Editing Michael Winner (section)

===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]].