John Hough (director)

John Hough
Born (1941-11-21) 21 November 1941
London, England, UK
Occupation Film director

John Hough (born 21 November 1941 in London, England) is a British film and television director. His most prolific period was in the 1970s and 1980s.[1]

Career

British TV

After many credits as a second unit director on The Baron, The Avengers and The Champions, he took his first job as a director on the 1968 season of The Avengers, directing episodes such as "Super Secret Cypher Snatch" and "Homicide and Old Lace".

"ITC was a very special place to work in," he said later. "And the people cared. Instead of asking you to do it quicker and with less quality, they'd push you to excel yourself. It was creative and interesting, but very disciplined. It was like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel on a nine-to-five contract."[2]

British films

His TV work led to a TV pilot for a proposed Robin Hood TV show, Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood in 1969. Even though the series never materialised, the pilot was picked up by Hammer Films, which distributed it theatrically.

"That one sank without trace," Hough recalled in the notes for his biography on the DVD of his 1980 film The Watcher in the Woods, "but in 1970 a Hollywood producer named Paul Maslanksy came over here looking for a new director to work on a remake of The Window (1949), in which a young boy is the sole witness to a murder and is then tracked down by the assassin."[3]

The film Eyewitness (1970) was well received; Hammer then approached him to make the final film in its erotic vampire horror 'Karnstein' trilogy, Twins of Evil (1971).

Hollywood career

Hough moved to Hollywood, wanting to direct for Disney.[4]

Hough's career then hit an unexpected slump. He spent a year and a half at Columbia and a year and a half at Disney preparing films which ultimately were not made. He made no films for three years. "I had to sort of rebuild my career again," he said.[4]

Return to Britain

He later directed three of the TV movies in the 1984 anthology series Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense.

He did a series of films based on Barbara Cartland novels starting with A Hazard of Hearts.[5]

He directed Something to Believe In (1998) for Lew Grade.[6]

Filmography

Unmade Films

  • The Fan Club (1974) – for Lawrence Gordon at Columbia Pictures based on novel by Irwin Wallace.[8]
  • Poe – about Edgar Allan Poe (1976)[9]

References

  1. ↑ The New York Times
  2. ↑ Sellers, R. (2006, Nov 30). No more heroes ; lew grade's cult shows from the sixties are winning a new generation of fans. so, asks robert sellers, can the ITV boss michael grade match his uncle's golden touch? The Independent Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/311084621?accountid=13902
  3. ↑ "Interview with John Hough". History Project.
  4. 1 2 "John Hough: "I am happy to say that 'Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry' is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite films"". Film Talk. August 30, 2017.
  5. ↑ Billington, J. (1987, Sep 04). Cartland: Every good girl does fine. USA TODAY (Pre-1997 Fulltext) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/305937140?accountid=13902
  6. ↑ Billen, A. (1998, May 13). Ninety- one, still dancing come on, someone is looking after me " INTERVIEW,FEATURES,money is unimportant as long as you have enough to keep your family contented. Evening Standard Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/329124668?accountid=13902
  7. ↑ A. H. Weiler (16 June 1973). "The Legend of Hell House (1973) The Screen: 'Hell House':The Cast". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Liz set for role in 'blue bird'. (1974, Sep 06). Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/157619456?accountid=13902
  9. ↑ Lochte, D. (1976, Nov 28). MacDonald with all the trimmings. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/158087445?accountid=13902
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