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Frank Launder (28 January 1906 – 23 February 1997) was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat.
He was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England and worked briefly as a clerk before becoming an actor and then a playwright. He began working as a screenwriter on British films in the 1930s, contributing the original story for the classic Will Hay comedy Oh, Mr Porter! (1937). After writing a number of screenplays with Gilliat, including The Lady Vanishes (1938) for Alfred Hitchcock, and Night Train to Munich for Carol Reed; the two men wrote and directed the wartime drama Millions Like Us (1943).
After founding their own production company Individual Pictures, they produced a number of memorable dramas and thrillers including I See a Dark Stranger (1945) and Green for Danger (1946), but were best known for their comedies including The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950) and most famously, the St Trinians series, based on Ronald Searle’s cartoons set in an anarchic girls school. He was married to actress Bernadette O’Farrell from 1950 until his death in Monaco. The couple had two children.
Frank Launder Biography / Wiki
| Name | Frank Launder |
| Also Know | |
| Gender | Male |
| Known For | Writing |
| Place of Birth | Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, UK |
| Date of Birth | 1906-01-28 |
| Age(as in 2022) | 91 |
| Deathday | 1997-02-23 |
Frank Launder Directing Movies
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| The Pure Hell of St. Trinian’s | Director | 1960-12-22 | The fourth form monsters’ latest trick is their best ever – they have burned down St Trinian’s school! As the girls stand trial, the police breath… |
| The Belles of St. Trinian’s | Director | 1954-09-28 | The unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian’s are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey. But greater trouble than ever beckons when th… |
| Two Thousand Women | Director | 1944-11-06 | During the Second World War, three downed English airmen hide out with women’s internment camp in France…. |
| I See a Dark Stranger | Director | 1946-07-04 | Determined, independent Bridie Quilty comes of age in 1944 Ireland thinking all Englishmen are devils. Her desire to join the IRA meets no encourageme… |
| The Great St. Trinian’s Train Robbery | Director | 1966-03-11 | The all-girl school foil an attempt by train robbers to recover two and a half million pounds hidden in their school…. |
| Geordie | Director | 1955-09-02 | Concerned about his small stature, a young Scottish boy applies for a mail-order body building course, successfully gaining both height and strength. … |
| Blue Murder at St. Trinian’s | Director | 1957-12-01 | With their headmistress under lock and key in her majesty’s prison, the St Trinian’s girls find themselves under the protection of the army. However, … |
| The Bridal Path | Director | 1959-08-05 | Based on a novel by Nigel Tranter, The Bridal Path is a light-hearted look at the somewhat unfortunate results that can come of the continued marrying… |
| The Happiest Days of Your Life | Director | 1950-03-08 | Nutbourne College, an old established, all-boys, boarding school is told that another school is to be billeted with due to wartime restrictions. The s… |
| Millions Like Us | Director | 1943-06-01 | Millions Like Us is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It stars Patricia Roc, Eric Port… |
| Folly to Be Wise | Director | 1952-12-04 | A newly-arrived army chaplain is put in charge of camp entertainment and has the idea of putting on a Brains Trust with local notables. Unfortunately … |
| Captain Boycott | Director | 1947-08-26 | Based on real events, this historical drama is set in 19th-century Ireland, when poverty-stricken tenants dispossessed by greedy landowner Capt. Boyco… |
| Joey Boy | Director | 1965-01-01 | While posters urge austerity and vigilance in wartime Britain, ‘Joey Boy’ Thompson has never had it better. In a cellar beneath his East London fish s… |
| The Blue Lagoon | Director | 1949-03-01 | In the Victorian period, two British children survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific. After days afloat, they are marooned on a lush tropical island… |
| Lady Godiva Rides Again | Director | 1951-10-25 | Marjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain procession as Lady Godiva – though not in the buff. Th… |
