Editing Val Guest

{{Short description|British director and screenwriter (1911–2006)}}
{{about||the South Carolina politician|Val Guest (politician)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Val Guest
| image = Director_Val_Guest.jpg
| birthname = Valmond Maurice Grossman
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1911|12|11}}
| birth_place = [[Maida Vale]], London, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2006|5|10|1911|12|11}}
| death_place = [[Palm Springs, California]], U.S.
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Film director
* screenwriter
}}
| spouse = {{ubli|Violet Johnson (known as Pat Watson, 1935{{snd}}{{circa|1954}})<ref name="Hawtree">{{cite news | first=Christopher | last=Hawtree | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/may/16/guardianobituaries.obituaries | title=Val Guest obituary | newspaper=The Guardian | date=16 May 2006}}</ref>|[[Yolande Donlan]] (1954–2006)}}
| children = David Val Guest (1939–2014)
| awards = [[BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay|Best British Screenplay]]: 1961 ''[[The Day the Earth Caught Fire]]''
}}

'''Val Guest''' (born '''Valmond Maurice Grossman'''; 11 December 1911 – 10 May 2006) was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer (and later director) of comedy films, he is best known for his work for [[Hammer Film Productions|Hammer]], for whom he directed 14 films, and for his [[science fiction film]]s. He enjoyed a long career in the film industry from the early 1930s until the early 1980s.<ref name=ChibnallBFI>{{cite web|last=Chibnall|first=Steve|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/471342/|title=Guest, Val (1911-2006) Biography|publisher=BFI Screenonline}} Reprinted from ''Reference Guide to British and Irish Film Directors''</ref>

==Early life and career==
Guest was born to John Simon Grossman and Julia Ann Gladys Emanuel in [[Sutherland Avenue]] in [[Maida Vale]], London. He later changed his name to Val Guest (officially in 1939).<ref>{{cite web |title=London Gazette |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34614/supplement/2392/data.pdf |publisher=London Gazette}}</ref> His father was a [[jute]] broker, and the family spent some of Guest's childhood in India before returning to England. His parents divorced when he was young, but this information was kept from him. Instead he was told that his mother had died.<ref name="Val Guest">{{cite web |title=Val Guest |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9eef304b |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717061633/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9eef304b |archive-date=2012-07-17 |work=BFI}}</ref> He was educated at [[Seaford College]] in Sussex, but left in 1927 and worked for a time as a bookkeeper.

Guest's initial career was as an actor, appearing in productions in London theatres. He also appeared in a few early sound film roles, before he left acting and began a writing career.

===Writer===
For a time, around 1934, he was the London correspondent for ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' (when the publication began a UK edition),<ref name="Gifford">{{cite web|last1=Gifford|first1=Denis|last2=Hearn|first2=Marcus|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/val-guest-478294.html|title=Val Guest|work=The Independent|date=15 May 2006|access-date=7 January 2015|location=London}}</ref><ref>[[Wheeler Winston Dixon]], Rutgers University Press, 11 July 2007, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bgXQ7qaC7nYC&dq=%22Film+Talk%22+%22Directors+at+Work%22+Dixon&pg=PR4 Film Talk: Directors at Work], Retrieved 10 November 2014 (see page 26 paragraph two), {{ISBN|978-0-8135-4077-1}}</ref> before beginning work on film screenplays for [[Gainsborough Pictures]].

This came about because the director [[Marcel Varnel]] had been incensed by comments Guest had made in his regular column, "Rambling Around", about the director's latest film. Challenged to write a screenplay by Varnel, Guest co-wrote his first script, which became ''[[No Monkey Business]]'' (1935) directed by Varnel.<ref name="Gifford"/> This was to be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership between the two men.<ref name=ChibnallBFI /> Guest was placed under contract as a staff writer at Gainsborough's [[Islington Studios]] in Poole Street.<ref name="Gifford"/>

Guest wrote screenplays for the rest of the decade. His credits included ''[[All In (film)|All In]]'' (1936) for Varnel; ''[[Public Nuisance No. 1]]'' (1936); ''[[A Star Fell from Heaven (1936 film)|A Star Fell from Heaven]]'' (1936); ''[[O-Kay for Sound]]'' (1937) for Varnel with [[Crazy Gang (comedy group)|The Crazy Gang]]; ''[[Alf's Button Afloat]]'' (1938) with Flanagan and Allen. He also wrote the [[Will Hay]] comedies ''[[Oh, Mr Porter!]]'' (1937) and  ''[[Ask a Policeman]]'' (1939). He wrote ''[[Hi Gang! (film)|Hi Gang!]]'' (1941) for [[Ben Lyon]] and [[Bebe Daniels]].<ref name="Hawtree" /> Guest often worked with producer Ted Black.<ref name="edward">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-ted-black/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=1 December 2024|access-date=1 December 2024|title=Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black}}</ref>

