Michael Relph

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British film maker (1915–2004)

title: "Michael Relph" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1915-births", "2004-deaths", "english-film-producers", "english-art-directors", "people-educated-at-bembridge-school", "people-from-broadstone,-dorset", "people-from-selsey", "20th-century-english-businesspeople"] description: "British film maker (1915–2004)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Relph" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British film maker (1915–2004) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameMichael Relph
imageMichael_Relph.jpg
birth_nameMichael Leighton George Relph
birth_date
birth_placeBroadstone, Dorset, England
death_date
death_placeSelsey, West Sussex, England
nationalityEnglish
occupation
::

| name = Michael Relph | image = Michael_Relph.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Michael Leighton George Relph | birth_date = | birth_place = Broadstone, Dorset, England | death_date = | death_place = Selsey, West Sussex, England | nationality = English | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = Michael Leighton George Relph (16 February 1915 – 30 September 2004) was an English film producer, art director, screenwriter and film director. He was the son of actor George Relph.

Films

Relph began his film career in 1933 as an assistant art director under Alfred Junge at Gaumont British then headed by Michael Balcon. In 1942, Relph began work at Ealing as chief art director, where his designs included the influential 1945 supernatural anthology Dead of Night.

He worked mainly on Basil Dearden's films, and in 1949 was nominated for an Academy Award for art direction for his work on the Stewart Granger vehicle Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948).

Theatre

Michael Relph also designed for the theatre, particularly the West End in the 1940s, including The Doctor's Dilemma, A Month in the Country, and The Man Who Came to Dinner.

Producer

Relph is largely known as a film producer. He served as associate producer on the Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949); and had a significant 20-year partnership with Basil Dearden beginning in 1949 and ending with Dearden's death in 1971. Their work included a series of social problem films examining issues such as racism (Pool of London and Sapphire), juvenile delinquency (Violent Playground), homosexuality (Victim), and religious intolerance (Life for Ruth). Relph believed that because film was "genuinely a mass medium," it therefore had "social and educative responsibilities as well as artistic ones."

In their review of Life For Ruth, The New York Times wrote, "in avoiding blatant bias, mawkish sentimentality and theatrical flamboyance, it makes a statement that is dramatic, powerful and provocative."

Relph also directed some movies. It has been argued he was not as skilled a director as a producer.

From 1972 to 1979, Relph was chairman of the British Film Institute's Production Board. Simultaneously he was the Chairman of the Film Production Association of Great Britain, and went on to be Head of Production for Boyd's Company in the 1980s, where he helped foster the emerging talents of Derek Jarman (The Tempest) and Julien Temple (The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle).

Family

His son, Simon Relph, was also a film producer and former chairman of BAFTA. His daughter, Emma Relph, had several parts on television and in the films as an actress during the 1980s. His stepson Mark Law is a former Fleet Street journalist and author of The Pyjama Game, A Journey Into Judo.

Selected filmography

::data[format=table]

YearTitleDirectorProducerWriter
1952I Believe in You
1955Out of the Clouds
The Ship That Died of Shame
1957Rockets Galore!
Davy
1959Desert Mice
1960Man in the Moon
1963A Place to Go
1964Woman of Straw
1965Masquerade
1968The Assassination Bureau
1970The Man Who Haunted Himself
::

Producer

Art director

Production designer

References

References

  1. Dennis Barker. (8 October 2004). "Obituary: Michael Relph". the Guardian.
  2. "Michael Relph". Oxforddnb.com.
  3. "Michael Relph | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk.
  4. (October 2004). "Michael Relph". Telegraph.
  5. (2004-10-02). "Michael Relph - Obituaries - News". The Independent.
  6. "BFI Screenonline: Relph, Michael (1915-2004) Biography". Screenonline.org.uk.
  7. "BFI Screenonline: Dearden, Basil (1911-1971) Biography".
  8. "British 60s cinema - The 'Social problem' films of Dearden & Relph".
  9. Hill, John. (1 January 1985). "The British 'Social Problem' Film: 'Violent Playground' and 'Sapphire'". Screen.
  10. A.H. Weiler. (1966-09-12). "Movie Review - Life For Ruth - Screen: Faith and Law:'Walk in the Shadow' Is Disturbingly Real". [[The New York Times]].
  11. Vagg, Stephen. (21 June 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation Films of 1958".
  12. Adam Dawtrey. (2004-10-05). "Michael Relph". Variety.
  13. "Emma Relph | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk.
  14. (2011). "Just Boris, The Irresistible Rise of a Political Celebrity". Aurum Press Ltd.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1915-births2004-deathsenglish-film-producersenglish-art-directorspeople-educated-at-bembridge-schoolpeople-from-broadstone,-dorsetpeople-from-selsey20th-century-english-businesspeople