(right) confers with Roy Boulting on the editing of the film
Tunisian Victory The brothers constituted a producer-director team. For most of their careers one produced while the other directed, but the product remained essentially a 'Boulting Brothers film'. They were socialists, as John demonstrated with his involvement in the Spanish Civil War (see above), and wanted all film, including comedies, to reflect the real world.
Charter Film Productions In 1937, they set up
Charter Film Productions and made several short features, including
The Landlady (1937) and
Consider Your Verdict (1938), which attracted critical and commercial attention. They made
quota quickies such as
Trunk Crime (1939) and
Inquest (1939).
Feature films Being eager to speak out against the
Third Reich, the brothers made their film,
Pastor Hall (1940), a biopic of
Martin Niemöller, a German preacher who refused to kowtow to the Nazis. Roy directed and John produced. The film had to have its initial release delayed by the British Government, which was not yet ready to be openly critical of Nazism. Once released, the film was well received by the critics and the public. They followed up with
Thunder Rock (1942) with
Michael Redgrave, a passionate anti-isolationist allegory distinguished by imaginative cinematography and a theatrical but highly atmospheric lighthouse setting. It was financed by
MGM.
Military service In 1941, Roy joined the
Army Film Unit, where he was responsible for
Desert Victory, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1944. He also worked on
Tunisian Victory (1944) and
Burma Victory (1945). John joined the
RAF Film Unit, where he made
Journey Together in 1945, a dramatised documentary about the training and combat experience of a bomber crew with
Richard Attenborough in the lead part.
Terence Rattigan worked on the script.
Post-war films After the war, the Boultings made the drama
Fame Is the Spur (1947) with Redgrave. More successful at the box-office was
Brighton Rock (1947), starring Attenborough as the gangster "Pinkie" from the novel by
Graham Greene. Also well liked was
The Guinea Pig (1948), starring Richard Attenborough as a young working-class boy sent to a public school. It was made for Pilgrim Pictures who the Boultings left shortly afterwards. The Boultings co-directed the thriller
Seven Days to Noon (1950), which won an Oscar for Best Story. It led to a less popular sequel,
High Treason (1951). John directed
The Magic Box (1951), a biopic of
William Friese-Greene and a film containing numerous cameo appearances. It was shown at the 1951
Festival of Britain but on general release the following year proved a box office disappointment.
Hollywood-financed films Roy received an offer to direct a World War Two naval film,
Sailor of the King (1953), starring
Jeffrey Hunter for
20th Century Fox.
Seagulls Over Sorrento (1954) was another war naval story financed by a Hollywood studio (in this case MGM) with an imported star (
Gene Kelly); it was not a big success. The brothers collaborated on a comedy,
Josephine and Men (1955) then Roy was hired by
United Artists to do an action film with Hollywood stars,
Run for the Sun (1956).
Satires In the mid-50s, the Boulting brothers became identified with "affectionate" satires on British institutions. The sequence began with John's ''
Private's Progress'' (1956), a look at army life, starring Attenborough,
Terry-Thomas and
Ian Carmichael and co written by
Frank Harvey. It was the second most commercially successful film in Britain in 1956. They followed it with
Lucky Jim (1957), set in academe, adapted from the novel by
Kingsley Amis. It starred Carmichael and Terry-Thomas.
Brothers in Law (1957) with Carmichael, Attenborough and Thomas, took on the legal profession. They had a break from satirising institutions with
Happy Is the Bride (1958), an adaptation of
Quiet Wedding, then returned to it with
Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959), focusing on diplomacy. The Boultings took on increasingly powerful trade unions and ever corrupt board room power with ''
I'm All Right Jack (1959), a sequel to Private's Progress
with Carmichael, Thomas and Attenborough reprising their roles, and Harvey co-writing. The film featured a performance by Peter Sellers as trade union foreman Fred Kite. It was the most popular film at the British box office in 1959. Suspect (1960) was a return to the thriller genre for the brothers. A French Mistress (1960) was a comedy farce. Heavens Above! (1963) looked at religion in Britain, starring Sellers and Carmichael. It was a minor hit. Rotten to the Core'' (1965) was a heist comedy which attempted to make a star of
Anton Rodgers in a Peter Sellers-type role, playing multiple parts. It featured a young
Charlotte Rampling.
Hayley Mills The Boultings directed and produced the northern comedy
The Family Way (1966), starring
John Mills and his teenage daughter Hayley. Roy Boulting and
Hayley Mills began a relationship during the shoot despite a 33-year age difference; they married in 1971. Roy wrote and directed
Twisted Nerve (1968), a thriller starring Mills and
Hywel Bennett. The brothers had a massive hit with ''
There's a Girl in My Soup (1970) starring Sellers and Goldie Hawn. Roy was called in to replace the director on Mr. Forbush and the Penguins (1971), and he brought in Mills to star. The movie was not successful. Neither was the comedy Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1974) made by the brothers starring Peter Sellers. Roy Boulting lost a considerable amount of money on the film. In 1975, Roy was working on a stage play, The Family Games
. He worked on the script for The Kingfisher Caper'' (1975), starring Mills.
Later career In the US, Roy directed
The Last Word (1979), a comedy starring
Richard Harris that was barely seen. When John died of cancer in 1985, Roy stopped making films. His last credit was directing an episode of the
Miss Marple series for TV,
The Moving Finger (1985). He was working on an adaptation of
Terence Rattigan's play
Deja Vu when he died. ==Personal lives==