1. Basil Dearden later changed his own name to Dearden to avoid confusion with his mentor.
21 Facts About Basil Dearden
1. 2.
Basil Dearden wrote This Man Is News, a hugely popular quota quickie and wrote and directed a film for TV Under Suspicion.
3.
Basil Dearden was promoted to associate producer on two more George Formby films, which he co-wrote: To Hell with Hitler aka Let George Do It and Spare a Copper.
4.
Basil Dearden went over to Ealing Studios where he produced The Ghost of St Michael's with Will Hay, then he produced Turned Out Nice Again with George Formby.
5.
Basil Dearden first began working as a director at Ealing Studios, co-directing comedy films with Will Hay, starting with Black Sheep of Whitehall.
6.
Basil Dearden worked on the influential chiller compendium Dead of Night and directed the linking narrative and the "Hearse Driver" segment.
7.
Basil Dearden directed The Captive Heart starring Michael Redgrave, which was a big hit.
8.
Basil Dearden directed Frieda with Mai Zetterling and produced by Relph, which was popular.
9.
Basil Dearden directed Saraband for Dead Lovers an expensive costume picture that was not a large success.
10.
Basil Dearden wrote and directed a segment of Train of Events.
11.
The Blue Lamp, probably the most frequently shown of Basil Dearden's Ealing films, is a police drama which first introduced audiences to PC George Dixon, later resurrected for the long-running Dixon of Dock Green television series.
12.
Basil Dearden made The Gentle Gunman, an IRA thriller with Dirk Bogarde; The Square Ring, a boxing film with Jack Warner; The Rainbow Jacket, a horse racing drama; and Out of the Clouds, set at an airport.
13.
Basil Dearden did some uncredited directing on The Green Man then made an Ealing style comedy for British Lion The Smallest Show on Earth.
14.
Basil Dearden did some uncredited directing on one of Ealing's last films, Nowhere to Go.
15.
Basil Dearden produced Davy, with Harry Secombe, for Ealing.
16.
Basil Dearden directed episodes of The Four Just Men on TV and produced two films directed by Michael Relph: Mad Little Island and Desert Mice.
17.
Basil Dearden directed Victim with Dirk Bogarde for Allied; a thriller about homosexuality, it was a huge success.
18.
Basil Dearden was then hired to replace Lewis Gilbert as director of Khartoum, with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier.
19.
Basil Dearden had two sons, Torquil Dearden and the screenwriter and director James Dearden.
20.
Basil Dearden died on 23 March 1971 at Hillingdon Hospital, London after being involved in a road accident on the M4 motorway near Heathrow Airport, in which he suffered multiple injuries.
21.
Regular Ealing cinematographer Douglas Slocombe enjoyed working with Basil Dearden personally, describing him as the 'most competent' of the directors he worked with at Ealing.