John English

Director: Jon English

Born: 1903 in Cumberland, England
Died: Oct 11, 1969 in Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Director
Active: '30s-'40s
Major Genres: Western, Action
Career Highlights: Don't Fence Me in, Zorro's Fighting Legion, Riders in the Sky
First Major Screen Credit: His Fighting Blood (1935)

Biography

True to his name, director John English was English, born in Cumberland in 1903. English was raised in Canada, where he received his schooling. In films in various technical capacities since the dawn of the talkie era, English was given a chance to direct by the newly formed Republic Pictures in 1935. The bulk of his films were westerns, starring the likes of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. John English is best known for his many Republic serials, many of these directed in collaboration with William Witney: Dick Tracy Returns (1937), The Lone Ranger (1938), Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939), Drums of Fu Manchu (1939), Captain America (1940), etc. Frank Coghlan Jr., who starred in the Republic serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1940), has recalled that while Witney handled most of the action sequences, English devoted his time to the dialogue and dramatic scenes. He also proved equal to the challenge of juggling a murder mystery, several musical numbers, and an elaborate ice-skating finale in the 1946 Vera Hruba Ralston vehicle Murder in the Music Hall. Even after Republic ceased production in 1959, John English remained on the studio lot, directing TV episodes produced by such organizations as Four Star Productions and Revue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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For other persons named John English, see John English.

John English
Born	John Wilkinson English June 25, 1903(1903-06-25) Cumberland, United Kingdom
Died	October 11, 1969 (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, United States
Other name(s)	John W. English Jack English

John English (June 25, 1903 in Cumberland, United Kingdom – October 11, 1969 in Los Angeles, California) was a film director. He is most famous for the movie serials he co-directed with William Witney for Republic Pictures such as Zorro's Fighting Legion and Drums of Fu Manchu.

He was credited variously as John W English, John English or Jack English.

Career

John English was born in Cumberland in the United Kingdom but moved to Canada at an early age. He first worked as a film editor before getting a break into directing at Republic in 1935.

For a period in the 1930s and 1940s, starting with Zorro Rides Again (1937), he directed Movie Serials in partnership with William Witney. It was customary at the time for two directors to work on each serial, each working on alternate days. Witney customarily worked on the action scenes while English concentrated on character and story elements. Together they are regarded as having produced the best examples of the serial medium: "most notable of all were the directing talents of William Witney and John English. Together they directed seventeen consecutive serials, honing an approach that allowed Republic serials to far outdistance the competition. They adopted a no-nonsense approach that treated the serial material with respect and rarely gave any clues that we shouldn't consider the stories seriously. Other directors would allow an element of goofiness to gradually seep into the serial. For example, few people would point to a Witney/English serial as an example of camp, unlike the Flash Gordon serials." - Gary Johnson, from Images Journal^[1].

They directed seventeen serials as a partnership and a few others separately, such as Captain America (1944) in John English's case.

Following disagreement with management changes at Republic's serial team, he moved to directing features films, mostly the B-Western films for which Republic was known. He directed twelve episodes of the CBS western series My Friend Flicka (1956-1957).

When Republic collapsed as a studio in 1959, he continued directing television episodes at the same studio lot.^[2]

References

^ The Golden Age of the Serial, retrieved 24th June 2007
^ John English at Allmovie, retrieved 24th June 2007

External links

John English at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
NAME	English, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	English, John Wilkinson (birth name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Director
DATE OF BIRTH	June 25, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH	Cumberland, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH	October 11, 1969
PLACE OF DEATH	Los Angeles, California, United States

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		Director. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "John English (director)". Read more