Editing Carol Reed

{{short description|English film director (1906–1976)}}
{{For|the New York weathercaster|Carol Reed (weather broadcaster)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name             = Carol Reed
| image            = Carol Reed.jpg
| caption          = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1906|12|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Putney]], London, England
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1976|4|25|1906|12|30|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], London, England
| occupation       = {{hlist|Director|producer}}
| years_active     = 1935–1972
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Diana Wynyard]]|1943|1947|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Penelope Dudley-Ward]]|1948}}
}}
| children         = 1
| parents          = [[Herbert Beerbohm Tree]] (father)
| relatives        = {{plainlist|
* [[Viola Tree]] (half-sister)
* [[Felicity Tree]] (half-sister)
* [[Iris Tree]] (half-sister)
* [[Oliver Reed]] (nephew)
* [[Kristian Reed]] (nephew)
}}
}}

'''Sir Carol Reed''' (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for ''[[Odd Man Out]]'' (1947), ''[[The Fallen Idol (film)|The Fallen Idol]]'' (1948), ''[[The Third Man]]'' (1949), and ''[[Oliver! (film)|Oliver!]]'' (1968),<ref name="Malcolm">{{cite news |title=Carol Reed: The Third Man |last=Malcolm |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Malcolm |date=16 March 2000 |work=The Guardian |url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/Century_Of_Films/Story/0,4135,147436,00.html |quote=Carol Reed directed films for 40 years, but his golden period was brief. It covered three years in the late '40s when he made ''Odd Man Out'', ''The Fallen Idol'' and ''The Third Man''. These three films alone put him in the forefront of British directors of the period, and the last-named, his second collaboration with Graham Greene, is probably the best film noir ever made out of Britain.}}</ref> for which he was awarded the [[Academy Award for Best Director]].

''Odd Man Out'' was the first recipient of the [[BAFTA Award for Best British Film]]. ''The Fallen Idol'' won the second BAFTA Award for Best British Film. The [[British Film Institute]] voted ''The Third Man'' the [[BFI Top 100 British films|greatest British film of the 20th century]].

==Early life and career==
Carol Reed was born in [[Putney]], southwest London.<ref name="Kemp">Philip Kemp [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/459891/ "Reed, Carol (1906–1976)"],  ''Reference Guide to British and Irish Film Director'', reprinted at BFI Screenonline. The ''[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/31593 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]'' has Wandsworth, London as Reed's place of birth.</ref> He was the son of actor-producer [[Herbert Beerbohm Tree|Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree]] and his [[mistress (lover)|mistress]], Beatrice May Pinney, who later adopted the surname of Reed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/12th-may-1979/19/mummer-and-daddy|title=Mummer and daddy » 12 May 1979 » the Spectator Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mubi.com/films/10747?from_theauteurs=1 |title=The Stars Look Down – Movie info: cast, reviews, trailer on |publisher=Mubi.com |date=22 February 1999 |access-date=13 June 2012}}</ref> He was educated at [[The King's School, Canterbury]].

He embarked on an acting career while still in his late teens. A period in the theatrical company of the thriller writer [[Edgar Wallace]] followed, and Reed became his personal assistant in 1927.<ref name="Hogg1">Trevor Hogg [http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2009/10/great-reed-carol-reed-profile-part-1.html "A Great Reed: A Carol Reed Profile (Part 1)"], ''Flickering Myth'', 21 October 2009</ref> Apart from acting in a few Wallace-derived films himself, Reed became involved in adapting his work for the screen during the day while he was a stage manager in the evenings. This connection ended when Wallace died in February 1932. Taken on by [[Basil Dean]], Reed worked for his [[Associated Talking Pictures]], successively for ATP as a dialogue director, second-unit director and then assistant director.<ref name="Feehan">{{cite web |title=Carol Reed |date=15 December 2010 |last=Freehan |first=Deirdre |work=Senses of Cinema |url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/reed/}}</ref> His films in the later role working under Dean were ''[[Autumn Crocus (film)|Autumn Crocus]]'', ''[[Lorna Doone (1934 film)|Lorna Doone]]'' and ''[[Loyalties (1933 film)|Loyalties]]'' and (with [[Thorold Dickinson]]) ''[[Java Head (1934 film)|Java Head]]''.

