Like his brother George at the London Palladium, Ted had an almost superstitious faith in his ability to divine popular taste and was wary about involving himself with anything that might dilute it.
"[10] Alfred Roome, a film editor at Gainsborough, said: "We often wondered why Ted Black didn't mix with the elite of his profession.
Michael Balcon wrote " All the Black family have a flair for showmanship and Ted found in films a natural outlet for his talents.".
Black also made The Man Who Lived Again (1936) starring Boris Karloff, visiting from Hollywood, co written by Gilliat and directed by Robert Stevenson.
Gaumont British was in financial crisis around this time and in 1937 Shepherd's Bush studios and Gaumont-British Distributors were closed.
[13] Historian Geoffrey MacNab wrote "Black, from a circus background, was determinedly unpretentious, with a showman's touch and the desire to make films about people outside London high society.
Black alo made Said O'Reilly to McNab (1937) with Will Mahoney and Will Fyffe (directed by American William Beaudine, and Oh, Mr. Porter!
He is one of the few British producers who believe that a film is thought of, born, and finished in a typewriter and that the actual production on the floor is secondary.
[22] Later on he would use Lockwood in Night Train to Munich (1940) with Reed from a script by Launder and Gilliat,[23] The Girl in the News (1941),[23] Dear Octopus (1943), The Man in Grey (1943) and Give Us the Moon (1944).
Black was keen to increase his stable of comedy stars and signed deals with comics such as Tom Walls, the Crazy Grang.
He and his brother were both longtime acquaintances of the director; now Black made it his business to be helpful, clearing all obstacles from Hitchcock's path and stretching the budget wherever possible.
Black had bought the rights to the original novel, "The Wheel Spins", and developed the screenplay with Launder and Gilliatt as a project for director Roy William Neill.
[27] In late 1938, Gaumont signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to make 14 films at $5 million under the supervision of Ostrer and Black.
James Mason later recalled than when World War Two broke out, Black "called everyone on to the set at Islington and told them that there was to be no more production at the studio because, in the event of an air-raid, the huge power chimney was likely to collapse and crush everybody.
[34] Black did not neglect dramas either such as For Freedom (1940) with Fyffe, The Girl in the News and Night Train to Munich with Lockwood, Neutral Port (1940) with Fyffee, and Once a Crook (1941) with Gordon Harker.
A prestigue production was The Remarkable Mr. Kipps (1941) directed by Carol Reed from script by Launder and Gilliat starring Michael Redgrave and Phyllis Calvert.
[34] In the words of one writer, Black "held the studio together during its most difficult period, backed Laundner and Gilliat in establishing a strong script department, retained the services of some of the best cameramen in the business, and put under contract a number of promising actors.
The movie was a huge commercial success, making stars out of its four leads, Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, Stewart Granger and Phyllis Calvert.
Black had worked with Lockwood and Clavert several times; he cast Mason after Eric Portman was unavailable, and selected Granger on the recommendation of Robert Donat.
[34] Calvert later claimed Arliss was "not at all" responsible for the eventual success of the film, attributing that more to Ted Black as "the one who would watch it, cut it, and know exactly what the audience would take.
"[37] Black followed it up with Fanny By Gaslight (1944), with Calvert, Mason, Granger and Jean Kent, directed by Anthony Asquith.
[38] Mason later recalled "I acted with uncalled-for hostility towards all the top brass of Gainsborough... Sparing only Ted Black, whose record I respected.
[40] Black produced Give Us the Moon (1944), a light comedy with Margaret Lockwood directed by Guest, which was not a commercial success.
[17] However more films from Launder and Gilliat were: Two Thousand Women (1944) with Calvert and Pat Roc, and Waterloo Road (1944) with John Mills and Stewart Granger.
They formed their own company and made Idol of Paris directed by Arliss which was a big flop which Wood said "badly revealed the absence of Ted Black's restraining common sense, and did less than justice to the Ostrers’ undoubted talent.
[48] Other unmade projects originally announced for Black include a version of John Buchan's novel Greenmantle with Ralph Richardson, Arnold Bennett's Old Wives' Tale[49] and an "underworld" story written by journalist Percy Hopkins directed by Brian Desmond Hurst.
[50] Black was one of several producers under contract to British Lion, others including Leslie Arliss, Korda, Anthony Kimmins and Herbert Wilcox.
[52] The first, A Man About the House (1947), was directed by Leslie Arliss and introduced a new name Kieron Moore but was not particularly popular and lost money for Korda.
[54] Critic Campbell Dixon later wrote " I tried more than once to talk Ted Black out of Bonnie Prince Charlie, partly because Charles Edward, though doubtless an agreeable playboy and accomplished charmer, never did anything except drag a lot of brave men to death, and partly because the story inevitably ends in anti-climax—it's the wrong shape.
[21] In 1949 Frank Launder suggested the British film industry follow the policy of Ted Black "basing our programme upon a diversity of product, a properly planned economy, a start building system and a careful selection and preparation of story material, we might be able to produce a very consistent stream of product, which the public would welcome.