Maxwell Setton (born 24 October 1909, date of death unknown) was a British film producer, notably active in the 1950s. [1] He was born in Cairo [2] to British parents and studied law, becoming a barrister.
In 1937, he became legal adviser to Mayflower Productions, the production company of Charles Laughton and Erich Pommer. After serving in the war, he became an assistant to Lord Archibald, who was managing Independent Producers Ltd.
After a few years, he set up as a producer with Aubrey Baring and they made movies for a newly organised Mayflower Productions, releasing through Rank. [3] They produced six films together, predominantly adventure films set outside Britain written by Robert Westerby. Setton then set up his own company, Marksman Films, whose first film was Twist of Fate (1954).
In 1956 it was announced Setton would run the production company of Donna Reed and Tony Owen, Todon, to make six films, starting with The Nylon Web by Westerby. It ended up becoming Town on Trial . [4] However no films resulted. Neither did a proposed biopic of Joseph Conrad. [5]
He made a number of films for Mike Frankovitch's company, Frankovitch Productions, who released through Columbia Pictures. He worked with Ken Hughes and John Guillermin a number of times. [6]
He helped establish Bryanston Films. [7]
In 1964 he was appointed head of European production for Columbia. The following year he became a vice-president of Columbia as well. [8] In 1969 he resigned and announced he was returning to film production with three properties for Columbia: Caravan to Vaccarès by Alistair MacLean, Those Who Walk Away by Patricia Highsmith and Rosy is My Relative by Gerald Durrell. [9] [10] In January 1970 he became Paramount's vice president in charge of foreign production. [11] [12]
E. Maurice "Buddy" Adler was an American film producer and production head for 20th Century Fox studios.
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Katzman's specialty was producing low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers.
Carl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films The Bridge on the River Kwai and High Noon, among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were blacklisted in Hollywood in the 1950s because of their suspected communist sympathy or membership in the Communist Party.
Seth Holt was a Palestinian-born British film director, producer and editor. His films are characterized by their tense atmosphere and suspense, as well as their striking visual style. In the 1960s, Movie magazine championed Holt as one of the finest talents working in the British film industry, although his output was notably sparse.
Eric Harold Portman was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s.
The Spider and the Fly is a 1949 British crime film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Eric Portman, Guy Rolfe and Nadia Gray. The screenplay concerns an unusual love triangle that develops between two criminals and a policeman on the eve of the First World War. Hamer made it immediately after Kind Hearts and Coronets.
MGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established at Denham Film Studios in 1936. It was in limbo during the Second World War; however, following the end of hostilities, a facility was acquired in Borehamwood, which remained in use until it was closed in 1970.
Kenneth Graham Hughes was an English film director, writer and producer. He was the co-writer and director of the children's film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). He has been called "a filmmaker whose output was consistently interesting and entertaining, and deserved more critical attention than it has received."
I Was Monty's Double is a 1958 film produced by the Associated British Picture Corporation and directed by John Guillermin. The screenplay was adapted by Bryan Forbes from the autobiography of M. E. Clifton James, an actor who pretended to be General Bernard Montgomery as a decoy during World War II.
Robert Lenard Lippert was an American film producer and cinema chain owner. He was president and chief operating officer of Lippert Theatres, Affiliated Theatres and Transcontinental Theatres, all based in San Francisco, and at his height, he owned a chain of 139 movie theaters.
The Wayward Bus is a 1957 American drama film directed by Victor Vicas and starring Joan Collins, Jayne Mansfield, Dan Dailey and Rick Jason. Released by 20th Century-Fox, the film was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck.
Warwick Films was a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick Hotel in London. Their films were released by Columbia Pictures.
Town on Trial is a 1957 British mystery film directed by John Guillermin and starring John Mills, Charles Coburn, Barbara Bates and Derek Farr. A whole town comes under suspicion when two grisly murders are carried out—particularly members of the local sports club.
Adelphi Films Limited was a British film production company. With its sister company Advance, it produced over 30 films in the 1940s and 1950s and distributed many more. Adelphi linked Gainsborough Pictures and the raw “kitchen sink” dramas of the early 1960s.
The Long Haul is a 1957 British drama film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Victor Mature, Patrick Allen and Diana Dors. It is based on the novel The Long Haul by Mervyn Mills.
John Guillermin was a French-British film director, writer and producer who was most active in big-budget, action-adventure films throughout his lengthy career.
Waltz of the Toreadors is a 1962 film directed by John Guillermin and starring Peter Sellers and Dany Robin. It was based on the play of the same name by Jean Anouilh with the location changed from France to England. It was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay, in 1963.
Aubrey Baring (1912–1985) was a British film producer. For a number of years he was in partnership with Maxwell Setton. They made movies for a newly organised Mayflower Productions, releasing through Rank.
Mayflower Productions was a British-based film production company of the 1930s and 1950s.
Tony Owen was an American agent and producer, who was married to Donna Reed.