Reed, Sir Carol

Reed, Sir Carol (1906-1976), British director. Born in London, Reed was originally an actor on stage, then turned to films as a general assistant, notably to Basil Dean.

Reed's first film, It Happened in Paris (1935), was co-directed with Robert Wyler, but by Bank Holiday (1938) he was regarded as Britain's most promising director in his own right—a promise fulfilled by several films: a thriller, Night Train to Munich (1940); Kipps (1941), from the novel by H. G. Wells; the biographical The Young Mr Pitt (1942); and his study of army life, The Way Ahead (1944). The True Glory (1945), co-directed with Garson Kanin, was also a valuable addition to wartime films and won the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Documentary.

The much-admired Odd Man Out (1947), the story of an Irish revolutionary, owed much to pre-war French novels; and The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949) much to Graham Greene. At this point Reed was challenged only by David Lean for the position of Britain's leading director. His decline began though with an unsatisfactory version of An Outcast of the Islands (1951), from the story by Joseph Conrad, while the films that followed, often for American companies, show little personal quality. However, Reed's Oliver! (1968), a musical version of the Charles Dickens classic, won Oscars for Best Film and Best Director.