Editing Richard Todd (section)

===20th Century Fox===
Todd's career received a boost when [[20th Century-Fox]] signed him to a non-exclusive contract and cast him as the United States Senate Chaplain [[Peter Marshall (preacher)|Peter Marshall]] in the [[A Man Called Peter|film version]] of [[Catherine Marshall]]'s best selling biography ''[[Peter Marshall (preacher)|A Man Called Peter]]'' (1955), which was a popular success.

Even more popular was ''[[The Dam Busters (film)|The Dam Busters]]'' (1955) in which Todd played [[Wing Commander (rank)|Wing Commander]] [[Guy Gibson]]. This was the most successful film at the British box office in 1955<ref>"'The Dam Busters'." ''Times'' [London, England], 29 December 1955, p. 12, via ''The Times Digital Archive''. Retrieved: 11 July 2012.</ref>  and became the defining role of Todd's movie career.

The success of ''Man Called Peter'' led 20th Century Fox to offer Todd a four-picture contract. Associated British signed the actor to a new contract to make one film a year, but which enabled him to make "outside" movies. Todd's first film for Fox under the new deal was ''[[The Virgin Queen (1955 film)|The Virgin Queen]]'' (1955), playing [[Sir Walter Raleigh]] opposite [[Bette Davis]]' [[Queen Elizabeth I]]. It did not do as well as ''Peter''.<ref>Richard Todd INTERNATIONAL STAR: RICHARD TODD Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 10 Apr 1955: h20.</ref> He agreed to appear in ''[[Loser Takes All (film)|Loser Takes All]]'' but had to pull out when that film was delayed.

In France, Todd played [[Axel von Fersen the Younger|Axel Fersen]] opposite [[Michèle Morgan]] in ''[[Marie Antoinette Queen of France]]'' (1956), which was popular in France but not widely seen elsewhere. Fox cast him in ''[[D-Day the Sixth of June]]'' (1956), opposite [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]], which was a mild success.

''[[Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst]]'' (1957) was an attempt to repeat the success of ''The Dam Busters'', with the same director (Michael Anderson) and Todd playing another real-life hero. It was popular in Britain but not on the scale of ''The Dam Busters''. He was [[Jean de Dunois|Dunois, Bastard of Orléans]] in ''[[Saint Joan (1957 film)|Saint Joan]]'' (1957), directed by [[Otto Preminger]].

''[[Chase a Crooked Shadow]]'' (1958) was a thriller with director Anderson for Associated British. ''[[Intent to Kill (1958 film)|Intent to Kill]]'' (1958) was another thriller, which he was forced to do under his contract with Fox. He returned to war films with ''[[Danger Within]]'' (1958), a POW story. Then there were more thrillers, with ''[[Never Let Go (1960 film)|Never Let Go]]'' (1960), directed by [[John Guillermin]] and co-starring [[Peter Sellers]] in a rare straight acting role; Todd gave what has been called one of his best performances.<ref name="ink">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=John Guillermin: Action Man|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/john-guillermin-action-man/|date=17 November 2020}}</ref>

Few of these films had been overly popular but Todd was still the top-billed star of ''[[The Long and the Short and the Tall (film)|The Long and the Short and the Tall]]'' (1961), with Laurence Harvey and Richard Harris, for Associated British. He tried comedy with ''[[Don't Bother to Knock (1961 film)|Don't Bother to Knock]]'' (1961), again for Associated British in conjunction with Todd's own company, Haileywood Films. This was followed by ''[[The Hellions (film)|The Hellions]]'' (1961), shot in South Africa.