An eccentric personality who made a long line of films from 1950 to 1989, director John Lee Thompson was described by Sylvia Syms, an actress in three of his movies, as ‘a strange man but a good director.’ The physically small Englishman, known as much for his tales of the Hollywood party scene as for his film work, had a large reserve of energy, a wry sense of humor, and an uncanny gift for taking control of the set.
Thompson's experience in several facets of cinema - particularly writing - helped him to craft detailed scenes in advance, work at a quick pace, and keep workdays generally short. Numerous top-shelf actors came to respect Thompson and joined him on projects multiple times. These figures included Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Jacqueline Bisset, Sylvia Syms, David Niven, and Charles Bronson, with whom he collaborated on nine films.
An Early Start
Born at Bristol in 1914, Thompson was the son of an engineer. He attended Dover College in Kent, but was already primed for a dramatic career from childhood. He was writing plays by age nine and joined the Nottingham Repertory Company as an actor and stagehand upon finishing school.
He moved to a stage company at Croydon, Surrey, where Murder Happens? became his first script to reach production in 1934. The following year, when Thompson became twenty-one, Double Error made a brief run on the West End of London. Double Error led to a screenwriting position at British International Pictures, where he made his only film acting appearance in Carol Reed’s Midshipman Easy and worked as a dialogue coach for Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn.
After serving as a tailgunner and radio operator during the Second World War, Thompson became a scriptwriter at Associated British Picture Corporation. He was offered his first directing job on a revised film version of Double Error called Murder Without Crime in 1950. Thompson found directing ‘much easier’ and more enjoyable, beginning a career that would last through four decades.
Success in Britain
Thompson won immediate notice in the British film industry, largely due to his handling of controversial subjects. His second film, The Yellow Balloon (1953), was only the second British film to be given an ‘X’ certificate for adult audiences. The story, dealing with a child who is blackmailed into helping a criminal, was highly praised by audiences and critics alike.
The Weak and the Wicked (1954), based on a novel by Thompson’s second wife Joan Henry, portrays the lives of women in prison. The Weak and the Wicked's cast included bombshell actress Diana Dors, who would later star in another prison film by Thompson, the anti-capital punishment drama Yield to the Night (1956).
The former stagehand proved more versatile when he branched into comedy and ‘plain’ drama. The comedies included For Better, For Worse (1954) with Dirk Bogarde and An Alligator Named Daisy (1955) with Donald Sinden. Of similar interest were Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) with Yvonne Mitchell, the Second World War tale Ice-Cold in Alex (1958), North West Frontier (1959), and Tiger Bay (1959), which starred Hayley Mills in her debut role.
The Move to Hollywood
Having added several well-regarded films to his C. V., Thompson was eventually offered larger budgets and work by Hollywood companies. In 1961, he was a last-minute replacement for Alexander Mackendrick on The Guns of Navarone, which became a box office success throughout the world. Gregory Peck, who starred in Navarone, was impressed by his take-charge attitude - calling him ‘Mighty Mouse’ - and hired Thompson to direct a noir he would produce and star in, Cape Fear (1962).
Thompson was immediately drawn to life in Hollywood and directed some thirty films over the next 25 years. Though he never regained the heights of Navarone (which garnered his only Academy Award nomination) and Cape Fear, he became a favorite of Hollywood casts and crew for his enthusiasm and ability to work with the stars.
Thompson is a tough director to pigeonhole, since he worked in several genres with equal capability. While in the United States, he handled epic tales (Taras Bulba, Kings of the Sun), science fiction (Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes), and the occult (Eye of the Devil, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud) besides the comedy and drama of which he was already a veteran. His career narrowed substantially in the 1980s, but Thompson was still a reliable director of action films, primarily with Charles Bronson.
Remembered for a style in the vein of Hitchcock and his ability to move films at a steady pace, Thompson directed until 1989, when he retired and afterwards produced films on occasion. He died at his vacation home in Sooke, British Columbia, Canada, in 2002.
Though not one of the best-known directors of his generation, his name still draws respect from vintage film fans and those within the industry.
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