Vandyke Productions

Last updated

Vandyke Productions
Industry Film production
Founded1947;76 years ago (1947)
Founders
Defunct1956 (1956)

Vandyke Productions was a British film production company which operated between 1947 and 1956. [1] It specialised in making B films which would be released on the bottom-half of a double bill.

Founded by the brothers Nigel and Roger Proudlock in 1947 after their demobilisation, the company used several studios during its existence including Walton and Kensington. Often operating on very low-budgets, during its first few years the company produced a mix of thrillers and comedies. Some of its films of the 1950s were slightly more expensive including Black 13 , which was released in the United States by 20th Century Fox. John Guillermin, who went on to be a Hollywood director, made several films for Vandyke early in his career. The company went out of business in 1956 due to a slump in B Film production, but Roger Proudlock returned to make a few more films until 1960. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rona Anderson</span> British actress

Rona Anderson was a Scottish stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in TV series and on the stage and films throughout the 1950s. She appeared in the films Scrooge and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and on TV in Dr Finlay's Casebook and Dixon of Dock Green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gilling</span> 1912-1984; English film director and screenwriter

John Gilling was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), The Reptile (1966) and The Mummy's Shroud (1967), Cross of the Devil (1975), among others.

Smart Alec is a 1951 British crime film directed by John Guillermin and starring Peter Reynolds.

<i>Two on the Tiles</i> 1951 British film

Two on the Tiles is a 1951 British comedy film directed by John Guillermin and starring Herbert Lom, Hugh McDermott and Brenda Bruce. It was made at the Walton Studios by the independent Vandyke Productions for release as a second feature. It was one of three back-to-back productions Guillermin directed for the company at Walton Studios, along with Smart Alec and Four Days,. It was released in the U.S. as School for Brides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Hylton</span> British actress (1927–1979)

Jane Hylton was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the 1960s and 1970s.

Daniel Birt was an English film director and editor.

<i>The Golden Link</i> 1954 British film

The Golden Link is a 1954 British police drama film directed by Charles Saunders, starring André Morell, Patrick Holt, Thea Gregory and Jack Watling. It was produced by Guido Coen under his Kenilworth Film Productions, featuring a screenplay by Allan MacKinnon and soundtrack by Eric Spear. The story concerns the death of a young woman, having fallen to her demise inside an apartment building. A policeman neighbour, Superintendent Blake, conducts an unofficial investigation, which initially seems to implicate his own daughter in a murder plot.

Fergus McDonell (1910–1974) was an English film editor and director. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Odd Man Out (1947), and his film The Hideout received a nomination for Best British Film at the 1949 BAFTA Awards.

Edwin John Fancey (1902–1980) was a British film producer and distributor. He owned the production company E.J. Fancey Productions, and the distribution company DUK. He specialised largely in producing supporting films and short subjects, often edited from or compiled from material appearing in earlier films produced by others, such as musical numbers or comedy routines.

James Wilson was a British cinematographer.

<i>Little Red Monkey</i> 1955 film

Little Red Monkey is a 1955 British thriller film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Richard Conte, Rona Anderson and Russell Napier. Detectives from Scotland Yard investigate a series of murders of leading nuclear scientists, and are intrigued by strange reports received about the crimes. The film was based on a BBC Television series of the same name, written by Eric Maschwitz and produced by Bill Lyon-Shaw, which ran for six 30-minute episodes in 1953. The film was released in the United States by Allied Artists as Case of the Red Monkey.

George Maynard was a British film producer. During the 1950s and 1960s he produced a number of independent films. Maynard had earlier worked as a production manager at several British studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Danzigers</span>

Edward J. Danziger (1909–1999) and Harry Lee Danziger (1913–2005) were American-born brothers who produced many British films and TV shows in the 1950s and 1960s.

Ernest G. Roy (1892–1977) was a British film producer who was managing director of Kay Laboratories, Kay Carlton Hill Studios Ltd and Nettlefold Studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butcher's Film Service</span> British film company

Butcher's Film Service was a British film production and distribution company that specialised in low-budget productions. The company was founded by William Butcher, a chemist from Blackheath. The company survived through several production slumps in the British film industry and two World Wars.

Roger Proudlock (1920–2003) was a British film producer associated with Vandyke Productions, which specialised in making low-budget second features during the late 1940s and 1950s.

The Six Men is a 1951 British crime film directed by Michael Law and starring Harold Warrender, Olga Edwardes and Peter Bull. It was made by the independent Vandyke Productions at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. It also used location shooting around London.

<i>The Strangers Came</i> 1949 British film

The Strangers Came is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Alfred Travers and starring Tommy Duggan, Shirl Conway and Shamus Locke. Some of the film was shot on location in Ireland. It was made as a second feature by the independent company Vandyke Productions.

To the Public Danger is a 1948 British drama short film directed by Terence Fisher and produced by John Croydon. It stars Dermot Walsh, Susan Shaw, Barry Letts, and Frederick Piper.

The Monarch Film Corporation was a British film distribution company active during the 1940s and 1950s. It specialised in supplying second features to British cinemas. The company handled a mixture of British and American films, as well as the Australian film Strong Is the Seed. It involved itself in production at times, and produced several more ambitious features including Hindle Wakes (1952) and A Yank in Ermine (1956). It had an arrangement with ACT Films under John Croydon to handle films made at Walton Studios. The 1952 adventure film Men Against the Sun (1952) was, unusually for the second feature market, a costume adventure film despite its running time.

References

  1. "Vandyke Picture Corporation". Archived from the original on 21 December 2016.
  2. Chibnall & McFarlane p.121-3

Bibliography