Deardon, Basil

   b. 1911; d. 1971

   Film director

   Ensconced at Ealing Studios, Deardon co-directed comedies with Will Hay before The Bells Go Down (1943), his first film in an extensive and generically diverse cinematic opus. In 1949 he established a production company with Michael Relph, his designer and co-producer on several films. For many critics, Deardon captured the competent, restrained British quintessence of the Ealing films, but his commitment to the social problem film demonstrated a resolute engagement with controversial issues including the IRA in The Gentle Gunman (1952), British cinema’s first interracial relationship in Pool of London (1952) and homosexuality in Victim (1961). The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) was Deardon’s last film before his death in 1971.

   Further reading

    Barr, C. (1993) Ealing Studios, London: Verso.

   SATINDER CHOHAN