Sydney Box

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]

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

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

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

Box ended his cinema career in 1958 to concentrate on working in television. He was part of a consortium that launched the ITV franchise, Tyne Tees Television in 1959.

Selected filmography

Screenwriter and producer

Producer

Films as Head of Gainsborough

Selected plays

References
  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.


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