==Early films==
His earliest films as director were "[[quota quickies]]".{{citation needed|date=September 2013}} Of his experience making ''[[Midshipman Easy]]'' (1935) his first solo directorial project he was harsh on himself. "I was indefinite and indecisive", he said later. "I thought I had picked up a lot about cutting and camera angles, but now, when I had to make all the decisions myself and was not just mentally approving or criticising what somebody else decided, I was pretty much lost. Fortunately, I realised that this was the only way to learn – by making mistakes."<ref name="Hogg1"/> [[Graham Greene]], then reviewing films for ''[[The Spectator]]'', was much more forgiving, commenting that Reed "has more sense of the cinema than most veteran British directors".<ref>Graham Greene [http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/3rd-january-1936/18/the-cinema "Stage And Screen: The Cinema"], ''The Spectator'', 3 January 1936, p.18</ref> Of Reed's comedy ''[[Laburnum Grove]]'' (1936), he wrote: "Here at last is an English film one can unreservedly praise". He was perceptive about Reed's potential, describing the film as "thoroughly workmanlike and unpretentious, with just the hint of a personal manner which makes one believe that Mr. Reed, when he gets the right script, will prove far more than efficient."<ref>Graham Greene [http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/31st-july-1936/15/the-cinema-here-at-last-is-an-english-film-one "Stage And Screen: The Cinema"], ''The Spectator'', 30 July 1936, p.15</ref>

Reed's career began to develop with ''[[The Stars Look Down (film)|The Stars Look Down]]'' (1940), from the [[A. J. Cronin]] novel, which features [[Michael Redgrave]] in the lead role. Greene wrote that Reed "has at last had his chance and magnificently taken it." He observed that "one forgets the casting altogether: he [Reed] handles his players like a master, so that one remembers them only as people."<ref>Graham Greene [http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/26th-january-1940/16/the-cinema "Stage and Screen: The Cinema"], ''The Spectator'', 26 January 1940, p.16</ref>

==War years==
The scripts of several of Reed's films in this period were written by [[Frank Launder]] and [[Sidney Gilliat]], with the screenwriters and director working for producer [[Edward Black (producer)|Edward Black]], who released through the British subsidiary of [[20th Century Fox]].<ref name="edward">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-ted-black/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=1 December 2024|access-date=1 December 2024|title=Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black}}</ref> The best known of these films are probably ''[[Night Train to Munich]]'' (1940), with [[Rex Harrison]]; ''[[Kipps (1941 film)|Kipps]]'' (1941), again with Michael Redgrave; and ''[[The Young Mr. Pitt]]'' (1942), with [[Robert Donat]] in the title role, set during the [[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic Wars]].

From 1942, Reed served in the [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps]]: he was granted the rank of Captain and placed with the film unit, and then with the Directorate of Army Psychiatry.<ref>Peter William Evans [https://books.google.com/books?id=XrLQ6ODPYfcC&pg=PA185 ''Carol Reed''], Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005, p.53</ref> For the latter body a training film, ''The New Lot'' (1943), was made, recounting the experiences of five new recruits. It had a script by [[Eric Ambler]] and [[Peter Ustinov]], with contributions from Reed, and was produced by [[Thorold Dickinson]]. It was remade as ''[[The Way Ahead]]'' (1944).

