Roy Ward Baker

Directing

Roy Ward Baker

Born — Died

1916-12-19 — 2010-10-05

Place of birth

London, England

Known for

Directing

Credits

50 titles

Roy Ward Baker was an English film director born in London on 19 December 1916. His best known film is A Night to Remember which won a Golden Globe for best foreign English language film in 1959. His later career was varied, and included many horror films and television shows. Baker's early career, from 1934 to 1939, was spent working for Gainsborough Pictures, a British film production company based in Islington, North London, famous for its prestige productions. His first jobs were menial - making tea for crew members, for example - but by 1938 he had risen through the ranks to work as assistant director on Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. He served in the army during World War II, …

Known for

A Night to Remember poster
7.7

The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.

A Night to Remember

1958

The Vampire Lovers poster
6.4

In the heart of Styria the Karnstein Family, even after their mortal deaths, rise from their tombs spreading evil in the countryside in their lust for fresh blood. Baron Hartog whose family are all victims of Karnstein vampirism, opens their graves and drives a stake through their diabolical hearts. One grave he cannot locate is that of the legendary beautiful Mircalla Karnstein. Years of peace follow that grisly night until Mircalla reappears to avenge her family's decimation and satisfy her desire for blood.

The Vampire Lovers

1970

A History of Horror poster
7.1

Mark Gatiss examines the history of the horror film, from classic Hollywood monsters to Hammer's glory days and beyond.

A History of Horror

2010

Quatermass and the Pit poster
6.7

A mysterious artifact unearthed below a London Underground station proves to have powerful psychic effects on the people around.

Quatermass and the Pit

1967

The Vault of Horror poster
6.4

The sequel to Tales from the Crypt. Five strangers trapped in a basement vault converse about their recurring nightmares. Their stories include vampires, bodily dismemberment, east Indian mysticism, an insurance scam, and an artist who kills by painting his victims' deaths.

The Vault of Horror

1973

Asylum poster
6.1

A young psychiatrist applies for a job at a mental asylum and must pass a test by interviewing four patients. He must figure out which of the patients, is in fact, the doctor that he would be replacing if hired.

Asylum

1972

Film credits

2000s · 5 titles

1990s · 2 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

A Night to Remember poster
7.7

The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.

A Night to Remember

1958

The Vampire Lovers poster
6.4

In the heart of Styria the Karnstein Family, even after their mortal deaths, rise from their tombs spreading evil in the countryside in their lust for fresh blood. Baron Hartog whose family are all victims of Karnstein vampirism, opens their graves and drives a stake through their diabolical hearts. One grave he cannot locate is that of the legendary beautiful Mircalla Karnstein. Years of peace follow that grisly night until Mircalla reappears to avenge her family's decimation and satisfy her desire for blood.

The Vampire Lovers

1970

Quatermass and the Pit poster
6.7

A mysterious artifact unearthed below a London Underground station proves to have powerful psychic effects on the people around.

Quatermass and the Pit

1967

The Vault of Horror poster
6.4

The sequel to Tales from the Crypt. Five strangers trapped in a basement vault converse about their recurring nightmares. Their stories include vampires, bodily dismemberment, east Indian mysticism, an insurance scam, and an artist who kills by painting his victims' deaths.

The Vault of Horror

1973

Asylum poster
6.1

A young psychiatrist applies for a job at a mental asylum and must pass a test by interviewing four patients. He must figure out which of the patients, is in fact, the doctor that he would be replacing if hired.

Asylum

1972

The Monster Club poster
5.8

A vampire attacks a horror author on the street and then invites him to a nearby club as a gesture of gratitude, which turns out to be a meeting place for assorted creatures of the night. The vampire then regales him with three stories, each interspersed with musical performances at the club.

The Monster Club

1981

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires poster
5.9

Professor Van Helsing had been asked to help against the tyranny of skeletal creatures that are responsible for terror and death amongst the peasants in rural China. He is the only person qualified to deal with the cause of these phenomena, for the undead are controlled by the most diabolical force of all.... Count Dracula. But he is not alone- to aid him comes a mystical brotherhood of seven martial arts warriors.

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

1974

Scars of Dracula poster
5.9

The Prince of Darkness casts his undead shadow once more over the cursed village of Kleinenberg when his ashes are splashed with bat's blood and Dracula is resurrected. And two innocent victims search for a missing loved one... loved to death by Dracula's mistress. But after they discover his blood-drained corpse in Dracula's castle necropolis, the Vampire Lord's lustful vengeance begins.

