Person
Alexander Mackendrick
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Alexander Mackendrick (September 8, 1912 – December 22, 1993) was an American-born Scottish film director and screenwriter. He directed nine feature films between 1949 and 1967, b…
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Alexander Mackendrick (September 8, 1912 – December 22, 1993) was an American-born Scottish film director and screenwriter. He directed nine feature films between 1949 and 1967, before retiring from filmmaking to become an influential professor at the California Institute of the Arts. Born to Scottish immigrant parents in Boston, he was raised in Glasgow from the age of 6. He began making television commercials before moving into post-production editing and directing films, most notably for Ealing Studios where his films include Whisky Galore! (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951) - which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, The Maggie (1954), and The Ladykillers (1955). In 1957, Mackendrick directed his first American film Sweet Smell of Success, which was a critical and commercial success. However, his directing career declined throughout the following decade, and he was fired or replaced from several projects, owing in part to his perfectionist approach to filmmaking. Mackendrick retired from directing in the late 1960's after completing A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) and Don't Make Waves (1967), becoming the founding Dean (and later a Professor) of the CalArts School of Film/Video.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2017
Logan
Movie Thanks
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2007
3:10 to Yuma
Movie Thanks
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2004
Mackendrick on Film
Movie Self
- 1995
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1986
Made In Ealing: The Story of Ealing Studios
Movie Interviewee
-
1986
Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away
Movie Self
-
1970
The Ealing Comedies
Movie Self
-
1967
Don't Make Waves
Movie Director
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1965
A High Wind in Jamaica
Movie Director
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1963
Sammy Going South
Movie Director
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1961
The Defenders
TV show Director
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1958
Fanfare
Movie Script Consultant
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1957
Sweet Smell of Success
Movie Director
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1955
The Ladykillers
Movie Director
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1954
The 'Maggie'
Movie Director
-
1952
Mandy
Movie Director
More credits
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1951
The Man in the White Suit
Movie Director
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1950
Dance Hall
Movie Screenplay
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1949
Whisky Galore!
Movie Director
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1948
Saraband for Dead Lovers
Movie Writer
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1948
Robinson Charley
Movie Script Consultant
-
1943
Contraries
Movie Director
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1943
Abu and the Poisoned Well
Movie Writer
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1943
Abu's Dungeon
Movie Writer
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1939
Love on the Range
Movie Writer
-
1938
South Sea Sweethearts
Movie Writer
-
1937
Midnight Menace
Movie Story
