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Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter who directed more than 40 films during six decades; among them such varied titles as Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), Reach for the Sky (1956), Carve Her Name with Pride (1958), Sink the Bismarck! (1960), Alfie (1966), Educating Rita (1983) and Shirley Valentine (1989), as well as three James Bond films: You Only Live Twice (1967), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979).
Gilbert was a child actor in the 1920s and 1930s, but soon after the death of his father, his mother was unable to financially support him, while she was a film extra, and this led to Gilbert being taken in by his aunt Daisy Gilbert, with frequent visits from his mother.
Daisy Gilbert was a known Vaudeville performer in the duo "The Dancing Gilbert Sisters", who performed at venues such as the Hackney Empire, and Tivoli in Australia. And it was Daisy Gilbert's husband Harry Rosen, who was a known retailer at the time, who helped Gilbert financially when he wanted to become a film director in the early stages of his career.
During this time Gilbert had many difficulties with his formal education, but In 1933, at the age of 13, he had a role in Victor Hanbury and John Stafford's Dick Turpin, and at age 17 a small uncredited role in The Divorce of Lady X (1938) opposite Laurence Olivier.
It was Daisy Gilbert, who helped him to get the role in The Divorce of Lady X, with the intention that Gilbert would be credited for it.
Later Alexander Korda offered to send him to RADA, but Gilbert chose to study direction instead, assisting Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn (1939).
When the Second World War started, he joined the Royal Air Force's film unit, where he worked on various documentary films. He was eventually seconded to the First Motion Picture Unit of the U.S. Army Air Forces, where his commanding officer was William Keighley, an American film director, who allowed Gilbert to take on much of his film-making work.
In 1967, Gilbert was chosen to direct Lionel Bart's musical version of Oliver!, but he was already contracted to another project and had to pull out; he recommended Carol Reed, who took over. "It was the lowest point in my life," said Gilbert. "I'd developed Oliver! with Lionel Bart. I had to do The Adventurers instead... While doing this film, I signed to do The Godfather. Because of their financial problems, Paramount could only find $2m to make it. I said it needed $7m". So, instead, Gilbert made Friends (1971 movie).
Gilbert was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1997 Birthday Honours for services to the film industry. In 2001, Gilbert was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute, the highest accolade in the British film industry.
In June 2010, he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. In it, he said that his 1970 film The Adventurers was a disaster, and that he should never have made it. On working with Orson Welles on Ferry to Hong Kong, he said that it was: "dreadful, it was my nightmare film. It was a dreadful film, and everything was wrong with it; principally him Welles." He also said that his biggest mistake was failing to direct the film version of the musical Oliver!. Its composer Lionel Bart had assured Gilbert that nobody else would do the film, but Gilbert was contractually committed to Paramount to make a film (that he has since refused to name), which caused him to withdraw from the project.
All My Flashbacks: The Autobiography of Lewis Gilbert, Sixty Years a Film Director was published by Reynolds & Hearn in 2010. "The Film Programme", BBC Radio 4, 26 March 2010
Gilbert died at home in Monaco on 23 February 2018, 11 days shy of his 98th birthday.
| 1945 | The Ten Year Plan | documentary about the building of pre-fabricated houses BFI Film database: The Ten Year Plan Retrieved 14 April 2012 | |||
| 1946 | Arctic Harvest | documentary about cod-fishing in the Arctic and the production of cod liver oil BFI Film database: Arctic Harvest Retrieved 14 April 2012 | |||
| 1947 | World Economic Geography: Fishing Grounds of the World | also known as Sailors Do Care, documentary about the British and international fishing industry BFI Film database: World Economic Geography: Fishing Grounds of the World Retrieved 14 April 2012 | |||
| 1948 | The Little Ballerina | ||||
| 1949 | Under One Roof | UN-sponsored documentary about the students from different countries who attend Loughborough Engineering College BFI Film database: Under One Roof Retrieved 14 April 2012 | |||
| Marry Me! | |||||
| 1950 | Once a Sinner | ||||
| 1951 | There Is Another Sun | ||||
| Scarlet Thread | |||||
| 1952 | Emergency Call | ||||
| Time Gentlemen, Please! | |||||
| 1953 | Cosh Boy | ||||
| Johnny on the Run | |||||
| Albert R.N. | |||||
| 1954 | The Good Die Young | ||||
| The Sea Shall Not Have Them | |||||
| 1955 | Cast a Dark Shadow | ||||
| 1956 | Reach for the Sky | ||||
| 1957 | The Admirable Crichton | ||||
| 1958 | Carve Her Name with Pride | ||||
| A Cry from the Streets | |||||
| 1959 | Ferry to Hong Kong | ||||
| 1960 | Light Up the Sky! | ||||
| Sink the Bismarck! | |||||
| 1961 | The Greengage Summer | ||||
| 1962 | H.M.S. Defiant | ||||
| 1964 | The 7th Dawn | ||||
| 1966 | Alfie | Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival | |||
| 1967 | You Only Live Twice | ||||
| 1970 | The Adventurers | ||||
| 1971 | Friends | ||||
| 1974 | Paul and Michelle | ||||
| 1975 | Operation Daybreak | ||||
| 1976 | Seven Nights in Japan | ||||
| 1977 | The Spy Who Loved Me | ||||
| 1979 | Moonraker | ||||
| 1983 | Educating Rita | ||||
| 1985 | Not Quite Paradise | ||||
| 1989 | Shirley Valentine | ||||
| 1991 | Stepping Out | ||||
| 1995 | Haunted | ||||
| 2002 | Before You Go | ||||
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