J. Lee Thompson - Personality and Style of Directing

Personality and Style of Directing

Low-key and with a typically British sense of humour, Thompson was highly regarded by many actors and film personnel. He was known for having a clear directorial vision and for working collaboratively rather than tyrannically. Thomson also had a reputation for coming to the set prepared and knowing exactly what was needed to make an effective sequence. This resulted in generally shorter work days for his staff and the quick completion of his films.

Thompson was in many ways an 'actor's director' who respected the views of his cast members while maintaining his own vision. It was often remarked that actors were 'spoiled' on Thompson's set due to his more egalitarian methods of directing and the easier working conditions. It is for these reasons that Thompson worked multiple times with certain actors, including Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Charles Bronson, Diana Dors, and Jacqueline Bisset. He also had great talent for working with child actors, notably Hayley Mills and Lori Martin.

Thompson arguably did his best work in black and white, favouring depthy compositions which offered sharp contrasts between the actors and the background framing. In colour, his hues are heavily saturated, and he favours darker colours in his dramatic films, creating a filmic vision that is at once personal and disturbing. During the black-and-white era of filmmaking, Thompson styled his dramas after Hitchcock with an emphasis on light and shadow. In his best films, Thompson makes solid use of pacing to build dramatic tension. Three superior examples are The Guns of Navarone, Tiger Bay and Cape Fear, which rely largely on physical action. Thompson's later films with Charles Bronson also show this competence, helping to give these B-level movies a high degree of watchability.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of Thompson's films are the subject matters and how he shamelessly portrays them. In their time, movies such as The Yellow Balloon (blackmail), Yield to the Night (female imprisonment), and Cape Fear (sexual deviance) were highly controversial and still hold dramatic resonance today. Thompson's legacy may rest in his dealing with social topics years before other filmmakers considered them. He was also unafraid to portray violence in realistic fashion, even visiting the horror genre in 1981 with Happy Birthday to Me. Indeed, the violence of some of Thompson's later projects is, for many, their most problematic aspect.

By the mid-1980s, Thompson was respected for his earlier projects, but inevitably tagged as a filmmaker in decline. While the films he directed in the 1970s and 80s are of considerable entertainment value, almost none of them have social significance and are little more than a footnote in cinema history. Thompson later admitted in a biography by Steve Chibnall that he 'sold out' to Hollywood convention, through which he made a large salary at the expense of his art. Although Thompson's output never decreased, it became greatly limited in scope.

Thompson's personal life was irregular at best. He was a three-time husband and a visible figure on the Hollywood party scene. He was also a confirmed heavy drinker, although he seemed to overcome the problem in later years. His habits may have compromised his talent, but Thompson remains an admirable figure of longevity in a business known for its temporary nature.

In the current age of DVD, Thompson's films still hold a large viewership. While best known for The Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear, Tiger Bay, and perhaps Ice Cold in Alex, many of his other films have a sizeable following. In all likelihood, The Guns of Navarone will maintain his place as a notable filmmaker. It is also probable that Thompson will be most remembered by people within the industry for his skilled craftsmanship.