==Post-war==
Reed made his three most highly regarded films just after the war, beginning with ''[[Odd Man Out]]'' (1947), with [[James Mason]] in the lead. It is the tale of an injured IRA leader's last hours in an unidentified Northern Irish city. In fact, [[Belfast]] was used for the location work, but it remains unnamed in the film. Filmmaker [[Roman Polanski]] has repeatedly cited it as his favourite film.<ref>Roman Polanski: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi, 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-57806-800-5}}. Pages 159, 189.</ref>

It was the producer [[Alexander Korda]], to whom Reed was now signed, who introduced the director to the novelist [[Graham Greene]].<ref name="Hogg2">Trevor Hogg [http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2009/10/great-reed-carol-reed-profile-part-2.html "A Great Reed: A Carol Reed Profile (Part 2)"], ''Flickering Myths'', 28 October 2009</ref> The next two films were made from screenplays by Greene: ''[[The Fallen Idol (film)|The Fallen Idol]]'' (1948) and ''[[The Third Man]]'' (1949).

''The Third Man'' was co-produced by [[David O. Selznick]] and Korda, with the American actors [[Orson Welles]] and [[Joseph Cotten]] in two of the leading roles. Reed insisted on casting Welles as Harry Lime, although Selznick had wanted [[Noël Coward]] for the role. The film required six weeks of location work in [[Vienna]], during which Reed by chance discovered [[Anton Karas]], the zither player who became responsible for the film's music, in a courtyard outside a small Viennese restaurant.<ref name="Hogg2"/>

Reed once said: "A picture should end as it has to. I don't think anything in life ends 'right'". While Greene wanted Holly Martins (Cotten) and Anna Schmidt ([[Alida Valli]]) to reconcile at the end of the film, after Lime, her lover, is killed by Martins, Reed insisted that Anna should ignore him and walk on. "The whole point of the Valli character in that film is that she'd experienced a fatal love – and then comes along this silly American!"<ref name="Hogg2"/>

According to the film critic [[Derek Malcolm]], ''The Third Man'' is the "best film noir ever made out of Britain".<ref name="Malcolm"/> The film won the Grand Prix at the [[Cannes Film Festival]],<ref name="Feehan"/> the predecessor of the [[Palme d'Or]].

==Later career==
''[[Outcast of the Islands]]'' (1952), based on a novel by [[Joseph Conrad]], is considered by some to mark the start of his creative decline.<ref>David Thomson seems to think that in ''The New Biographical Dictionary of Film'', London: Little Brown, 2002, p.721, but ascribes this view to others in ''Have You Seen'', London: Allen Lane, 2008, p.632</ref> ''[[The Man Between]]'' (1953) is dismissed as a rehash of ''The Third Man''.<ref name="Kemp"/> It "makes no startling impact, such as we have learned to expect from its director, on either the mind or the heart", complained Virginia Graham in ''The Spectator''.<ref>Virginia Graham [http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/25th-september-1953/13/cinema "Cinema"], ''The Spectator'', 24 September 1953, p.13</ref> While the fable ''[[A Kid for Two Farthings (film)|A Kid for Two Farthings]]'' (1955), Reed's first colour film, set in the [[East End of London]], has been claimed as one of very few authentic cinematic depictions of an Anglo-Jewish community,<ref name="Brooke">Michael Brooke [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1005746/ "''Kid for Two Farthings, A'' (1955)"], BFI Screenonline</ref> it suffers from the stereotyping of Jews<ref>Matthew Reisz [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/sep/15/4 "EastEnders – but not as we know it"], ''The Guardian'', 15 September 2006</ref> and is no more than a "whimsical curiosity" according to Michael Brooke.<ref name="Brooke"/> It was the last film Reed made for Korda's [[London Films]]; the producer died at the beginning of 1956.

