Charles Crichton gives comic actors time to make one another uncomfortable without letting a scene drag. We rate his precise, unshowy direction, though good timing cannot rescue every script or excuse every cruelty.
Fi1m perspective
In A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Charles Crichton lets an exchange run long enough for the listener's displeasure to become part of the joke. We laughed at their discomfort: he gives the actors time to show how little they like what they hear. John Jympson's editing preserves that rhythm rather than cutting away as soon as someone has said something funny. The film moves briskly without hurrying anybody past a useful reaction.
His timing grew out of an early career as an editor, before he directed Ealing comedies including Hue and Cry (1947), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953). The everyday settings and mild insubordination gave his economical direction plenty to work with. In The Titfield Thunderbolt, villagers try to save a railway line. These are the gentler comedies to explore if the later film's malice is too much.
The scripts did not always serve him as well: The Battle of the Sexes (1959) and He Who Rides a Tiger (1965) were both weakened by their writing. His move into television and corporate films after Ealing was followed by a return to features with A Fish Called Wanda, after a gap of 23 years. John Cleese's screenplay gives him people whose greed and lust make even basic co-operation difficult. Crichton sensibly allows those difficulties to occupy more of our attention than the criminal arrangements.
Our affection for that film has limits: a few jokes are pushed too hard, and its appetite for bullying can become wearing. Yet Crichton's trust in the actors keeps the farce engaging when the plot grows complicated. He gives them something to do besides explain it, which is a considerable service to everyone watching. Start with A Fish Called Wanda, but make sure the company enjoys seeing people treated badly.
Biography
Charles Crichton was an English film director and editor. He began his career as an editor at London Films in the 1930s before joining Ealing Studios, where he made his directorial debut with For Those in Peril (1944).
Crichton directed several Ealing comedies, including Hue and Cry (1947), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953). He later worked extensively in television, directing episodes of series such as The Avengers and Space: 1999.
In 1988, at the age of 78, he returned to feature films to direct A Fish Called Wanda, on which he also received a story credit alongside John Cleese. The film earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Crichton died in London on 14 September 1999.
