Sydney Box

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For the British trade unionist, see Sidney Box.

Sydney Box
Born
Frank Sydney Box[1]

(1907-04-29)29 April 1907
Beckenham, Kent, England, UK
Died25 May 1983(1983-05-25) (aged 76)
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Occupations
  • Film producer
  • writer
  • screenwriter
  • film company co-founder
Years active1935–1967
SpousesMuriel Box (1935–1969),
Sylvia Knowles
Children1 daughter

Frank Sydney Box (29 April 1907 – 25 May 1983) was a British film producer and screenwriter, and brother of British film producer Betty Box. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Jay Lewis.[2]

He produced and co-wrote the screenplay, with his then wife director Muriel Box, for The Seventh Veil (1945), which received the 1946 Oscar for best original screenplay.[3]

Sydney and Muriel married in 1935, had a daughter Leonora the following year, and divorced in 1969.[4]

Gainsborough Studios

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The couple were hired after the war by the Rank Organisation to run Gainsborough Studios. They disapproved of the Gainsborough melodramas which had been the studio's major successes for several years, and switched production to a broader range of more "realistic" films with mixed results. Box made 36 films at Gainsborough, which was merged into the Rank Organization in 1949. It has been argued Box's overexpansion "killed" Gainsborough.[5]

In 1951 Box founded his own production company London Independent Producers with William MacQuitty.

Box was part of a consortium that launched the ITV franchise, Tyne Tees Television in 1959.

In September 1959 Box announced he was quitting filmmaking due to medical advice.[6]

In December 1959 Rank announced Sydney Box Associates would make a series of films for the company including Love Birds starring Brian Rix, Not in the Book produced by Norman Williams and scripted by Peter Blackmore from Arthur Watkyn’s play, No Concern of Mine from Jeremy Kingston's play, Milk and Honey from Philip King’s play: Watch It, Sailor! also based on a Philip King play, See No Evil an original by Jimmy Sangster, and Time to Kill another original by Leigh Vance.[7] Some of these films would be made by other companies.[8]

According to Sue Harper and Vincent Porter:

Box was a skilled entrepreneur who was able to raise regular loans from the NFFC and to encourage others' talents. According to his assistant David Deutsch, he provided, more effectively than anyone he had ever known, 'the right environment for creative people to work, welcoming, encouraging and subtly influencing'. Box’s position as an outsider—a socialist of sorts, a realist by instinct, and a feminist by default—meant that he became increasingly excluded from the meritocracy. He lacked a strong visual sense, but this was supplied by Muriel Box, whose lively inventiveness was accompanied by an uncompromising sexual radicalism, which pleased her but not the distributors or the audiences.[9]

Selected filmography

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Screenwriter and producer

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London Independent Producers

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Producer

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Rank Organisation Film Productions

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Orbit Films

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Beaconsfield

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Sydney Box Associates

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Alliance Film Distributors

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Welbeck Film Distributors

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Films as Head of Gainsborough

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Selected plays

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References

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  1. ^ Births England and Wales 1837-1915
  2. ^ Spicer, Andrew (2006). Sydney Box. British Film Makers. Manchester University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-7190-5999-5. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  3. ^ Morley, Carol (19 February 2023). "Who was Muriel Box, Britain's most prolific female film director?". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Power women of the 1950s: Muriel and Betty Box". The Guardian. 5 October 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  5. ^ Vagg, Stephen (1 December 2024). "Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black". Filmink. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  6. ^ "Lesser reportedly back of winding 'Too Hot' Mansfield British pic". Variety. 7 October 1959.
  7. ^ Edwards, Bill (17 December 1959). "A significant year". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 99.
  8. ^ "Peter Rogers announces top product from the Sydney Box Group of Companies". Variety. 20 April 1960. p. 59.
  9. ^ Harper, Sue; Porter, Vincent (2003). British cinema of the 1950s : the decline of deference. Oxford University Press. p. 162.
  10. ^ "Mr X saves Jayne's new film". Daily Herald. 26 September 1959. p. 1.
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