John Paddy Carstairs

John Paddy Carstairs

John Paddy Carstairs (born John Keys; 11 May 1910, in London – 12 December 1970, in London) was a British film director (1933–62) and television director (1962–64), usually of light-hearted subject matter.[1] He was also a comic novelist and painter.[2]

Biography

The son of actor Nelson Keys, and the brother of director Anthony Nelson Keys, Carstairs changed his name to his mother's surname in order to avoid the appearance of nepotism.[3] He directed 37 films in total. He had a long association with the character of Simon Templar (the character's creator, Leslie Charteris, dedicated the 1963 book, The Saint in the Sun to Carstairs). Aside from directing the 1939 Saint film, The Saint in London, he also directed two episodes of The Saint in the 1960s, making him the only individual (other than Charteris himself) to be connected to both the Hollywood film and British series of The Saint.

Carstairs directed many British comedies including Norman Wisdom's first six films.[4][5][6]

Filmink magazine argued Carstairs had "a style as recogniseable as any British auteur – we’re surprised more academics don’t discuss him."[7]

Death

Carstairs died of a heart attack on 12 December 1970, aged 60.

Select bibliography

  • Movie Merry-Go-Round (1937)
  • Vinegar and Brown Paper (1939)
  • Nicer to Stay in Bed (1940)
  • Bunch: A biography of Nelson Keys (1941)
  • Whatho she bumps ! (1941)
  • Honest Injun (1942)
  • But Wishes Aren't Horses (1942)
  • Rain on Her Face (1943)
  • Down the Wide Stream (1943)
  • Gremlins in the Cabbage Patch (1944)
  • No Music in the Nightingale (1944)
  • Hadn't We the Gaiety (1945)
  • Lillipop Wood. A story for children (1945)
  • Magical was the Moment (1945)
  • Kaleidoscope and a Jaundiced Eye (1946)
  • Kimmie by John Paddy Carstairs (1946)
  • Nothing Happens Mondays (1947)
  • Love and Ella Rafferty (1947)
  • My Fancy has Wings (1948)
  • Solid! Said the Earl (1948)
  • Fingle-Fangle (1949)
  • Tinsel and Stars (1950)
  • Call No Man Faithful (1951)
  • Exultation of Skylarks (1952)
  • Hope Comes on the South Wind (1953)
  • Paintings and Watercolours (1955)
  • Sunshine and Champagne (1955)
  • Gardenias Bruise Easily (1958)
  • Watercolour is Fun (1958)
  • No Wooden Overcoat (1959)
  • Touch a French Pompom (1960)
  • Pardon My Gun (1962)
  • The Concrete Kimono (1965)
  • A Smell of Peardrops (1966)
  • No Thanks for the Shroud (1967)

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ "John Paddy Carstairs". BFI. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Austria Develops its Own School of Painting". The Times. 4 May 1960. p. 16. At the same gallery that prolific writer and painter, Mr. John Paddy Carstairs, fills a large room with his gay Mediterranean scenes...
  3. ↑ "Obituary - John Paddy Carstairs". The Herald. Glasgow. 14 December 1970. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Carstairs, John Paddy (1910-1970) Biography". screenonline.org.uk.
  5. ↑ "Paddy Carstairs on box office Wisdom". Kinematograph Weekly. 10 July 1958. p. 23.
  6. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (14 June 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: Rank Organisation Films – 1957". Filmink. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  7. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (5 June 2025). "Forgotten British Studios: Rank Organisation Film Productions". Filmink. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
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