Editing Michael Winner (section)

==Career==
===Shorts===
Winner directed his first travelogue, ''This is Belgium'' (1957), which was largely shot on location in [[East Grinstead]]. It was financed by his father.<ref name="telegraph1">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/9816044/Michael-Winner.html |title=Michael Winner |newspaper=The Telegraph|date=21 January 2013 |location=London}}</ref><ref name=ft>{{cite news|title=Weekend interview: Michael Winner|author=Garrahan, Matthew|work=FT|location=London|date=24 September 2004|page=1}}</ref> Later, he wrote, produced and directed a short, ''The Square'' (1957), starring [[A. E. Matthews]], and which again was financed by Winner's father.

Winner's first on-screen feature credit was earned as a writer for the low-budget crime film ''[[Man with a Gun (1958 film)|Man with a Gun]]'' (1958) directed by [[Montgomery Tully]].<ref>{{cite news|title=MAN WITH A GUN|work=Monthly Film Bulletin|location=London|volume=25|issue=288|date=1 January 1958|page=129}}</ref> He went on to direct the shorts ''Danger, Women at Work'' (1959) and ''Watch the Birdie'' (1959), and was Associate Producer on ''Floating Fortress'' (1959), produced by [[Harold Baim]].

===Early British feature films===
Winner's first feature as director was ''[[Shoot to Kill (1960 film)|Shoot to Kill]]'' (1960), which he also wrote. [[Dermot Walsh]] starred.<ref>{{cite news|title=SHOOT TO KILL|work=Monthly Film Bulletin|location=London|volume=28|issue=324|date=1 January 1961|page=12}}</ref> He followed this with ''[[Climb Up the Wall]]'' (1960), which was essentially a series of music acts presented by [[Jack Jackson (radio personality)|Jack Jackson]], but which Winner nonetheless wrote and directed.<ref>{{cite news|title=CLIMB UP THE WALL|work=Monthly Film Bulletin|location=London|volume=27|issue=312|date=1 January 1960|page=68}}</ref>

Winner's third feature as director was the thriller ''[[Out of the Shadow (1961 film)|Murder on the Campus]]'' (1961), also known as ''Out of the Shadow'', which Winner also wrote and helped produce. Dermot Walsh starred once again, together with [[Terence Longdon]].<ref>{{cite news|title=OUT OF THE SHADOW|work=Monthly Film Bulletin|location=London|volume=28|issue=324|date=1 January 1961|page=99}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, Winner wrote and directed the short ''Girls Girls Girls!'' (1961) which was narrated by Jackson, and directed the short feature ''[[Old Mac]]'' (1961), written by Richard Aubrey and starring [[Charles Lamb (actor)|Charles Lamb]], Vi Stevens and [[Tania Mallet]].<ref>{{cite news|title=OLD MAC|work=Monthly Film Bulletin|location=London|volume=28|issue=324|date=1 January 1961|page=66}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/apr/01/tania-mallet-dies-tilly-masterson-goldfinger-james-bond|title=Tania Mallet, Tilly Masterson in James Bond film Goldfinger, dies aged 77|newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=1 April 2019|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref>

Winner directed the shorts ''Haunted England'' (1961), ''It's Magic'' (1962), and ''Behave Yourself'' (1962), the latter of which was based on [[Emily Post]]'s ''Book of Manners'', and whose cast included Jackson and [[Dennis Price]].

Winner achieved success with a musical he directed, ''[[Play It Cool (film)|Play It Cool]]'' (1962), starring [[Billy Fury]] and [[Michael Anderson Jr.]], and which was distributed by [[Anglo-Amalgamated]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Michael Winner, 77, 'Death Wish' Director: [Obituary; Biography]|author=Slotnik, Daniel E.|work=The New York Times|edition=Late (East Coast)|date=22 January 2013|page=A.19}}</ref><ref name="three">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-three-1962-68/|date=21 January 2025|access-date=21 January 2025|title=Forgotten British Moguls: Nat Cohen – Part Three (1962-68)}}</ref>

Winner's next feature, ''[[Some Like It Cool]]'' (1962), is the tale of a young woman who introduces her prudish husband and in-laws to the joys of nudism. Filmed at [[Longleat]], Winner was afraid the sight of bare flesh would offend the magistrate for the area, so he confided his worries to the landowner, the [[Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath|Marquess of Bath]]. 'Don't worry,' said the Marquess, 'I am the local magistrate.' The film cost £9,000 and Winner said it made its money back in a week.<ref name="ft"/>

