John English (director)

Infobox actor
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name = John English


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birthname = John Wilkinson English
birthdate = birth date|1903|06|25
location = Flagicon|UK Cumberland, United Kingdom
deathdate = death date and age|1969|10|11|1903|06|25
deathplace = Flagicon|USA Los Angeles, California, United States
othername = John W. English
Jack English
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homepage =
notable role = Film Director
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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 40s, 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 17 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 [http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus/introduction4.htm The Golden Age of the Serial] , retrieved 24th June 2007] .

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 that Republic was also famous for.

When Republic collapsed as a studio in 1959, he continued directing television episodes at the same studio lot. [ [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:89011 John English at the All Movie Guide] , retrieved 24th June 2007]

References

External links

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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