Newall was a theatre actor who began his film career playing comic roles in the early years of World War I.

The heyday of Newall's career was in the post-war period to the early 1920s, where he, in a production company formed with Clark, directed, scripted and acted in the leading roles in a series of highly-regarded films.

[1][3] In May 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I in late July, Newall was engaged to play the role of 'Adrian Harper' in The Wynmartens at London's Playhouse Theatre, alongside the established comic actress Marie Tempest.

[6] In early October Tempest and her English company began their season in Toronto, Canada, with productions of The Marriage of Kitty and Mary Comes First.

[12] The Manxman, in which Newall had a small role, was directed by the American George Loane Tucker and included extensive footage filmed on location on the Isle of Man.

[14] Newall joined the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), operating anti-aircraft guns as part of Britain's air defences against bombing raids by German aircraft and Zeppelin airships.

[11] It was during his service in the RGA, on military duty at a defence station at Dover, that Newall first met George Clark, who was also serving as an anti-aircraft gunner, beginning an association which led to the foundation of a film company after the war.

They shared a belief "in the superior talent of British players" and formed a plan for demonstrating "to the world the possibilities of all-British pictures".

As Clark described the meeting: "In solemn conclave assembled we carefully considered ways and means, and soon a definite plan of campaign was mapped out".

It was the first feature film produced by the Stoll company and, in addition to its central inter-class love story, attempted to highlight problems faced by injured soldiers returning from the war.

The filming of Comradeship was carried out at around the time of the Armistice and incorporated footage of victory celebrations and captured German guns in its depiction of post-war London.

[1][17] In July 1919 it was reported that Lucky Cat Films aimed to produce "good comedies" for the screen, "without extravagance in scenery or situation... with an English background".

[18] Lucky Cat Films completed four comedies in quick succession, released from June to September 1919, working from cramped studios in Ebury Street in Central London.

[20][21] George Clark Productions completed a series of films from December 1919 to mid-year 1923, in the process of which Newall extended his skills and experience as a writer and director.

[1][C] The first release under the new name was in December 1919: The Garden of Resurrection was directed by Arthur Rooke and featured Newall and Duke in the lead roles.

All but a couple of the films produced by George Clark Productions in the period up until July 1923 featured Guy Newall and Ivy Duke in lead acting roles.

[23] While the studios were still under construction Newall took the company to Nice, on the French Riviera, where he directed The Bigamist and The Persistent Lovers, films for which he also wrote the screenplays and acted in the leading male roles.

His films ("a series of stylish fantasies, laced with wry humour") depicted "his outsider heroes" as they confronted realities of post-war Britain such as a corrupted and declining aristocracy and changing class and gender relations.

[1][28] In December 1920, on the occasion of the release of Squandered Lives (the film Duke's Son, featuring Newall and Ivy Duke in the lead roles, renamed for the American market), an article in Moving Picture World observed: "The partisans of Mr. Newall with large justification insist he is one of the screen's most natural actors as well as one of its most skillful character delineators".

[29] Although Newall's more nuanced and serious performances in the George Clark Productions films of the early 1920s differed considerably from the earlier Lucky Cat comedies, reviews in the British press and audiences "responded positively to this new direction", even to the extent of him being named at that time as "Britain's finest actor".

After completing The Starlit Garden in July 1923 Newall largely confined himself to his home in the Norfolk Broads to concentrate on writing a novel.

The producer Michael Balcon commented: "For many people 'a British film' became the rubbishy second feature you had to sit through, or avoid, if you went to see a Hollywood movie".

[43] In 1931 Newall was a cast member of Potiphar's Wife, directed by Maurice Elvey, with Laurence Olivier as the male lead in an early film role.

[44] In the early 1930s Newall worked for Julius Hagen at Twickenham Studios in west London, where he directed six films, most of them with Elizabeth Allan in the lead female role.

[1] After Hagan took over management of Twickenham and set up New Art Productions in 1929, he received many commissions to produce 'quota quickies' and maintained a roster of directors for that purpose.