1918 – 1957

George King (1899 – 26 June 1966) was an English film director, producer and screenplay writer. He has been called ‘King of the Quota Quickies’,[1] due to his prodigious output of over 50 low-budget British films of the 1930s and 1940s, comprising thrillers, melodramas and comedy.[2]

Career

King entered the film industry after dropping out of medical school.[3] His first film was Too Many Crooks (1930), now lost,[4] which featured Laurence Olivier in his film debut.[1]

He directed eight films starring Todd Slaughter,[5] which film historian Steve Chibnall describes as "barnstorming productions, with their dastardly villains, endangered maidens and thick slices of ham acting, [constituting] the last flowerings of the Victorian theatrical tradition."[3]

In the war years he worked in feature films such as Candlelight in Algeria (1944) with James Mason, and later The Shop at Sly Corner (1947), the debut of Diana Dors. His final professional work was in 1957, when he moved into TV to produce The Gay Cavalier adventure series for ITV.

King died of bronchial pneumonia on 26 June 1966.[6]

Filmography

Director

Producer

References

  1. 1 2 Botting, Josephine (May 2001). "Forbidden: Programme Notes". BFI. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  2. ↑ McFarlane, Brian (2013). The Encyclopedia of British Film (4th ed.). Manchester University Press. p. 783. ISBN 9780719091391.
  3. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve (2007). Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film. British Film Institute. p. 21. ISBN 978-1844571550.
  4. ↑ "BFI Most Wanted > Too Many Crooks". BFI. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Parkinson, David (12 September 2024). "10 great quota quickies". BFI. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  6. ↑ Murphy, Robert (2006). Directors in British and Irish Cinema: A Reference Companion. British Film Institute. pp. 780–784. ISBN 978-1844571260.
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