==Directing career==
Guest became a fully-fledged director in the early 1940s (he had been responsible for some second-unit work previously). His first film was an [[Arthur Askey]] short, ''The Nose Has It'' (1942), warning of the dangers of spreading infection.<ref name=ChibnallBFI />

Guest's debut feature was ''[[Miss London Ltd.]]'' (1943), again with Askey; Guest had worked on the scripts of earlier Askey films. Guest's second feature as director also starred Askey, ''[[Bees in Paradise]]'' (1944). He followed this with two films starring [[Vic Oliver]] and [[Margaret Lockwood]], ''[[Give Us the Moon]]'' (1944) and ''[[I'll Be Your Sweetheart]]'' (1945); the latter was the first and only musical from Gainsborough Studios.

Guest directed two films based on the [[Just William]] stories, ''[[Just William's Luck (film)|Just William's Luck]]'' (1947) and ''[[William Comes to Town]]'' (1948). He wrote and directed a thriller, ''[[Murder at the Windmill]]'' (1949).

===Yolande Donlan===
Guest then made the comedy ''[[Miss Pilgrim's Progress]]'' (1949) with [[Yolande Donlan]], who became his wife in 1954. The two reunited on ''[[The Body Said No!]]'' (1950); ''[[Mister Drake's Duck]]'' (1951), with [[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]]; and ''[[Penny Princess]]'' (1952) with [[Dirk Bogarde]].

===Hammer Films===
Guest began an association with Hammer films when he directed ''[[The Men of Sherwood Forest]]'' (1954). After ''[[The Runaway Bus]]'' (1955) with [[Frankie Howerd]] he made ''[[Life with the Lyons (film)|Life with the Lyons]]'' (1955) with Daniels and Lyon, a spin off of their radio show. It was popular enough for Guest to make a sequel ''[[The Lyons in Paris]]'' (1955).

He did a thriller ''[[Break in the Circle]]'' (1954) and ''[[Dance, Little Lady]]'' (1954).

Despite his career in comedy films, he was offered the chance to direct Hammer's first [[Bernard Quatermass|Quatermass]] film, adapted from the BBC television serial by [[Nigel Kneale]]. Uncertain about taking it on, (he was not a fan of science fiction), he was persuaded to do so by his wife, Yolande Donlan. Guest shot ''[[The Quatermass Xperiment]]'' (1955) as though it was a television documentary.<ref name="Telegraph">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1518447/Val-Guest.html Obituary: Val Guest], ''Daily Telegraph'', 16 May 2006</ref> Its success led to the Hammer company changing its direction.

He followed it with a drama ''[[They Can't Hang Me]]'' (1955) and musical ''[[It's a Wonderful World (1956 film)|It's a Wonderful World]]'' (1956). Republic Pictures hired him to make the thriller ''[[The Weapon (1956 film)|The Weapon]]'' (1956) and he directed a comedy, ''[[Carry On Admiral]]'' (1957).

''Quatermass'' had been a big hit and Hammer asked Guest to direct the first sequel, ''[[Quatermass 2]]'' (1957). They also used him to do ''[[The Abominable Snowman (film)|The Abominable Snowman]]'' (1957), from a Kneale TV play, and a POW movie, ''[[The Camp on Blood Island]]'' (1958).

Guest made a comedy ''[[Up the Creek (1958 film)|Up the Creek]]'' which led to a sequel ''[[Further Up the Creek]]'' (1958).

Hammer asked him back to do another war movie, ''[[Yesterday's Enemy]]'' (1959) with [[Stanley Baker]]. Then he made the film version of ''[[Expresso Bongo]]'' (1959) with Donlan, giving an early role to [[Cliff Richard]].

Guest returned to comedy with ''[[Life Is a Circus (1960 film)|Life Is a Circus]]'' (1960) starring [[Bud Flanagan]]. He made another for Hammer with Stanley Baker, a tough crime film, ''[[Hell Is a City]]'' (1960). He followed this with a thriller for Hammer, ''[[The Full Treatment]]'' (1960).