| The Last Coupon | Director | 1932-07-01 | A frugal coal miner turns into a spendthrift when he wins £20,000 on the football pools!… |
| The Wildcats of St. Trinian’s | Director | 1980-09-10 | The girls of St. Trinian’s decide they are being asked to do too much work so they go on strike…. |
| Partners in Crime | Director | 1942-06-02 | A parallel is drawn between a housewife’s dealings with her butcher, and a burglar and his fence (receiver)…. |
Frank Launder Production Movies
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| The Belles of St. Trinian’s | Producer | 1954-09-28 | The unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian’s are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey. But greater trouble than ever beckons when th… |
| The Happiest Days of Your Life | Producer | 1950-03-08 | Nutbourne College, an old established, all-boys, boarding school is told that another school is to be billeted with due to wartime restrictions. The s… |
| The Blue Lagoon | Producer | 1949-03-01 | In the Victorian period, two British children survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific. After days afloat, they are marooned on a lush tropical island… |
| The Constant Husband | Producer | 1955-04-21 | Charles Hathaway wakes up in West Wales with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. With the help of a Cardiff specialist he traces his lif… |
| The Rake’s Progress | Producer | 1945-12-06 | Vivian Kenway, a young Englishman from an aristocratic background, flunks out of Oxford, and decides to use his considerable charm to achieve his goal… |
| State Secret | Producer | 1950-09-11 | Visiting in England, an American surgeon Doctor John Marlowe is decoyed to a middle European country, and discovers the operation he is to perform is … |
| Blue Murder at St. Trinian’s | Producer | 1957-12-01 | With their headmistress under lock and key in her majesty’s prison, the St Trinian’s girls find themselves under the protection of the army. However, … |
| The Pure Hell of St. Trinian’s | Producer | 1960-12-22 | The fourth form monsters’ latest trick is their best ever – they have burned down St Trinian’s school! As the girls stand trial, the police breath… |
| I See a Dark Stranger | Producer | 1946-07-04 | Determined, independent Bridie Quilty comes of age in 1944 Ireland thinking all Englishmen are devils. Her desire to join the IRA meets no encourageme… |
| Captain Boycott | Producer | 1947-08-26 | Based on real events, this historical drama is set in 19th-century Ireland, when poverty-stricken tenants dispossessed by greedy landowner Capt. Boyco… |
| Green for Danger | Producer | 1946-12-07 | In the midst of Nazi air raids, a postman dies on the operating table at a rural hospital. But was the death accidental?… |
| Geordie | Producer | 1955-09-02 | Concerned about his small stature, a young Scottish boy applies for a mail-order body building course, successfully gaining both height and strength. … |
| London Belongs to Me | Producer | 1948-11-05 | Classic British drama about the residents of a large terrace house in London between Christmas 1938 and September 1939. Percy Boon lives with his mot… |
| Left Right and Centre | Producer | 1959-06-23 | At the Earndale by-election natural history expert and TV personality Bob Wilcot for the Conservatives finds himself up against Billingsgate girl Stel… |
| Ooh… You Are Awful | Executive Producer | 1972-12-01 | Charlie Tully and womanising Reggie Peek con two rich Italians out of £500,000 but during their flight out Charlie is arrested for coning an American… |
Writing
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| The Lady Vanishes | Screenplay | 1938-10-07 | On a train headed for England a group of travelers is delayed by an avalanche. Holed up in a hotel in a fictional European country, young Iris befrien… |
| Emil and the Detectives | Scenario Writer | 1935-02-05 | Erich Kästner’s beloved novel has been adapted for film or television six times since its publication in 1929; this 1935 British version was the fi… |
| The Pure Hell of St. Trinian’s | Writer | 1960-12-22 | The fourth form monsters’ latest trick is their best ever – they have burned down St Trinian’s school! As the girls stand trial, the police breath… |
| The Belles of St. Trinian’s | Screenplay | 1954-09-28 | The unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian’s are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey. But greater trouble than ever beckons when th… |
