Michael Anderson

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Michael Joseph Anderson (30 January 1920 – 25 April 2018) was an English film director, best known for directing the Second World War film The Dam Busters (1955), the epic Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and the dystopian sci-fi film Logan's Run (1976).

Early life and education

Anderson was born in London, United Kingdom, to a theatrical family. His parents were the actors Lawrence (1893–1939) and Beatrice Anderson (1893–1977). His great-aunt was Mary Anderson of Louisville, Kentucky, who became one of the first US Shakespearean actresses; the Mary Anderson Theatre in Louisville was dedicated to her.

He began working in the industry as an actor during the 1930s. By 1938, he had graduated to working behind the camera as an assistant director. During World War II, while serving in the British Army's Royal Signals Corps, he met Peter Ustinov and subsequently assisted him on two films.

Personal life

Anderson was married three times:

His son Michael Anderson Jr., is an actor who appeared in Logan's Run and The Martian Chronicles; another son, David Anderson, is a film producer.

Anderson died on 25 April 2018 at the age of 98, from heart disease.

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Career

Anderson appeared in two films as an actor: in Housemaster (1938), as Oily Boyd (1938); and in No.l Coward's In Which We Serve (1942). He began working at Elstree Studios as a production manager in 1936 and he became an assistant director by 1938.

Spy for a Day (1940), Freedom Radio (1940), Scy for a Day (1941), Cottage to Let (1941), and Jeannie (1941). He served on unit command as well as actor on In Which We Serve (1942) and was assistant director on Unknown Story (1942).

During the Second World War, Anderson served with the Royal Signal Corps during the Second World War, during which he met Peter Ustinov. Anderson returned to film as an assistant director on Ustinov's films School for Secrets (1946) and Vice Versa (1947). He served as an assistant director on Fame is the Spur (1947), One Night with You (1947), and Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill (1948).

Private Angelo (1949) was an Anderson and Ustinov film that was both written and directed.

With Robert Newton's B film Waterfront (1950) Anderson made his solo directorial debut. "I can only burn my boats and prophesy that young Michael Anderson is possibly the most promising find since Carol Reed and David Lean," the Telegraph critic said.

Anderson continued his bat at bat with a few more B movies: Hell Is Sold Out (1951); Night Was Our Friend (1952) and Dial 17 (1952).

Anderson, then, signed a deal with Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), which enables him to produce five films. Will Any Gentleman...? (1953): A.k.a. It was followed by The House of the Arrow (1953).

Richard Todd appeared in The Dam Busters (1955), the third war film. In 1955, it was the most popular film at the British box office.

Anderson followed this with George Orwell's 1984 (1956) cinema film co-financed by American interests. Despite a "happier" conclusion for the United States' announcement, it was a commercial failure.

Anderson was later called in to direct Around the World in 80 Days (1956), after original director John Farrow had a falling out with producer Mike Todd. Todd reportedly recruited him on the strength of The Dam Busters' and Nol Coward's recommendation.

Anderson was nominated for an Academy Award (the film received Best Picture) and a Golden Globe for his direction, and for his direction. Todd was signed to a two-picture deal, but Todd died in a plane crash in 1958.

Anderson was reunited with Richard Todd in another war film called "The Story of H.M.S." Herbert Wilcox's Amethyst (1957), but it was not as popular as The Dam Busters.

Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958), Richard Todd's third film, was his fifth and final film for the Associated British; he made it.

With James Cagney, Shake Hands with the Devil (1959), Anderson created a drama about the IRA in Ireland. It was created for Pennebaker, the company of Marlon Brando, and it served as a mentor to Richard Harris early in his career.

Anderson took over a MGM MGM initiative named The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959), a project co-sponsored by Alfred Hitchcock (1959), starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston. Anderson later remembered in 1986, "The magic I remember most is walking on stage 30 in Culver City at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer." It was the biggest stage in the country, and I remember thinking it would be here in a few weeks and saying that I'll be there in a few weeks and that they'll have built a ship and Charlton Heston would be directing Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston. It gave me such a feeling of awe and that it's never really left me."

Anderson's next film, the melodrama All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) with Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner, was also funded by MGM. Anderson was reunited with Cooper in The Naked Edge (1961), which turned out to be Cooper's last film.

Harold Pinter wrote The Servant for Anderson, but the producer was unable to obtain finance, so he sold it to Joseph Losey.

Harold Hecht's films include Flight from Ashiya (1964), an adventure story, and Wild and Wonderful (1964), a sitcom. Operation Crossbow (1965) was he produced for MGM and Carlo Ponti.

George Segal and Alec Guinness appeared in The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Anderson's first spy drama. He was supposed to direct Eye of the Devil but fell ill for MGM's The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) starring Anthony Asquith, but the film was a flop.

Patrick McGoohan was supposed to direct James Clavell's Tai Pan film, but it was not made due to high costs.

Anderson went for a few years without making a film before returning to Pope Joan (1972) and The Devil's Impostor (1972). Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975) was George Pal's creation; later, Conduct Unbecoming (1975).

Logan's Run (1976), about a post-modern civilization in which humanity is imprisoned in a death trap sealed dome controlled by a computer, was a costly box-office success, earning $50 million worldwide and increasing revenues for its distributor, Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Orca (1977) and Dominique (1978) were Anderson's two children.

Anderson immigrated to Canada, where his then-wife was born, in 1981, and became a Canadian citizen. In 1986, he said, "It's the best move I've made." "There's so much talent, it's exciting, clean, young, and fresh, and it's been really good to me."

His later work included The Martian Chronicles (1980), Sword of Gideon (1986), Young Catherine (1991), Captain's Courageous (1994), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997).

He directed Murder by Phone (1982), the New Zealand film Second Time Lucky (1984), Separate Vacations (1986), The Grand Defiance (1993) and The Grand Defiance (1993). Bottega dell'orefice (The Jeweler's Shop, 1988), based on Karol Wojtya's 1960 play, who, by the time the film was made, had become Pope John Paul II. "I honestly feel like a teenager" in 1998, and he had no intention of resigning. Despite this fact, he's the last film credit he's earned before his retirement would be The New Adventures of Pinocchio (1999).

Michael Anderson was named in 2012 by the Directors Guild of Canada for his Lifetime Achievement Award. Anderson was the oldest living nominee for an Academy Award for Best Director and the first living director whose film received a Best Picture award in the 1950s.

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