Alexander Mackendrick

Alexander Mackendrick (September 8, 1912 – December 22, 1993) was an American-born Scottish film director and screenwriter. He directed nine feature films between 1949 and 1967 before retiring from filmmaking to become an influential professor at the California Institute of the Arts. Born to Scottish immigrant parents in Boston, he was raised in Glasgow from the age of 6. Mackendrick began making television commercials before transitioning into post-production editing and film directing, most notably for Ealing Studios. His notable works include Whisky Galore! (1949) and The Man in the White Suit (1951), which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. In 1957, Mackendrick directed his first American film Sweet Smell of Success, marking both critical and commercial success. However, his directing career had a downfall the following decade and he was fired or replaced from several projects, mainly due to his perfectionist approach to filmmaking. He ended his directing career in the late 1960's after completing A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) and Don't Make Waves (1967), and became the founding Dean (and later a Professor) of the CalArts School of Film/Video. Despite many disappointments and uphill battles in the film industry, Alexander Mackendrick left a lasting legacy, gaining recognition as 'one of Britain’s greatest film directors' and 'one of the finest instructors of narrative cinema who ever lived'.