| I See a Dark Stranger | Screenplay | 1946-07-04 | Determined, independent Bridie Quilty comes of age in 1944 Ireland thinking all Englishmen are devils. Her desire to join the IRA meets no encourageme… |
| I See a Dark Stranger | Story | 1946-07-04 | Determined, independent Bridie Quilty comes of age in 1944 Ireland thinking all Englishmen are devils. Her desire to join the IRA meets no encourageme… |
| Night Train to Munich | Screenplay | 1940-08-31 | Czechoslovakia, March 1939, on the eve of World War II. As the German invaders occupy Prague, inventor Axel Bomasch manages to flee and reach England;… |
| The Great St. Trinian’s Train Robbery | Writer | 1966-03-11 | The all-girl school foil an attempt by train robbers to recover two and a half million pounds hidden in their school…. |
| Oh, Mr. Porter! | Original Story | 1937-10-05 | Comedy in which a bungling railway worker is given the job of stationmaster at a rundown station in rural Ireland, where his sidekicks are a toothless… |
| Seven Sinners | Writer | 1936-06-01 | Ed Harwood, a wisecracking private investigator from New York, discovers a crime at an hotel in Nice during a carnival. The unraveling of the mystery … |
| The Happiest Days of Your Life | Screenplay | 1950-03-08 | Nutbourne College, an old established, all-boys, boarding school is told that another school is to be billeted with due to wartime restrictions. The s… |
| Crook’s Tour | Characters | 1940-09-03 | Charters and Caldicott are touring the Middle East. After visiting Saudi Arabia they find themselves in Bagdad where they are mistaken by a group of G… |
| Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday | Writer | 1939-12-01 | During a holiday by the British seaside, Inspector Hornleigh and Sergeant Bingham grow bored and turn their hand to investigating a local crime…. |
| The Blue Lagoon | Screenplay | 1949-03-01 | In the Victorian period, two British children survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific. After days afloat, they are marooned on a lush tropical island… |
| Captain Boycott | Writer | 1947-08-26 | Based on real events, this historical drama is set in 19th-century Ireland, when poverty-stricken tenants dispossessed by greedy landowner Capt. Boyco… |
| Fortune Is a Woman | Screenplay | 1957-03-13 | An insurance man discovers his ex-girlfriend and her husband’s art-forgery/arson scam…. |
| Ring of Spies | Writer | 1964-03-23 | The film is based on the actual events of the Portland Spy Ring trial in the U.K. A disgruntled Navy Clerk is transferred to a secret research establi… |
| After Office Hours | Writer | 1932-06-30 | A bird’s-eye view of life in a City of London office…. |
| Get Off My Foot | Writer | 1935-11-12 | A Smithfield porter becomes a butler, and later finds himself heir to a fortune…. |
| Lady Godiva Rides Again | Writer | 1951-10-25 | Marjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain procession as Lady Godiva – though not in the buff. Th… |
| The W Plan | Writer | 1930-02-25 | A tense WWI spy thriller in which Colonel Duncan Grant (British star Brian Aherne, in his first talking role), parachutes into Germany to gather intel… |
| The Young Mr. Pitt | Screenplay | 1942-09-21 | This biopic tells the story of the life of Pitt The Younger, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of 24…. |
| Hawley’s of High Street | Writer | 1933-01-01 | A butcher and a draper stand for election to the local council…. |
| A Girl Must Live | Writer | 1939-09-24 | A run-away school-girl falls among chorus girls planning to marry into the nobility…. |
| You Made Me Love You | Writer | 1933-10-01 | A rich American businessman in London makes believe he’s lost all his money so that his daughter will marry a composer…. |
| The Black Mask | Writer | 1935-12-01 | British crime film directed by Ralph Ince… |
| The Bridal Path | Screenplay | 1959-08-05 | Based on a novel by Nigel Tranter, The Bridal Path is a light-hearted look at the somewhat unfortunate results that can come of the continued marrying… |
| Rolling Home | Writer | 1935-12-09 | A sacked engineer stows away on another vessel… |
| Children of Chance | Writer | 1930-11-20 | A casual date at a high-class hotel leads Binnie, an aspiring showgirl, to be mistaken for model and actress Lia de Marita – landing her an audition… |
| Song of Soho | Writer | 1930-03-01 | An ex-French Foreign Legion soldier comes to Soho and ends up as a singer in a cafe…. |