''[[Trapeze (film)|Trapeze]]'' (1956) was Reed's first venture into the then relatively new [[CinemaScope]] wide screen process, and, although largely shot in Paris, was made for the US [[Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions]] company and was a success at the box-office. Reed was going to make ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'' for that company but withdrew after the budget was cut.<ref name="natural">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|date=27 February 2025|access-date=27 February 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/wrecking-australian-stories-summer-of-the-seventeenth-doll/?fbclid=IwY2xjawItNeFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdfjoDKKNPRwIUw_CpwHxvsx-Nwe0Ux0vs54ici1NORlcxM0tGnZAIlpIg_aem_B57Gkzk7qzqgKn0YaklBwA|title=Wrecking Australian stories: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll}}</ref>

''[[Our Man in Havana (film)|Our Man in Havana]]'' (1959) reunited him with Graham Greene who adapted his own novel.

He was contracted to direct a remake of ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1962) by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]], but then [[Marlon Brando]] was cast as [[Fletcher Christian]], and problems with the mock ''Bounty'' and the weather at the locations caused delays.<ref>Cliff Goodwin [https://books.google.com/books?id=RI-FAj0F7EYC&pg=PT91 ''Behaving Badly: Richard Harris''], Random House, 2011, p.91</ref> Brando had insisted on creative control,<ref>David Thomson ''Have You Seen?'', London: Allen Lane, 2008, p.585</ref> and the two men argued incessantly. Reed left at a relatively early stage of production and was replaced by [[Lewis Milestone]].<ref>Robert Sellers [https://books.google.com/books?id=dvHjgWeYh9cC&pg=PT34 ''Hollywood Hellraisers: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson''], Random House, 2010, p.34</ref> ''[[The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)|The Agony and the Ecstasy]]'' (1965), made in the United States, was a box-office failure, and was the last film over which Reed also served as producer. ''[[Oliver! (film)|Oliver!]]'' (1968), made at [[Shepperton Studios|Shepperton]] in [[Surrey]], was financially backed by [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]], and won the [[Academy Award for Best Director]]. "The movie may have been over-produced but it seemed everyone liked it that way", writes Thomas Hischak.<ref>Thomas Hischak ''The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film and Television'', New York: Oxford University Press, 2008, p.547</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:213 and 215 King's Road 05.JPG|thumb|[[213 and 215 King's Road|213 King's Road]]]]
From 1943 until 1947, he was married to the British actress [[Diana Wynyard]]. After their divorce, he married in 1948 the actress [[Penelope Dudley-Ward]], also known as Pempie, the elder daughter of [[Freda Dudley Ward]], who had been a mistress of Edward, [[Prince of Wales]] (later [[Edward VIII of the United Kingdom|King Edward VIII]], then Duke of Windsor). They had one son. His stepdaughter [[Tracy Reed (English actress)|Tracy Reed]], Ward's daughter, also had an acting career.<ref>{{IMDb name|1064352|Tracy Reed}}</ref> Actor [[Oliver Reed]] was his nephew.

In 1952, he became only the second [[film director|British film director]] to be knighted for his craft. The first was Sir [[Alexander Korda]] in 1942, the producer of some of Reed's most admired films.

Reed died from a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] on 25 April 1976, aged 69, at his home at [[213 and 215 King's Road|213 King's Road]], [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], where he had lived since 1948. He is buried in [[Gunnersbury Cemetery|Kensington Cemetery]], [[Gunnersbury]], West London. A [[blue plaque]] has been placed on his former home in his honour.

