Herbert Mason
Mason began his theatrical career at the age of 16 and appeared in several productions at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre[6] including Barry Jackson's The Christmas Party.
[7] During the 1920s, he stage managed some of the largest shows in London,[2] including many of André Charlot's musical revues, and began his film career with the arrival of sound in motion pictures.
Another successful film included Take My Tip, in which he directed Jack Hulbert, whose "dances [were] beautifully staged".
He moved into producing for the rest of his career, and authored some plays with his wife, Daisy Fisher, a novelist and playwright, who also had a background in theatre.
[16] He rose to the rank of major and was awarded the Military Cross[2] for his great personal outstanding gallantry when commanding the 59th brigade machine gun company at the taking of Guillemont during the Battle of the Somme.
[17] The report written on 7 September 1916 (from the Public Record Office and the National Archives in Kew) is Mason's description of the battle.
While his unit was waiting in line, he occupied himself doing a self-portrait using oil paints which, presumably, were left in the trench by a French officer.
Mason spent the whole four years in the Western Front, and was awarded the Mons Star, the medal for those who participated on the conflict from the beginning.
In 1926, he produced Yvonne a successful musical comedy (staged by George Edwardes at Daly's Theatre, London).
[30][31] In 1928, with the arrival of sound, Mason began to make his mark in the film industry by presenting stage shows for the Gaumont – British cinema circuit.
"[34] The film starred Herbert Marshall, who had previously had a role in Daisy Fisher's comedy Lavender Ladies.
In 1936, he made his first film as director, The First Offence (Bad Blood), a spy thriller in which he directed the young John Mills.
Mason changed his pace from perky musicals to dark drama with A Window in London (Lady in Distress) about a man who believes he has witnessed a murder from a passing train.
[11] However his films became lighter again including Back-Room Boy – a comedy set in a lighthouse starring Arthur Askey.
[11] Robert Murphy describes the film as "the funniest if the least original of the Askey comedies" in his book Realism and Tinsel.
[41] That view is shared with John Howard Reid, who mentions in his book that it "is also highly successful in delivering both laughs and thrills".
[42] Additionally, Michael Hodgson mentions in his book that "A Window in London was a dark and disturbing remake of Maurice Cam's French circular drama Metropolitain.
"[43][11] The film starred Michael Redgrave, who had previously played Christopher Drew in Fisher's comedy A Ship Comes Home at the St Martin's Theatre in May 1937.
Before World War II, Mason combined with some others to buy a country house, Cuffnells, the family home of Alice Liddell.
In 1940, Mason presented Peril at End House, which was written by Arnold Ridley and performed at the Vaudeville Theatre.
[48][49] Two years later, he produced The Big Top, by Herbert Farjeon, which starred Beatrice Lillie, with whom Mason had previously appeared on stage.
[50][51] During the war, while shooting the film A Yank in the RAF, a "British camera team [consisting of] (Ronald Neame, Jack Whitehead and Otto Kanturek [worked] under the direction of Mason to take footage of Spitfires being rearmed.
Mason and Daisy Fisher financed and were authors of the play of Lend Me Robin, which was performed in the Embassy Theatre, London from 5 October 1948[55][56] a few years before it was sold to the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Three years later Mason and Fisher worked together on 'an eternal triangle Thriller Dangerous Woman' which was shown at Wimbledon Theatre.
Charles Allen Oakley says in his book that: "The post-war era ended for the British cinematograph industry almost indeterminately during 1952 and 1953.
It is a moving snapshot of a war-weary country coming alive – an unrecognised classic and undiscovered sociological resource.
He produced his last film – The Blue Peter, which was later retitled Navy Heroes, which was released in November 1955 (UK) and December 1957 (USA).
[64] In 1914, before the outbreak of the First World War, Mason married Daisy Fisher, a chorus girl, actress, lyricist and singer, who also had a background in theatre and became a novelist and playwright.
