Born and raised in France, British director Guy Harrison learned his craft as an assistant director apprenticing with the likes of Julien Duvivier ("Anna Karenina" 1948), Carol Reed ("The Fallen Idol" 1948, "Outcast of the Islands" 1951), Orson Welles ("The Third Man" 1949) and John Huston ("The African Queen" 1951). A competent craftsman, he showed early promise with "Manuela/The The Stowaway Girl" (1957) and "A Touch of Larceny" (1961), both of which he co-scripted. But time revealed him to be at his best with spy movies such as the underrated "Funeral in Berlin" (1966) and his four James Bond pictures. Hamilton helmed the superb "Goldfinger" (1964) and reteamed with Sean Connery's Bond for "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971). In 1973 and 1974, he guided Roger Moore through his paces in Moore's first attempts at playing 007 in "Live and Let Die" and "The Man with the Golden Gun". Hamilton's work in the series demonstrated clearly the director's economy and cynical wit. Following his Bond run, he tackled Agatha Christie, directing two adaptations, "The Mirror Crack'd" (1980), set in contemporary times and featuring Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple, and the period Hercule Poirot mystery "Evil Under the Sun" (1982), which featured dazzling Egyptian locations. Hamilton returned to the action genre with the pleasant, if derivative, "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins..." (1985), with Fred Ward. For the first time in close to three decades, he co-wrote the script for his final directing project (to date), the comedy "Sauf votre respect/Try This One for Size" (1989).
- Born:
September 11, 1922 in Paris, France
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Job Titles:
Director, Assistant director, Film studio apprentice
Milestones
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1939 Apprenticed at Victorine Studios in Nice
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1940 Served in Royal Navy during WWII
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1940 First credit, as fourth asssitant director on Julien Duvivier's "Untel pere et fils/The Heart of a Nation"
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1948 Reteamed with Duvivier as assistant director for Venetian location scenes of "Anna Karenina"
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1948 Was assistant director to Carol Reed on "The Fallen Idol"
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1950 Served as Orson Welles' AD on "The Third Man"
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1951 Assisted John Huston on "The African Queen" and Reed on "Outcast of the Islands"
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1952 Feature directing debut, "The Ringer"
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1955 First screenplay credit, "The Colditz Story"; also directed
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1957 Directed and co-scripted "Manuela", presenting a more penetrating view of sexual attraction than the British cinema usually allowed
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1959 Took over "The Devil's Disciple" on short notice from Alexander Mackendrick
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1961 Scored with ingenious comedy, "A Touch of Larceny"
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1964 Helmed first James Bond film, "Goldfinger"
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1971 Directed Sean Connery's return to Bond in "Diamonds Are Forver"
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1973 Helmed first of Roger Moore's bond films "Live and Let Die"
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1974 Fourth and last Bond picture, "The Man with the Golden Gun"
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1980 First of two Agatha Christie adaptations, "The Mirror Crack'd", featuring Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple
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1982 Helmed an all-star cast in "Evil Under the Sun", adapted from a Christie Hercule Poirot novel
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1985 Directed "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins...", a bubble-gum action-adventure yarn based on the popular "Destroyer" books by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy
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1989 Last feature to date, "Try This One For Size"
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Born and raised in France