Winner went on to update [[Gilbert and Sullivan]], writing the screenplay and directing a version of ''[[The Mikado]]'' titled ''[[The Cool Mikado]]'' (1963), starring [[Frankie Howerd]] and [[Stubby Kaye]] and which was produced by [[Harold Baim]].<ref>{{cite news |title=English Screen Scene: Gilbert and Sullivan in the Groove – Focus on Fonda and Tushingham |first=Stephen |last=Watts |newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 August 1962 |page=99 }}</ref>

Winner's first significant project was ''[[West 11]]'' (1963), a realistic tale of London drifters starring [[Alfred Lynch]], [[Eric Portman]] and [[Diana Dors]], and which was based on a script by [[Hall and Waterhouse]].

===Oliver Reed===
Winner's film ''[[The System (1964 film)|The System]]'' (1964), also known as ''The Girl-Getters'', began a partnership with actor [[Oliver Reed]] that would last for six films over a 25-year period, and was based on a script by Peter Draper. Winner would later receive an offer from Columbia to direct a comedy, ''[[You Must Be Joking! (1965 film)|You Must Be Joking!]]'' (1965). It starred American actor [[Michael Callan]] and a supporting cast that included [[Lionel Jeffries]] and [[Denholm Elliott]], while Winner also wrote the script.

Winner was reunited with Reed on ''[[The Jokers]]'' (1967), a comedy where Reed was teamed with [[Michael Crawford]]. It was based on a script by [[Dick Clement]] and [[Ian La Frenais]] from a story by Winner for his own company, Scimitar Films Limited (for Universal's English operations, then under [[Jay Kanter]]). The resulting movie was a popular hit.<ref>{{cite news|author=Martin, B.|title=Gavin signs universal pact|date=3 June 1966|work=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|155503215}}}}</ref>

Winner and Reed then made the comedy-drama ''[[I'll Never Forget What's'isname]]'' (1967), co-starring [[Orson Welles]], [[Carol White]] and [[Harry Andrews]], also for Scimitar. Draper wrote the script, which was a spoof of the advertising world, and the film was also done for Universal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Schell to Direct 'Garden'|author=Martin, Betty|work=Los Angeles Times|date=22 February 1967|page=e14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Jokers' Make Him the Winner|author=MARK SHIVAS|work=The New York Times|date=11 June 1967|page=133}}</ref>

Winner did some uncredited directing on ''A Little of What You Fancy'' (1967), a documentary about the history of the British music hall. Then he and Reed made their fourth feature together, the World War II satire ''[[Hannibal Brooks]]'' (1969), again from a Clement/La Frenais script and based on a story by Winner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://letterboxd.com/film/hannibal-brooks/|title=''Hannibal Brooks'' (1969) Directed by Michael Winner|website=LETTERBOXD|access-date=28 March 2018}}</ref><ref>Goodwin, Cliff ''Evil Spirits: The Life of Oliver Reed'', London: Virgin Publishing Ltd, 2000</ref>
 
In 1970, Winner directed ''[[The Games (1970 film)|The Games]]'' for [[20th Century Fox]], the film is about the [[Olympic Games]] and which starred [[Ryan O'Neal]] and [[Stanley Baker]], with script by [[Eric Segal]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI{{!}}Catalog |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23432-THE-GAMES?cxt=filmography |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref>

===Early American films===
''[[Hannibal Brooks]]'' drew notice in Hollywood, and Winner soon received an opportunity to direct his first American film, for [[United Artists]]; this was ''[[Lawman (film)|Lawman]]'' (1971), a Western starring [[Burt Lancaster]] and [[Robert Duvall]], and for which Gerald Wilson was the writer.

Back in England, Winner directed [[Marlon Brando]] in ''[[The Nightcomers]]'' (1971), a prequel to ''[[The Turn of the Screw]]'' by [[Henry James]], the first of many films for which Winner was credited as editor using the pseudonym 'Arnold Crust'.

===Charles Bronson===
Winner edited, produced and directed ''[[Chato's Land]]'' (1972), recounting a mixed race native American fighting with white people. It starred [[Charles Bronson]] and was made for Scimitar through United Artists. Once more, Gerald Wilson wrote the script. Winner's second film for Bronson and United Artists was ''[[The Mechanic (1972 film)|The Mechanic]]'' (1972), a thriller in which professional assassins are depicted. It was based on a story and script by [[Lewis John Carlino]] and Winner also edited, although he did not produce; he replaced [[Monte Hellman]] as director.

