George King

Biography

Producer/director George King began his career in the British film industry in the 1920s as an agent. He eventually moved into writing, then turned to producing and directing, mostly in the field known as "quota quickies" (films made to comply with the British government's requirement that a certain percentage of films shown in British theaters had to be produced in Britain). He served in those positions on several of flamboyant actor Tod Slaughter's melodramas, notably The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936) and The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936). After a few more of Slaughter's popular but cheaply made films, King graduated to more "upscale" vehicles with bigger budgets and more respectable subjects, such as Tomorrow We Live (1942), which was a critical and commercial success. After the war, King drastically reduced his workload, directing only three more films before retiring.