John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913, Bray, Berkshire — 17 June 1985, Sunningdale, Berkshire) was a prolific British film producer, director, and screenwriter best known for extensive collaboration with his twin brother,
[url=https://discogs.com/artist/1853756]Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting[/url] (1913—2001). They primarily worked as
The Boulting Brothers duo, with John credited as a producer on 21 films (while Roy was more active as a director). He was married four times and had five children, including photographer
Jody Boulting. He is the grandfather of hip-hop artist
Jordan Stephens, and the uncle of filmmaker
Laurence Boulting and singer-songwriter
Crispian Mills.
Technically "eldest," John was born half an hour before Roy; both twins debuted in
Anthony Asquith's 1931 film
Tell England at eighteen while still attending the Reading School in Berkshire. John worked as an ambulance driver in the Spanish Civil War for most of 1937. After his return, the brothers established
Charter Film Productions and began making shorts. Boultings came to prominence in 1940 with
Pastor Hall,
Martin Niemöller's anti-nazi biopic based on
Ernst Toller's eponymous play. Produced by John and directed by Roy, it was a critical and commercial breakthrough for aspiring brothers;
James Roosevelt distributed the film in North America via [url=https://discogs.com/label/296259]United Artists[/url], where it screened with
Eleanor Roosevelt's prologue. During the Second World War, John served as the Royal Air Force lieutenant, soon joining RAF's Film Unit Production, where he created
Journey Together in 1945, a dramatized documentary co-written by
Terence Rattigan and starring
Richard Attenborough.
The brothers periodically switched roles; for instance, John directed
Brighton Rock crime drama in 1946, which became a notable box office attraction and caused uproar for its explicit depiction of violence, or
The Magic Box (1951), marked by multiple cameos. John and Roy co-produced and co-directed several movies, including
Seven Days to Noon thriller, which earned Boultings the Golden Lion nomination at the 1950 Venice Film Festival, or the WWII naval epic
Seagulls over Sorrento (1954) on [url=https://discogs.com/label/154276]MGM[/url] starring
Gene Kelly. They filmed a series of critically acclaimed satirical comedies between 1956 and 1959, led by a star cast of
Richard Attenborough,
Terry-Thomas, [url=https://discogs.com/artist/791410]Ian Carmichael[/url], and
Peter Sellers.
John's last work as a director was a mildly successful heist comedy,
Rotten to the Core, in 1965, co-written and produced by Roy. The following year, John produced a critically and financially successful northern comedy,
The Family Way, directed by Roy and featuring
Paul McCartney's soundtrack.
The Boulting Brothers' career went into decline afterward, only worsened by a few controversies involving Roy; the 1970 romantic comedy
There's a Girl in My Soup with Sellers and
Goldie Hawn, directed by Roy and co-produced by John with
M. J. Frankovich, became their last notable success. (A few songs from the film by
Mike D'Abo, including "Miss Me In The Morning," briefly charted in Europe.)
In 1974, John co-produced Roy's comedy
Soft Beds, Hard Battles, which became a massive commercial flop despite a prominent cast with
Peter Sellers,
Curd Jürgens,
Lila Kedrova, and
Jenny Hanley. It was John's last job in cinema; Roy's final comedy,
The Last Word (1979), saw only limited release and performed even worse in the UK's box office. In 1985, seventy-two-year-old John died of cancer; Roy Boulting stopped making films afterward but outlived his brother by 16 years.