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#B0C4DE;"
! Year
! Film
! Notes
|-
|1935
| ''[[Midshipman Easy]]''
|
|-
|1936
| ''[[Laburnum Grove]]''
| 
|-
|rowspan=2|1937
| ''[[Talk of the Devil]]''
| Also writer
|-
| ''[[Who's Your Lady Friend?]]''
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1938
| ''[[Penny Paradise]]''
|
|-
| ''[[Bank Holiday (film)|Bank Holiday]]'' 
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1939
| ''[[Climbing High]]''
|
|-
| ''[[A Girl Must Live]]''
|
|-
|rowspan=3|1940
| ''[[The Stars Look Down (film)|The Stars Look Down]]''
|
|-
| ''[[Girl in the News]]''
|
|-
| ''[[Night Train to Munich]]''
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1941
| ''[[Kipps (1941 film)|Kipps]]''
|
|-
| ''[[A Letter from Home (film)|A Letter from Home]]''
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1942
| ''[[The Young Mr. Pitt]]''
|
|-
| ''[[We Serve]]''
|Recruiting film produced by [[Verity Films]] for the ATS.<ref name="Spicer2006">{{cite book|last=Spicer|first=Andrew|title=Sydney Box|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sY1LGFNtCOEC&pg=PA24|access-date=13 April 2012|series=British Film Makers|year=2006|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-5999-5|pages=24–25}}</ref>
|-
|1943
| ''[[The New Lot]]''
|
|-
|1944
| ''[[The Way Ahead]]''
|
|-
|1945
| ''[[The True Glory]]''
| Uncredited
|-
|1947
| ''[[Odd Man Out]]''
| Also producer<br>[[BAFTA Award for Best British Film]]
|-
|1948
| ''[[The Fallen Idol (film)|The Fallen Idol]]''
| Also producer<br>[[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director]]<br>[[BAFTA Award for Best British Film]]<br>Nominated—[[22nd Academy Awards|Academy Award for Best Director]]
|-
|1949
| ''[[The Third Man]]'' 
| Also producer<br>Grand Prize of the [[1949 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]]<br>[[BAFTA Award for Best British Film]]<br>Nominated—[[23rd Academy Awards|Academy Award for Best Director]]
|-
|1952
| ''[[Outcast of the Islands]]''
| Also producer
|-
|1953
| ''[[The Man Between]]''
| Also producer
|-
|1955
| ''[[A Kid for Two Farthings (film)|A Kid for Two Farthings]]''
| Also producer
|-
|1956
| ''[[Trapeze (film)|Trapeze]]''
|
|-
|1958
| ''[[The Key (1958 film)|The Key]]''
|
|-
|1959
| ''[[Our Man in Havana (film)|Our Man in Havana]]''
| Also producer
|-
|1963
| ''[[The Running Man (1963 film)|The Running Man]]''
| Also producer
|-
|1965
| ''[[The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)|The Agony and the Ecstasy]]''
| Also producer
|-
|1968
| ''[[Oliver! (film)|Oliver!]]''
| [[Academy Award for Best Director]]<br>[[6th Moscow International Film Festival]] – Special Prize<ref name="Moscow1969">{{cite web|url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1969 |title=6th Moscow International Film Festival (1969) |access-date=17 December 2012 |work=MIFF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116194825/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1969 |archive-date=16 January 2013}}</ref> <br> Nominated—[[22nd British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA Award for Best Film]]<br>Nominated—[[22nd British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA Award for Best Direction]]
|-
|1970
| ''[[Flap (film)|Flap]]''
|
|-
|1972
| ''[[Follow Me! (film)|Follow Me!]]''
|
|-
| colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" | '''Sources:'''<ref>{{cite web|title=Carol Reed, Filmography|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0715346/filmotype |publisher=[[IMDb]]|access-date=7 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Carol Reed, Awards|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0715346/awards|publisher=[[IMDb]]|access-date=7 July 2009}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
* [[List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain]]
==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{IMDb name|0715346}}
* {{Screenonline name|id=459891}}

{{Carol Reed}}
{{AcademyAwardBestDirector 1961-1980}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Carol}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Wandsworth]]
[[Category:English film producers]]
[[Category:Beerbohm family]]
[[Category:Best Directing Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:English people of German descent]]
[[Category:English people of Lithuanian descent]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People educated at The King's School, Canterbury]]
[[Category:People from Putney]]
[[Category:Directors of Palme d'Or winners]]
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]
[[Category:Royal Army Ordnance Corps officers]]
[[Category:King's Road, Chelsea, London]]
[[Category:Film directors from London]]
[[Category:Directors of Best Picture Academy Award winners]]