C.M. Pennington-Richards(1911-2005)
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Cyril Montague Pennington-Richards was born in London. He began his
film career producing religious films for
J. Arthur Rank's Religious Film Society.
He entered the "mainstream" film industry as a cinematographer with
Ireland's Border Line (1938),
a low-budget vehicle for Irish comic actor
Jimmy O'Dea. During World War II Richards
was attached to the renowned documentary unit The Crown Film Unit, and
was the cinematographer on
Humphrey Jennings famous
Fires Were Started (1943).
After the war ended he continued as a cinematographer, working on many
films directed by his former colleagues in the CFU, such as
Brian Desmond Hurst's
La gloire est à eux (1946),
Jack Lee's
Le cheval de bois (1950) and
Pat Jackson's
White Corridors (1951).
He was the cinematographer on Hurst's Scrooge (1951), considered by many to be the definitive version of the famous Charles Dickens novel. He worked with noted American director Edward Dmytryk, who was making films in England due to his being blacklisted during the notorious McCarthy "Red Scare" era in the US. Richards made his directorial debut with the comedy The Oracle (1953), and made his reputation with a series of modest, somewhat whimsical comedies over the next 20+ years. He made his final film, the modestly budgeted adventure Sky Pirates (1980), in 1977, after which he retired.
He was the cinematographer on Hurst's Scrooge (1951), considered by many to be the definitive version of the famous Charles Dickens novel. He worked with noted American director Edward Dmytryk, who was making films in England due to his being blacklisted during the notorious McCarthy "Red Scare" era in the US. Richards made his directorial debut with the comedy The Oracle (1953), and made his reputation with a series of modest, somewhat whimsical comedies over the next 20+ years. He made his final film, the modestly budgeted adventure Sky Pirates (1980), in 1977, after which he retired.