The following year, Winner cast Lancaster again in the espionage drama ''[[Scorpio (film)|Scorpio]]'' (1973), co-starring [[Alain Delon]] and made for Scimitar and United Artists. Winner also produced and directed a third film with Bronson, ''[[The Stone Killer]]'' (1973), for Columbia and in collaboration with producer [[Dino De Laurentiis]].

====''Death Wish''====
Winner and Bronson collaborated on ''[[Death Wish (1974 film)|Death Wish]]'' (1974), a film that defined the subsequent careers of both men. Based on a novel by [[Brian Garfield]] and adapted for the screen by [[Wendell Mayes]], ''Death Wish'' was originally planned for director [[Sidney Lumet]], under contract with [[United Artists]]. The commitment of Lumet to another film and UA's questioning of its subject matter, led to the film's eventual production by De Laurentiis through [[Paramount Pictures]]. ''Death Wish'' follows [[Death Wish (film series)#Main characters|Paul Kersey]], a liberal New York architect who becomes a gun-wielding vigilante after his wife is murdered and daughter is raped. With a script adjusted to Bronson's persona, the film generated controversy during its screenings but was one of the year's highest grossers.

===Non-Bronson period===
Winner tried to break out of action films with ''[[Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood]]'' (1976), an animal comedy Winner produced and directed, starring [[Bruce Dern]], [[Madeline Kahn]], [[Art Carney]], and [[Milton Berle]]. Intended as a satire of Hollywood, it was a financial failure.<ref name="telegraph1"/><ref>{{cite news|title=To Rinny With Love and G Rating|author=Haber, Joyce|work=Los Angeles Times|date=27 August 1975|page=e10}}</ref> Of modest success was his horror film ''[[The Sentinel (1977 film)|The Sentinel]]'' (1977), which Winner wrote, produced and directed for Universal, and which was based on the novel by [[Jeffrey Konvitz]].

Winner then wrote, produced and directed the remake of Raymond Chandler's novel ''[[The Big Sleep (1978 film)|The Big Sleep]]'' (1978), starring [[Robert Mitchum]] as Philip Marlowe with a strong support cast including John Mills, Sarah Miles, Richard Boone and Candy Clarke. The film was relocated to England, and financed by [[ITC Films]]. Also for ITC, Winner produced, edited and directed the organised crime thriller ''[[Firepower (1979 film)|Firepower]]'' (1979). It was meant to star Bronson, who withdrew, and wound up starring [[Sophia Loren]] and [[James Coburn]].<ref>{{cite news|title=New bottles for the old Juice|author=Steiner, Stephen|work=Chicago Tribune|date=3 September 1978|page=g10}}</ref>

===Reunion with Bronson/Cannon Films===
By the early 1980s, Winner found himself in great need of a successful film and accepted [[Charles Bronson]]'s request to film ''[[Death Wish II]]'' (1981), a sequel to the 1974 hit. Bronson had already signed a lucrative deal with [[Cannon Films]], independent producer of exploitation fare and marginal art house titles. The sequel, co-starring Bronson's wife [[Jill Ireland]], considerably increased the violence to more graphic levels. Winner said the film was 'the same, but different', to the original. 'That's what sequels are – ''[[Rocky II]]'', ''[[Rocky III]]'' – you don't see [[Sylvester Stallone]] move to the [[Congo Basin|Congo]] and become a nurse. Here the look of LA is what's different. Besides – rape doesn't date!'<ref name="death">{{cite news|title=THE REINCARNATION OF A 'DEATH WISH'|author=Trombetta, Jim|work=Los Angeles Times|date=13 July 1981|page=g1}}</ref> ''Death Wish II'' made a $2 million profit for Cannon films<ref name="yule">Andrew Yule, ''Hollywood a Go-Go: The True Story of the Cannon Film Empire'', Sphere Books, 1987 p24</ref> and made an extra $29 million worldwide.