Guest's next film, ''[[The Day the Earth Caught Fire]]'' (1961), won Guest and [[Wolf Mankowitz]] a [[BAFTA Award]] for Best Screenplay.<ref>[http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=The+Day+the+Earth+Caught+Fire&=Search "Film: Best British Screenplay 1962"], BAFTA</ref>

Guest made ''[[Jigsaw (1962 film)|Jigsaw]]'' (1962) and ''[[80,000 Suspects]]'' (1963). ''[[The Beauty Jungle]]'' (1964) was an exposé on beauty competitions. ''[[Where the Spies Are]]'' (1965) was a spy film for MGM starring [[David Niven]].

==Later career==
Guest was one of five credited directors to work on the spoof [[James Bond]] film ''[[Casino Royale (1967 film)|Casino Royale]]'' (1967), a critically mauled picture in its day. Producer [[Charles K. Feldman]] asked Guest if he would direct linking material to make what was left uncompleted, after the departure of [[Peter Sellers]] from the project, into a coherent narrative. Guest opted for an 'Additional Sequences' credit after he saw the completed film.

He made a thriller ''[[Assignment K]]'' (1968) then a musical ''[[Toomorrow (film)|Toomorrow]]'' (1970) which, according to Christopher Hawtree, it is "a staggeringly dreadful movie".<ref name="Hawtree"/> Guest issued an injunction against [[Harry Saltzman]], the producer, because he had not been paid for his work, and the film was quickly pulled from screenings.<ref name="Gifford"/> Around the same time, Guest wrote and directed ''[[When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth]]'' (1970) for Hammer.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=980CE5DF1639E43BBC4052DFB566838A669EDE|title=Movie Review - When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth - ' When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth' in Neighborhood Houses - NYTimes.com|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 February 2022}}</ref>

Guest directed the softcore sex comedy ''[[Au Pair Girls (film)|Au Pair Girls]]'' (1972), followed by ''[[Confessions of a Window Cleaner]]'' (1974), the first of the ''Confessions'' series of sex comedies. He was also working in television, directing episodes of series including ''[[The Persuaders!]]'' (1971–72), ''The Adventurer'' (1972–73) and ''[[Space: 1999]]'' (1976–77). <ref name="McLennan">Dennis McLennan [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-may-22-me-guest22-story.html "Val Guest, 94; Director, Writer Best Known for Science-Fiction Movies"], ''Los Angeles Times'', 22 May 2006</ref> He continued to direct films, including ''[[Killer Force]]'' (1976).

Guest's final feature film work was writing and directing ''[[The Boys in Blue]]'' (1982), a vehicle for the British comedy double act [[Cannon and Ball]]. It was a remake of the Will Hay picture ''Ask a Policeman'' (1939), which Guest had co-written.<ref name="Hawtree"/> In 2001 he published an autobiography, ''So You Want to be in Pictures''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guest |first=Val |title=So You Want To Be In Pictures: The Autobiography of Val Guest |publisher=Reynolds & Hearn Ltd |year=2001 |isbn=978-1903111154}}</ref>

His last professional work was as the director of several episodes of the ''[[Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense]]'' TV series in 1984 and 1985.<ref name="Gifford"/>

==Private life and honours==

Originally married to Pat Watson, the couple divorced after Guest fell in love with American actress [[Yolande Donlan]] who eventually became his wife in 1954; Donlan appeared in eight of his films during the 1950s.<ref name="Bergan">[[Ronald Bergan]] [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/05/yolande-donlan "Yolande Donlan obituary"], ''The Guardian'', 5 January 2015</ref> After Guest retired in 1985, the couple lived together in retirement in California.<ref name="Hawtree"/>

In 2004, a Golden Palm Star on the [[Palm Springs, California]], [[Palm Springs Walk of Stars|Walk of Stars]] was dedicated to Guest and Donlan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf |title=Palm Springs Walk of Stars, Listed by Date Dedicated |website=www.palmspringswalkofstars.com |page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013165655/http://www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf |archive-date=13 October 2012 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> Guest died in a hospice in [[Palm Desert, California]] from [[prostate cancer]] at the age of 94.<ref name="McLennan"/>

