Pat Jackson

Pat Jackson began as an editor and co-director of documentaries with the famed GPO Film Unit in the mid-1930s. He worked with such icons of the documentary field as John Grierson and Harry Watt, but it was his World War II semi-documentary Western Approaches (1944) that put him on the map. Praised as a skillful blend of real footage and studio-shot model work, the film was photographed in sumptuous Technicolor by renowned cinematographer Jack Cardiff and told the story of the harrowing dangers faced by merchant seamen in the war. Unfortunately, Jackson was unable to capitalize on this success. He spent an unproductive time under contract to producer/director Alexander Korda and spent an additional two years in Hollywood under contract to MGM, where he made just one film, the somewhat atmospheric melodrama Shadow on the Wall (1950). Returning to Britain in 1951, he was never able to find his niche, drifting among various producers, studios and independent companies. He found a lot of work directing episodic TV series. His fortunes seemed to rise in 1958, however, when he directed Our Virgin Island (1958), a light-hearted tale of a young couple starting their life on an isolated--and uninhabited--West Indian island. His follow-up film, Snowball (1960), was also a critical and commercial success, as was his comedy-thriller No Place Like Homicide! (1961) and the dark, moody Don't Talk to Strange Men (1962). Again, these small successes didn't lead to anything bigger or better, and he finished out his career in television.