Scars of Dracula

1970

The Masks of Death poster
5.4

Sherlock Holmes has retired. But when MacDonald asks him to take on another case, he says yes. There have been some mysterious murders, and there are no visible causes for the deaths. At the same time Holmes gets this case, Graf Udo Von Felseck gives him another case: find a young and missing prince to prevent war between Germany and England. But Von Felseck is not as honest as he seems...

The Masks of Death

1984

Don't Bother to Knock poster
6.7

An airline pilot pursues a live-in babysitter at his hotel and gradually realizes she is not as stable as perhaps she should be.

Don't Bother to Knock

1952

Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde poster
6.2

In foggy London Dr Jekyll experiments on newly deceased women determined to discover an elixir for immortal life. Success enables his spectacular transformation into the beautiful but psychotic Sister Hyde who stalks the dark alleys of Whitechapel for young, innocent, female victims, ensuring continuation of the bloodstained research. With each transformation Sister Hyde becomes the more dominant personality, determined to eventually suppress the frail, ineffectual Dr Jekyll forever.

Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde

1971

The Anniversary poster
6.6

Mrs Taggart always celebrates her anniversary with her grown sons. It’s a tradition practised since the death of her husband and she is determined for it to continue. None of her three sons have dared to cross their ruthless domineering mother but this anniversary they intend to try. With cruel and brutal twists, the family get-together becomes a social nightmare beyond endurance.

The Anniversary

1968

Inferno poster
6.2

When selfish and arrogant millionaire Donald Carson fractures his leg during a desert vacation, his wife, Geraldine, leaves with their friend Joseph Duncan to supposedly get help. However, the two of them are really lovers who are leaving Carson to die in the heat. Slowly, Carson realizes he is on his own and vows revenge on the traitorous couple. Having had a privileged life, Carson must now use his wits to stay alive.

Inferno

1953

The House in the Square poster
6.4

Atomic scientist Peter Standish travels back in time to 1784, an era he has read about in his forefather's diaries. He falls in love with his forefather's cousin, Helen, but his contemporaries of 1784 are perplexed by his strange talk and the odd knowledge he possesses.

The House in the Square

1951

And Now the Screaming Starts! poster
5.9

In the late 18th century, two newlyweds move into the stately mansion of the Fengriffen family. The young bride is victim of terrifying visions and apparitions, threatening her very sanity. A London psychiatrist comes to her help and uncovers the terrible secret that haunts the estate.

And Now the Screaming Starts!

1973

Flame in the Streets poster
6.3

Domestic difficulties develop in a working-class family when their daughter falls in love with a Jamaican man.

Flame in the Streets

1961

Flame in the Streets poster
6.3

Domestic difficulties develop in a working-class family when their daughter falls in love with a Jamaican man.

Flame in the Streets

1961

The One That Got Away poster
6.8

Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.

The One That Got Away

1957

Moon Zero Two poster
4.9

On the Moon in the year 2021, a former-astronaut-turned-salvager helps a millionaire space industrialist capture a 6000-ton sapphire asteroid, while also assisting a woman in finding her missing miner/prospector brother

Moon Zero Two

1969

Night Without Sleep poster
5.8

Upon awaking in the morning, a man finds his thoughts clouded by the possibility that he committed a murder.

Night Without Sleep

1952

The Fiction Makers poster
7.2

Simon Templar is hired by a friend in the book publishing trade to protect one of his stars, a secretive recluse named Amos Klein who writes a popular (and lucrative) series of adventure novels about a manly and suave spy.

The Fiction Makers

1968

The Spy Killer poster
5.0

Spy Killer stars Robert Horton as a secret agent turned private eye. Framed for murder, Horton is released, but only after promising that he'll track down a book containing a list of government agents who are operating covertly in Red China. The reluctant spy discovers that he can't completely trust anyone in this endeavor--not even his former chief

The Spy Killer

1969

The Switch poster
NR

Our heroes find themselves at the famed Cannes Film Festival to help foil a plot to murder a former American union boss cum government witness, Kyle Sander. Suspects include the beautiful Marissa and boyfriend, who have a few surprises in store. Lord Sinclair and Danny then travel to Switzerland, where they have to help an elderly Duchess protect her jewels by finding proof of past marriage to a prince.

