View source for Frank Launder

{{Short description|British film creator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Frank Launder
| image = Frank Launder.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1906|1|28}}
| birth_place = [[Hitchin]], [[Hertfordshire]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1997|2|23|1906|1|28}}
| death_place = [[Monte Carlo]], [[Monaco]]
| occupation = Film director, producer, writer
| spouse = [[Bernadette O'Farrell]] (1950–1997; his death)<br/>2 children
}}

'''Frank Launder''' (28 January 1906 – 23 February 1997) was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with [[Sidney Gilliat]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=BFI Screenonline: Launder, Frank (1906-1997) Biography|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/460455/index.html|access-date=2021-06-08|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref><ref name=bfi>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba17b8221|title=Frank Launder}}</ref>

==Early life and career==
He was born in [[Hitchin]], Hertfordshire, England and worked briefly as a clerk before becoming an actor and then a playwright.<ref name="indy">{{cite news |title=Obituary: Frank Launder |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/obituary-frank-launder-5579540.html |access-date=27 September 2020 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=24 February 1997}}</ref>

He began working as a screenwriter on British films in the 1930s, contributing the original story for the classic [[Will Hay]] comedy ''[[Oh, Mr Porter!]]'' (1937).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/444280/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Oh, Mr Porter! (1937)|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

==Sidney Gilliat==
Launder first collaborated with Gilliat in 1936 on the film ''[[Seven Sinners (1936 film)|Seven Sinners]]''.<ref name=":1"/> After writing a number of screenplays with Gilliat, including ''[[The Lady Vanishes]]'' (1938) for [[Alfred Hitchcock]], and ''[[Night Train to Munich]]'' for [[Carol Reed]]; the two men wrote and directed the wartime drama ''[[Millions Like Us]]'' (1943).<ref name=bfi/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=BFI Screenonline: Launder and Gilliat|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/487654/index.html|access-date=2021-06-08|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/442138/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Millions Like Us (1943)|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

After founding their own production company Individual Pictures, they produced a number of memorable dramas and thrillers including ''[[I See a Dark Stranger]]'' (1945) and ''[[Green for Danger (film)|Green for Danger]]'' (1946), but were best known for their comedies including ''[[The Happiest Days of Your Life (film)|The Happiest Days of Your Life]]'' (1950) and most famously, the [[St Trinian's School#Film adaptations|St Trinian's series]], based on [[Ronald Searle]]'s cartoons set in an anarchic girls school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9423a498|title=Individual Pictures}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/487654/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Launder and Gilliat|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

After ''The Happiest Years of Our Life'' Launder focused entirely on comedy.<ref name="indy"/>

According to the British Film Institute 'over a hundred films feature either or in the credits, nearly forty feature both' but this large number was not 'at the expense of quality'.<ref name=":0"/>

==Personal life==
He was married secondly to actress [[Bernadette O'Farrell]] from 1950 until his death in Monaco.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=24 February 1997|title=Frank Launder obituary|work=[[The Times]]|issue=65821}}</ref> The couple had two children.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/robin-hood-s-courageous-sweetheart-1.247231|title=Robin Hood's courageous sweetheart}}</ref> Launder also had two children from his first marriage.<ref name=":1"/>

==Selected films==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[Under the Greenwood Tree (1929 film)|Under the Greenwood Tree]]'' (1929) writer
* ''[[Children of Chance (1930 film)|Children of Chance]]'' (1930) writer
* ''[[The W Plan]]'' (1930) writer
* ''[[Hobson's Choice (1931 film)|Hobson's Choice]]'' (1931) writer
* ''[[Keepers of Youth]]'' (1931) writer
* ''[[The Woman Between (1931 British film)|The Woman Between]]'' (1931) writer
* ''[[Children of Fortune]]'' (1931) writer
* ''[[After Office Hours (1932 film)|After Office Hours]]'' (1932) writer
* ''[[Josser in the Army]]'' (1932) writer
* ''[[For the Love of Mike (1932 film)|For the Love of Mike]]'' (1932) writer
* ''[[Hawley's of High Street]]'' (1933) writer
* ''[[Facing the Music (1933 film)|Facing the Music]]'' (1933) writer
* ''[[A Southern Maid (film)|A Southern Maid]]'' (1933) writer
* ''[[Those Were the Days (1934 film)|Those Were the Days]]'' (1933) writer
* ''[[Get Off My Foot]]'' (1935) writer
* ''[[Rolling Home (1935 film)|Rolling Home]]'' (1935) writer
* ''[[The Black Mask (film)|The Black Mask]]'' (1935) writer
* ''[[Emil and the Detectives (1935 film)|Emil and the Detectives]]'' (1935) writer
* ''[[Educated Evans (film)|Educated Evans]]'' (1936) writer
* ''[[Twelve Good Men]]'' (1936)
* ''[[Where's Sally?]]'' (1936) writer
* ''[[Don't Get Me Wrong (film)|Don't Get Me Wrong]]'' (1937) writer
* ''[[Oh, Mr Porter!]]'' (1937) story
* ''[[The Lady Vanishes]]'' (1938) writer
* ''[[Night Train to Munich]]'' (1940) writer
* ''[[They Came by Night]]'' (1940) writer
* ''[[The Young Mr. Pitt]]'' (1942) writer
* ''[[Millions Like Us]]'' (1943) writer/director/producer
* ''[[Two Thousand Women]]'' (1944) writer/director
* ''[[I See a Dark Stranger]]'' (1945) writer/director
* ''[[Green for Danger (film)|Green for Danger]]'' (1946) producer
* ''[[Captain Boycott (film)|Captain Boycott]]'' (1947) writer/director
* ''[[The Blue Lagoon (1949 film)|The Blue Lagoon]]'' (1949) writer/director/producer
* ''[[The Happiest Days of Your Life (film)|The Happiest Days of Your Life]]'' (1950) writer/director/producer
* ''[[Folly to Be Wise]]'' (1952) writer/director/producer
* ''[[The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan]]'' (1953) producer
* ''[[The Belles of St. Trinian's]]'' (1954) writer/director/producer
* ''[[The Constant Husband]]'' (1955) producer
* ''[[Geordie (film)|Geordie]]'' (1955) co-writer/producer
* ''[[The Green Man (film)|The Green Man]]'' (1956) writer/producer
* ''[[Blue Murder at St Trinian's]]'' (1957) writer/director/producer
* ''[[Left Right and Centre]]'' (1959) writer/producer
* ''[[The Bridal Path (film)|The Bridal Path]]'' (1959) writer/director/producer
* ''[[The Pure Hell of St Trinian's]]'' (1960) writer/director/producer
* ''[[Joey Boy (film)|Joey Boy]]'' (1965) writer/director
* ''[[The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery]]'' (1966) writer/director
* ''[[The Wildcats of St Trinian's]]'' (1980) writer/director
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Screenonline name|id=460455}}
*{{IMDb name|0490950}}
*{{British Comedy Guide|people|frank_launder}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140728173552/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/2008/08/26/individual-pictures-the-cinema-of-launder-and-gilliat/ BritMovie: ''Individual Pictures; The cinema of Launder and Gilliat'']
* [http://editura.mttlc.ro/frank-launder-last-interview.htmlC. George Sandulescu, ed., ''Film Director Frank Launder's Last Interview'', Contemporary Literature Press, 2012]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Launder, Frank}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:English expatriates in Monaco]]
[[Category:English film directors]]
[[Category:English film producers]]
[[Category:English male screenwriters]]
[[Category:People from Hitchin]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]