Ronald Neame - Director, Writer, Producer and Cinematographer

I learned today that film director Ronald Neame passed away earlier this month. Most people won't recognize his name, but he is British film director responsible for one of Hollywood's most famous pictures, one of my personal favorites, The Poseidon Adventure. Neame also named it his favorite film, because it allowed him the financial freedom to work on projects of his choosing.

He passed away at the age of 99 and has not directed a film since he retired in 1990. He started working in the British film industry in the 1920's. One of his earliest jobs was working as assistant cameraman on Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail.

He became a cinematographer and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the Micheal Powell film One of Our Planes Is Missing.

He moved on to producing and screenwriting, working with director David Lean on Brief Encounter, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. He received Oscar nominations for Brief Encounter and Great Expectations

His first film as director was the 1947 British thriller Take My Life.

He directed Alec Guinness in three films. First up was the comedy drama The Horse's Mouth, which was also written by Guinness.

They worked together on Tunes Of Glory, a post WWII drama. Neame has said that this film is the one he was most proud of.

He also directed Guinness as the ghost of Jacob Marley in one of my favorite films, the musical Scrooge, based on Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol.

He worked with many of Hollywood's leading stars including Judy Garland in her last film I Could Go On Singing

Deborah Kerr and Hailey Mills in the film version of the successful play The Chalk Garden

Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine in the elaborate heist film Gambit

James Garner in the adventure comedy A Man Could Get Killed, famous for introducing the song Strangers In The Night.

John Voight in the Nazi spy thriller The Odessa File

Sean Connery and Natalie Wood in the unsuccessful disaster film Meteor

He directed Maggie Smith in the Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress

His strength was in character driven dramas and light comedy. He was close friends with actor Walter Matthau and they worked together in Neame's last two big Hollywood pictures

The 1980 spy caper comedy Hopscotch

And the 1981 timely Supreme Court comedy First Monday In October