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Graham Cutts

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Graham Cutts
Born
John Henry Graham Cutts

1884
Brighton, Sussex, England
Died7 February 1958
London, England
Other namesJack
OccupationFilm director
Years active1922–1940

John Henry Graham Cutts (1884[a] – 7 February 1958), known as Graham Cutts, was a British film director, one of the leading British directors in the 1920s. His fellow director A. V. Bramble believed that Gainsborough Pictures had been built on the back of his work.[4]: 167  Cutts worked with many leading figures in the UK film and stage world, including Basil Dean, Alfred Hitchcock, Gracie Fields, Ivor Novello, and Noël Coward.[3]

He started his career as a northern exhibitor [4]: 132  and moved into direction. When opportunities were limited in Britain, he filmed extensively in Europe.[5]

Ernest Betts describes him as "[seeming] likely to become a major talent in British films with Woman to Woman which he directed in 1922. Cutts had a polish, a know-how, an intimacy with worldly affairs which impressed the ordinary filmgoer … The Rat, The Wonderful Lie and The Blackguard which Cutts made in the 1920s showed a director who had learned much from the continental school and could match Hollywood in technical virtuosity."[1] Anthony Slide observes that "Both Graham Cutts and Herbert Wilcox deserve recognition as prominent British filmmakers who realized the necessity to bring over American (or more honestly former stars and leading ladies) to appear in their productions and thus assure them an American market."[6]

Cutts directed the sensational Cocaine (1922), the most controversial film of the 1920s.[7]

Reviewing Paddy the Next Best Thing (1923), Variety concluded "This is one of the best British films yet made", and the Kinematograph Weekly lauded Cutts' "smooth" direction and his skill in the humorous sections.[8]

His daughter was actress Patricia Cutts (1926–1974).

Selected filmography

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Notes

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  1. ^ Some sources give the birth year as 1885.[1][2] The British Film Institute gives 1884.[3] The UK General Register Office shows a John Henry G. Cutts born in Brighton in 1884 Q1.

References

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  1. ^ a b Betts, Ernest (13 October 2023). The Film Business A History of British Cinema 1896-1972. Taylor & Francis. p. 59. ISBN 9781003810148.
  2. ^ Katz, Ephraim (6 April 2001). The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia (4th ed.). Macmillan. ISBN 978-0333906903.
  3. ^ a b BFI Database
  4. ^ a b Low, Rachael (13 September 2013). The History of the British Film 1918 - 1929 · Volume 4. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781136206344.
  5. ^ Croall, Jonathan (8 June 2023). From Silent Film Idol to Superman The Life and Career of John Stuart. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 32. ISBN 9781476689548.
  6. ^ Slide, Anthony (2005). Silent Topics Essays on Undocumented Areas of Silent Film. Scarecrow Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9780810850163.
  7. ^ Robertson, James Crighton (1993). The Hidden Cinema: British Film Censorship in Action, 1913–1975. Routledge. p. 25. ISBN 9780415090346.
  8. ^ Cherchi Usai, Paolo (25 July 2019). The Griffith Project, Volume 10 Films Produced 1919-1946. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 9781839020001.
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