The success of ''Death Wish II'' enabled Winner to raise money from Cannon for a dream project: a 1983 [[The Wicked Lady (1983 film)|remake]] of 1945's ''[[The Wicked Lady]]'', this time starring [[Faye Dunaway]] and which Winner wrote, produced and directed.<ref name="faye">{{cite news|title=FAYE DUNAWAY: ENJOYING LIFE ON THE SCREEN AGAIN|author=Mann, Roderick|work=Los Angeles Times|date=26 October 1982|page=g1}}</ref>

For Miracle Films, Winner produced and directed the thriller ''[[Scream for Help]]'' (1984). He also produced the film ''[[Claudia (1985 film)|Claudia]]'' (1985), doing some uncredited directing and editing.

Winner was reunited with Bronson and Cannon for ''[[Death Wish 3]]'' (1985), which – although set in New York City – was mostly filmed in London for budgetary reasons. Winner produced and edited."<ref name="charles">{{cite news|title=Tempo: Another 'Death Wish' comes to life|author=Basler, Robert|work=Chicago Tribune|date=31 October 1985|page=d13A}}</ref>

Winner was also attached to direct Cannon's 1990 film ''[[Captain America (1990 film)|Captain America]]'', from a script by James Silke, which he would revise with Stan Hey, and then [[Stan Lee]] and Lawrence Block.<ref name="earlyproduction">{{cite web|url=http://originalvidjunkie.blogspot.com/2011/07/never-got-made-files-66-cannons-captain.html|title=The "Never Got Made" Files #66: Cannon's CAPTAIN AMERICA (1984–87)|work=Video Junkie|date=22 July 2011}}</ref> By 1987, however, Winner was off the project.

Winner's final film for Cannon was an adaptation of the [[Agatha Christie]] novel ''[[Appointment with Death (film)|Appointment with Death]]'' (1989) starring [[Peter Ustinov]] as Poirot. Winner produced, edited and directed; but despite a strong support cast including [[Lauren Bacall]] and [[Carrie Fisher]], the film flopped.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-08-ca-258-story.html |title=Box Office Champs, Chumps : The hero of the bottom line was the 46-year-old 'Bambi' – Page 2 |work=Los Angeles Times|date=8 January 1989 |access-date=26 June 2012 |first=Leonard |last=Klady}}</ref>

===Final British films===
After Cannon Films entered bankruptcy, Winner confined himself to British productions. He produced and directed an adaptation of the [[Alan Ayckbourn]] musical play ''[[A Chorus of Disapproval (film)|A Chorus of Disapproval]]'' (1989) with [[Anthony Hopkins]], and also wrote the script with Ayckbourn.

Winner produced, directed and edited the [[Michael Caine]] and [[Roger Moore]] farce ''[[Bullseye! (1990 film)|Bullseye!]]'' (1990), based on a story by Winner.<ref>{{cite news|title=In 'Bulls-Eye!' the Aim Is Laughter: Michael Caine and Roger Moore play four roles as Michael Winner directs a caper comedy. In 'Bull's-Eye!' Michael Winner Aims for Laughter|author=JOHN CULHANE|work=The New York Times|date=14 January 1990|page=H15}}</ref> The film's reception was generally poor, with the film being described as "appallingly unfunny" in ''The [[Radio Times]] Guide to Films''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Radio Times Guide to Films 2014 |journal=[[Radio Times]] |year=2013 |location=[[London]] |isbn=978-0956752369 |pages=181{{ndash}}182}}</ref> Later, he wrote, produced and directed ''[[Dirty Weekend (1993 film)|Dirty Weekend]]'' (1993), starring Lia Williams; and hosted the television series ''True Crimes'', which was cancelled in 1994.<ref>{{cite news|title=Winner blames internal politics for demise of True Crimes Michael Winner show;Michael Winner|author=Richard Ford and Alexandra Frean|work=The Times|date=30 August 1994}}</ref>

In 1994, Winner appeared as a guest artist – alongside [[Joan Collins]], [[Christopher Biggins]] and [[Marc Sinden]] (who in 1983 had appeared in Winner's ''[[The Wicked Lady (1983 film)|The Wicked Lady]]'') – in [[Steven Berkoff]]'s film version of his own play ''[[Decadence (film)|Decadence]]''.

Winner's final film as director was ''[[Parting Shots]]'' (1999), which he also wrote, produced and edited. The film was critically reviled and flopped commercially.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UoveBAAAQBAJ&q=parting+shots&pg=PT149|title=Surviving Michael Winner: A Thirty-Year Odyssey|first=Dinah|last=May|date=27 October 2014|publisher=Biteback Publishing|isbn=9781849548243}}</ref>