Michael Relph

Michael Leighton George Relph (16 February 1915 – 30 September 2004) was an English film producer, art director, writer and film director. He was the son of actor George Relph.

Films

Relph began his film career in 1933 as an assistant art director under Alfred Junge at Gaumont British then headed by Michael Balcon. In 1942 Relph began work at Ealing as chief art director, where his designs included the influential 1945 supernatural anthology Dead of Night.

He worked mainly on Basil Dearden's films, and in 1949 was nominated for an Academy Award for art direction for his work on the Stewart Granger vehicle Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948).

Theatre

Michael Relph also designed for the theatre, particularly the West End in the 1940s, from The Doctor's Dilemma and A Month in the Country, to Nap Hand and The Man Who Came to Dinner.

Producer

Later in his career, Relph worked as a producer. He served as associate producer on the Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949); and had a significant 20-year partnership with Basil Dearden beginning in 1949 and ending with Dearden's death in 1971. From 1972 to 1979, he was chairman of the British Film Institute's Production Board.

Family

His son, Simon Relph, is also a film producer and former chairman of BAFTA. His daughter, Emma Relph, had several parts on television and in the films as an actress during the 1980s. His stepson Mark Law is a former Fleet Street journalist and author of The Pyjama Game, A Journey Into Judo.

Selected filmography

• The Bells Go Down (1943)
• Champagne Charlie (1944)
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947)
• Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948)
• The Blue Lamp (1950)
• Sapphire (1959)
• The League Of Gentlemen (1960)
• Victim (1961)