Early life He was born in
Huddersfield,
Yorkshire, in 1892. He was a nephew of
Eva Moore and a cousin of the actor
Roland Pertwee. For the first eighteen years of his professional life, Huth worked in the motor business.
Family Huth married Bridget Nickols and they had two daughters,
Angela, who became a writer, and Patricia.
Actor Huth made his screen debut as an actor in the 1927 film
One of the Best, directed by
T. Hayes Hunter at
Gainsborough Pictures. He got the role in part due to the connections of Pertwee. Huth followed it up with the role of
Captain Nolan in the film
Balaclava about the
Charge of the Light Brigade. Huth went on to have roles in
A South Sea Bubble (1928) with
Ivor Novello, directed by Hunter;
The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1928) with
Matheson Lang, playing
Louis Antoine de Saint-Just; and
The Silver King (1929), directed by Hunter, with
Percy Marmont and
Chili Bouchier. Huth made his stage acting debut aged 36 on stage in
The Truth Game with
Ivor Novello.
Raymond Massey then cast him opposite
Fay Compton in
Dishonored Lady. Huth had the male lead in
Downstream (1929) opposite
Chili Bouchier, directed by
Giuseppe Guarino. Huth made a third film with Bouchier,
City of Play (1929). Huth had roles in
Leave It to Me (1930);
An Obvious Situation (1930), directed by Guarino;
Guilt (1931), directed by
Reginald Fogwell; and
Bracelets (1931). Huth starred in
The Outsider (1930) on stage.
Edgar Wallace wrote the play
Smoky Cell (1931) for Huth. He had the lead in
The Outsider (1931), alongside
Joan Barry, receiving much acclaim. He had a key support part in
Down River (1931) with
Charles Laughton. Huth's first screenplay credit was in
Madame Guillotine (1931), starring
Madeleine Carroll, and directed by Fogwell. Huth acted in
A Honeymoon Adventure (1931);
Adventure (1931); ''
Aren't We All? (1932) with Gertrude Lawrence; and The First Mrs. Fraser'' (1932). He had the lead in
The Flying Squad (1932);
Sally Bishop (1932), directed by Hunter; and
The World, the Flesh, the Devil (1932). Huth had support parts in
Rome Express (1932);
Discord (1932);
My Lucky Star (1933), with
Florence Desmond;
The Ghoul (1933), with
Boris Karloff and directed by Hunter; and
The Camels Are Coming (1934) with
Jack Hulbert. Huth quit acting to become head of casting for Gaumont British. He returned to acting briefly with a small role in
Take My Tip (1937) with Hulbert.
Director and Producer Huth directed his first film, ''
Hell's Cargo (1939), for Associated British Picture Corporation. He followed it with Bulldog Sees It Through (1940) starring Jack Buchanan, and East of Piccadilly'' (1941). Huth also moved into producing with ''
Busman's Honeymoon'' (1940), shot in Britain for
MGM starring
Robert Montgomery. He worked as producer on
"Pimpernel" Smith (1941) for
Leslie Howard and over at British Mercury he co-directed
Breach of Promise (1942). Huth returned to acting in
This Was Paris (1942) and MGM got him to produce another in England,
The Adventures of Tartu (1943).
Gainsborough Pictures Huth joined
Gainsborough Pictures, for whom he produced a melodrama,
Love Story (1944), with
Margaret Lockwood,
Stewart Granger and
Patricia Roc; it was a huge commercial success. Also popular were
They Were Sisters (1945), with
James Mason and
Caravan (1946) with Granger. Huth's last film for Gainsborough as producer,
The Root of All Evil (1947), with
Phyllis Calvert, was less successful.
Independent producer Huth's success at Gainsborough saw him receive an offer to set up his own company, Harold Huth Productions with
John Corfield. He produced
The White Unicorn (1947) with fellow Gainsborough alumni Lockwood and
Bernard Knowles and produced and directed
Nightbeat (1947). Huth and Corfeld then helped set up Burnham Productions where Huth produced and directed
My Sister and I (1948), with
Sally Ann Howes, and
Look Before You Love (1948) with
Margaret Lockwood.
Later career Huth produced
Blackmailed (1951), directed by
Marc Allégret, in which he also had a small role. He also appeared in
Sing Along with Me (1952). Huth directed for television, notably
Douglas Fairbanks Presents (1953–57). He and Fairbanks produced
Police Dog (1955) and
The Hostage (1956); Huth directed the latter. Huth went to work as an associate producer at
Warwick Films for
Irwin Allen and
Albert Broccoli, helping make
The Man Inside (1958),
Idol on Parade (1959),
The Bandit of Zhobe (1959),
Jazz Boat (1960),
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) and
In the Nick (1961). He was credited as a writer on
The Hellions (1961). He retired in 1961. He and
Peter Finch did discuss making a film about
Oliver Cromwell but it was not made. Huth died in 1967 in London. ==Selected filmography==