| Hobson’s Choice | Writer | 1931-10-02 | A coarse boot-shop owner becomes outraged when his eldest daughter decides to marry a meek cobbler…. |
| Keepers of Youth | Writer | 1931-01-01 | The arrival of Mr. Knox, the new sports instructor at a British public school, heralds trouble. He imposes his dominant personality to influence colle… |
| For the Love of Mike | Writer | 1932-12-01 | A useless secretary and his private detective friend try to help an heiress from being swindled by her guardian…. |
| Josser in the Army | Writer | 1932-01-01 | Charting the military escapades of serial bungler Tommy Josser, Josser in the Army sees the hapless hero in France during wartime, where he masquerade… |
| Old Spanish Customers | Scenario Writer | 1932-01-01 | A henpecked husband is mistaken for a famous toreador while holidaying in Spain!… |
| Geordie | Screenplay | 1955-09-02 | Concerned about his small stature, a young Scottish boy applies for a mail-order body building course, successfully gaining both height and strength. … |
| Educated Evans | Writer | 1936-09-01 | Cockney racing tipster Evans (Miller) is asked by a nouveau riche and socially aspirant couple to train a racehorse they have bought…. |
| Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It | Writer | 1941-05-17 | Third and final film in the series of ‘Inspector Hornleigh’ comedy-thrillers. Inspector Hornleigh (Gordon Harker), disappointed at not being hande… |
| So You Won’t Talk | Screenplay | 1935-03-01 | The owner of a small Italian restaurant in central London is left a million pound inheritance, the only stipulation to the will being that he cannot s… |
| So You Won’t Talk | Dialogue | 1935-03-01 | The owner of a small Italian restaurant in central London is left a million pound inheritance, the only stipulation to the will being that he cannot s… |
| The Rake’s Progress | Screenplay | 1945-12-06 | Vivian Kenway, a young Englishman from an aristocratic background, flunks out of Oxford, and decides to use his considerable charm to achieve his goal… |
| Two Thousand Women | Screenplay | 1944-11-06 | During the Second World War, three downed English airmen hide out with women’s internment camp in France…. |
| The Green Man | Screenplay | 1956-12-21 | Unknown to everyone but his shady Middle Eastern bosses, watchmaker Hawkins is actually a professional hired assassin with a predilection for killing … |
| Millions Like Us | Screenplay | 1943-06-01 | Millions Like Us is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It stars Patricia Roc, Eric Port… |
| Soldier, Sailor | Screenplay | 1944-06-01 | Life aboard merchant ships with the Maritime Regiment of the Royal Artillery…. |
| Blue Murder at St. Trinian’s | Writer | 1957-12-01 | With their headmistress under lock and key in her majesty’s prison, the St Trinian’s girls find themselves under the protection of the army. However, … |
| Folly to Be Wise | Screenplay | 1952-12-04 | A newly-arrived army chaplain is put in charge of camp entertainment and has the idea of putting on a Brains Trust with local notables. Unfortunately … |
| Joey Boy | Screenplay | 1965-01-01 | While posters urge austerity and vigilance in wartime Britain, ‘Joey Boy’ Thompson has never had it better. In a cellar beneath his East London fish s… |
| Happy | Writer | 1933-12-11 | A young musician invents an anti-theft device for cars, but works as a jazz conductor while waiting for his invention to be successful…. |
| Partners in Crime | Writer | 1942-06-02 | A parallel is drawn between a housewife’s dealings with her butcher, and a burglar and his fence (receiver)…. |
| A Southern Maid | Writer | 1934-03-01 | A young Spanish woman marries a lowly Englishman, rather than the aristocrat her father had intended, much to his displeasure…. |
| Under the Greenwood Tree | Scenario Writer | 1929-09-05 | A girl organist is blamed for ousting the village choir…. |
| Under the Greenwood Tree | Dialogue | 1929-09-05 | A girl organist is blamed for ousting the village choir…. |
| Twelve Good Men | Writer | 1936-03-01 | A convicted killer escapes and seeks revenge on the jurors who put him in prison. He kills two of them and the rest end up hiding in the large home of… |
Other Info
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| Where’s Sally? | Script | 1936-05-01 | ‘Honeymoon wife learns of husband’s past and runs away.’ (British Film Catalogue)… |
Credit: TMDB
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