==Filmography==
===Director===
{{div col}}
* ''[[Miss London Ltd.]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Bees in Paradise]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Give us the Moon]]'' (1944)
* ''[[I'll Be Your Sweetheart]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Just William's Luck (film)|Just William's Luck]]'' (1947)
* ''[[William Comes to Town]]'' (1948)
* ''[[Murder at the Windmill]]'' (1949)
* ''[[The Body said No!]]'' (1950)
* ''[[Miss Pilgrim's Progress]]'' (1950)
* ''[[Mister Drake's Duck]]'' (1951)
* ''[[Penny Princess]]'' (1952)
* ''[[The Men of Sherwood Forest]]'' (1954)
* ''[[The Runaway Bus]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Life With the Lyons (film)|Life With the Lyons]]'' (1954)
* ''[[The Lyons in Paris]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Break in the Circle]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Dance, Little Lady]]'' (1955)
* ''[[The Quatermass Xperiment]]'' (1955) (US title: ''The Creeping Terror'')
* ''[[They Can't Hang Me]]'' (1955)
* ''[[It's a Wonderful World (1956 film)|It's a Wonderful World]]'' (1956)
* ''[[The Weapon (1956 film)|The Weapon]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Carry On Admiral]]'' (1957)
* ''[[Quatermass 2]]'' (1957) (US title: ''Enemy From Space'')
* ''[[The Abominable Snowman (film)|The Abominable Snowman]]'' (1957)
* ''[[The Camp on Blood Island]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Up the Creek (1958 film)|Up the Creek]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Further Up the Creek]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Yesterday's Enemy]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Expresso Bongo (film)|Expresso Bongo]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Life is a Circus (1960 film)|Life is a Circus]]'' (1960)
* ''[[Hell Is a City]]'' (1960)
* ''[[The Full Treatment]]'' (1960)
* ''[[The Day the Earth Caught Fire]]'' (1961)
* ''[[Jigsaw (1962 film)|Jigsaw]]'' (1962)
* ''[[80,000 Suspects]]'' (1963)
* ''[[The Beauty Jungle]]'' (1964)
* ''[[Where the Spies Are]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Casino Royale (1967 film)|Casino Royale]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Assignment K]]'' (1968)
* ''[[Toomorrow (film)|Toomorrow]]'' (1970)
* ''[[When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Au Pair Girls]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Confessions of a Window Cleaner]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Killer Force]]'' (1976)
* ''[[The Shillingbury Blowers]]'' (1980)
* ''[[The Boys in Blue]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense]]'' (1984)
{{div col end}}

===Screenwriter only===
{{div col}}
* ''[[No Monkey Business]]'' (1935)
* ''[[All In (film)|All In]]'' (1936)
* ''[[Public Nuisance No. 1]]'' (1936)
* ''[[A Star Fell from Heaven (1936 film)|A Star Fell from Heaven]]'' (1936)
* ''[[Good Morning, Boys]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Oh, Mr Porter!]]'' (1937)
* ''[[O-Kay for Sound]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Alf's Button Afloat]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Convict 99]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Hey! Hey! USA]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Old Bones of the River]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Ask a Policeman]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Where's That Fire?]]'' (1939)
* ''[[The Frozen Limits]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Band Waggon (film)|Band Waggon]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Gasbags]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Hi Gang! (film)|Hi Gang!]]'' (1941)
* ''[[The Ghost Train (1941 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Inspector Hornleigh Goes To It]]'' (1941)
* ''[[I Thank You (film)|I Thank You]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Back-Room Boy]]'' (1942)
* ''[[King Arthur Was a Gentleman]]'' (1942)
* ''[[London Town (1946 film)|London Town]]'' (1946)
* ''[[Once Upon a Dream (1949 film)|Once Upon a Dream]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Paper Orchid]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Happy Go Lovely]]'' (1951)
* ''[[Another Man's Poison]]'' (1951)
* ''[[Women Without Men (1956 film)|Women Without Men]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Dentist in the Chair]]'' (1960)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0346436|name=Val Guest}}
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/471342/ ''Val Guest'' at BFI Screenonline]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040826065322/http://www.eofftv.com/names/g/gue/guest_val_main.htm Val Guest] at the Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and television
* [http://thethunderchild.com/Movies/Obits/ValGuest.html Tribute to Val Guest at The Thunder Child Science Fiction Webzine]

{{Val Guest}}

{{BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guest, Val}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:British science fiction film directors]]
[[Category:British horror film directors]]
[[Category:English male screenwriters]]
[[Category:People educated at Seaford College]]
[[Category:Best British Screenplay BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in California]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:Film directors from London]]