Herbert Mason

Biography

Major Herbert Mason MC was born Samuel George Herbert Mason in Moseley, Birmingham, England on April 7, 1891, the son of Amy (Collins) and Samuel George Mason, a brass-founder. He came from a theatrical family - his aunt was the great Shakespearean actress Ellen Terry and his great-uncle was actor and comedian Edward Terry. He began his career as an actor at age 16 and appeared in several productions at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Mason's theatrical career went on hold in the First World War. He served in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later commanded the 59th Brigade Machine Gun Corps at the taking of Guillemont during the Battle of the Somme. He was awarded the Military Cross. In the 1920s, Herbert Mason became an actor's manager and then a stage manager, putting on many of the biggest shows in the London theater of the time. With the advent of sound in motion pictures he gravitated toward films, working for Gaumont British in various production capacities, including assistant director. He was assistant director for I Was a Spy (1933) which was voted the best picture released in 1933. Mason made his directorial debut in 1936 with The First Offence (1936), a somewhat gritty crime drama with John Mills, and directed several films with George Arliss before Arliss retired. He turned out the musical Take My Tip (1937) with Jack Hulbert, who was called "England's Fred Astaire" and lived up to that title with his dance routines in this film. Mason changed his pace from perky musicals to dark drama with Lady in Distress (1940), a remake of the original French drama film Métropolitain (1939) about a man who believes he has witnessed a murder from a passing train, but went back to lighter fare with such films as the Arthur Askey comedy Back-Room Boy (1942). He made his last film as director in 1945 with Flight from Folly (1945): it was the last film made at Warner's Teddington Studios before it was bombed in 1944. From that point on he concentrated on producing. He joined London Films as an associate producer and produced some films (including Anna Karenina (1948)) with its founder Alexander Korda. Later, Mason became producer for Group 3 at Southall Studios during the 1950s. Mason wrote some plays with his wife Daisy Fisher, a novelist, playwright, stage actress and one of the script writers of Things Are Looking Up (1935). Fisher was with Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree at His Majesty's Theatre before becoming a member of H.G. Pelissier's 'The Follies'. Mason stage managed one of the performances of 'The Follies' at Apollo Theatre in 1912. They were married for nearly 46 years and had two children: Jocelyn and Michael. Herbert Mason, film director and producer died at the age of 69 on May 20, 1960 in London. He was survived by his wife, their daughter and son and two grandsons. His two elder sisters, Amy and Jessica also survived him.