The Switch

1976

The Singer Not the Song poster
6.4

A Roman Catholic priest defies a Mexican bandit whose gang kills villagers in alphabetical order.

The Singer Not the Song

1961

The Singer Not the Song poster
6.4

A Roman Catholic priest defies a Mexican bandit whose gang kills villagers in alphabetical order.

The Singer Not the Song

1961

The October Man poster
6.2

Jim Ackland, who suffers from a head injury sustained in a bus crash, is the chief suspect in a murder hunt, when a girl that he has just met is found dead on the local common, and he has no alibi for the time she was killed.

The October Man

1947

Jacqueline poster
6.2

Jacqueline is the daughter of Belfast shipyard worker Mike McNeil. The worker's worth is compromised by his crippling fear of heights. Dismissed from his job, he finds solace in the bottle. All seems hopeless until Jacqueline breaks through her father's self-imposed gloom and helps him to regenerate. An adaptation of the novel 'A Grand Man', by Catherine Cookson.

Jacqueline

1956

Tiger in the Smoke poster
6.7

In wartime, a young officer is killed during a raid to kill a German general at the house that used to belong to his grandmother. Before he dies he talks about a treasure that was hidden there. Several years later, the members of that group are still together as a street band living in a cellar. The last of the gang, who was chosen for his skills as a ruthless killer, escapes from prison in a rampage of killing and, obsessed with the treasure, takes the gang to France to recover it.

Tiger in the Smoke

1956

Paper Orchid poster
5.0

Paper Orchid is a 1949 British crime film directed by Roy Ward Baker, with a script written by Val Guest. It featured Hugh Williams, Hy Hazell and Garry Marsh. It is perhaps most notable for an early film appearance of Sid James, later to find success through the Carry On series.

Paper Orchid

1949

Two Left Feet poster
6.0

Based on David Stuart Leslie's novel Two Left Feet is a story about Alan Crabbe (Michael Crawford) a callow youth desperate for a date with any girl who can offer him the experience he lacks. Every time Alan tries a manful stride into the jungle of sex, his two left feet turn the attempt into a trip-and-stumble. Then he meets Eileen (Nyree Dawn Porter), the new waitress at the corner cafe, who signal unmistakable messages with her large inviting eyes.

Two Left Feet

1963

Two Left Feet poster
6.0

Based on David Stuart Leslie's novel Two Left Feet is a story about Alan Crabbe (Michael Crawford) a callow youth desperate for a date with any girl who can offer him the experience he lacks. Every time Alan tries a manful stride into the jungle of sex, his two left feet turn the attempt into a trip-and-stumble. Then he meets Eileen (Nyree Dawn Porter), the new waitress at the corner cafe, who signal unmistakable messages with her large inviting eyes.

Two Left Feet

1963

Mission: Monte Carlo poster
5.9

Two episodes of the TV series "The Persuaders" joined into a movie. Two playboys investigate crimes along the French Riviera.

Mission: Monte Carlo

1974

Morning Departure poster
6.9

The crew of a submarine is trapped on the sea floor when it sinks. How can they be rescued before they run out of air?

Morning Departure

1950

The Weaker Sex poster
6.7

A British housewife does her own battles against the enemy during World War II.

The Weaker Sex

1948

The Valiant poster
8.3

Having placed mines on the hull of a British warship whilst it is safe in harbour during the second World War , the two man crew of an Italian miniature submarine are captured and held prisoner whist the crew try and discover the nature of their mission!

The Valiant

1962

Foreign Exchange poster
6.7

A former British Secret Service agent is persuaded to negotiate a spy exchange with Russia, only to find himself drawn into political intrigues.

Foreign Exchange

1970

No artwork available
NR

Ministry of Information dramatized vocational film on assistance in finding jobs after the Second World War.

What's the Next Job?

1945

Passage Home poster
5.9

Set in 1931, the film takes place aboard a merchant ship, briefly harboured in South America. A young woman (Diane Cilento) boards the ship as a passenger, resulting in disharmony among the superstitious crew members. Virtuous seaman Anthony Steel protects the girl from the lecherous advances of captain Peter Finch.

Passage Home

1955

No artwork available
4.6

An account of the technique of reading the tabloid press in an intelligent manor via differing editorial techniques that leads to three styles of newspapers giving varying accounts of a strip-tease act.

Read All About It

1945

Highly Dangerous poster
6.0

A US newsman and a British entomologist spy on germ-warfare research in a mythical country.

Highly Dangerous

1950