---
name: "Alexander Mackendrick"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/alexander-mackendrick"
fi1m_id: "alexander-mackendrick"
imdb_id: "nm0533241"
tmdb_id: 14566
wikidata_id: "Q716310"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "8 September 1912"
died: "22 December 1993"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 87
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-25T08:09:29.578710+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Alexander Mackendrick

## Identity

Alexander Mackendrick

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/alexander-mackendrick
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** alexander-mackendrick
- **IMDb ID:** nm0533241
- **TMDB ID:** 14566
- **Wikidata ID:** Q716310
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackendrick, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q716310, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0533241/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14566

Director. Born 8 September 1912 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Died 22 December 1993.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 8 September 1912, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- **Died:** 22 December 1993
- **Active:** 1955–1957
- **Also known as:** 알렉산더 맥켄드릭
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 87, as director, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackendrick, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q716310, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0533241/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14566

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Sweet Smell of Success*](https://film.one/film/sweet-smell-of-success.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Alexander Mackendrick (1912–1993) was an American-born Scottish film director and screenwriter. He directed nine feature films between 1949 and 1967. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Scottish parents, he was raised in Glasgow from the age of six and studied at the Glasgow School of Art.

Mackendrick began his career in advertising and animation before moving into documentaries and screenwriting. He joined Ealing Studios, where he directed *Whisky Galore!* (1949), *The Man in the White Suit* (1951) and *The Ladykillers* (1955). His first American film, *Sweet Smell of Success* (1957), was followed by *The Maggie* (1954), *A High Wind in Jamaica* (1965) and *Don't Make Waves* (1967).

In 1969 he became founding dean of the film school at the California Institute of the Arts, where he taught until shortly before his death.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Sweet Smell of Success* (1957), Fi1m 88, Director, Additional Writing — [page](https://film.one/film/sweet-smell-of-success.md)
- *The Ladykillers* (1955), Fi1m 86, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-ladykillers.md)

## Complete filmography (25)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Logan* (2017), Thanks — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/logan.md)
- *3:10 to Yuma* (2007), Thanks
- *Mackendrick on Film* (2004), Writer
- *Typically British: A Personal History of British Cinema* (1995), Actor
- *Made In Ealing: The Story of Ealing Studios* (1986), as Interviewee
- *Don't Make Waves* (1967), Director
- *A High Wind in Jamaica* (1965), Director
- *Sammy Going South* (1963), Director
- *The Defenders* (1961), series, Director
- *Fanfare* (1958), Script Consultant
- *Sweet Smell of Success* (1957), Director, Additional Writing — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/sweet-smell-of-success.md)
- *The Ladykillers* (1955), Director — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-ladykillers.md)
- *The 'Maggie'* (1954), Director, Story
- *Mandy* (1952), Director
- *The Man in the White Suit* (1951), Director, Screenplay
- *Dance Hall* (1950), Screenplay
- *Whisky Galore!* (1949), Director
- *Saraband for Dead Lovers* (1948), Writer
- *Robinson Charley* (1948), Script Consultant
- *Abu's Dungeon* (1943), Writer
- *Abu and the Poisoned Well* (1943), Writer
- *Contraries* (1943), Director
- *Love on the Range* (1939), Writer
- *South Sea Sweethearts* (1938), Writer
- *Midnight Menace* (1937), Story

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1953: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *The Man in the White Suit*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Grand Jury Prize of the Venice Film Festival 1952: Grand Jury Prize of the Venice Film Festival (won), for *Mandy*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/alexander-mackendrick