KEN ANNAKIN
(1914-2009)
By Lee Pfeiffer
The film world lost another legend this week with the passing of director/writer Ken Annakin, who died at age 94. For those of us at Cinema Retro, the loss is personal. In addition to directing some of our favorite films, Ken was an avid supporter of the magazine. The seemingly indestructible British filmmaker led a full and active life and was engaged in trying to get new projects off the ground until he fell ill in February.
Annakin began his career as a director in 1946 and found his talents to be constantly in demand. His career took off a decade later when he was hired by Walt Disney to direct The Story of Robin Hood in 1952. He quickly became one of Disney's favorite and most dependable directors. Annakin would do numerous other films for Disney, the most successful being the adventure classic Swiss Family Robinson. Annakin would direct many other high-profile films over the years. He was one of several directors hired for Darryl F. Zanuck's epic D-Day film The Longest Day. Annakin primarily handled the British military sequences, but also contributed to other key scenes. His success on that film led to his involvement with two other epic films of the 1960s: Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and Battle of the Bulge. Annakin scored an Oscar nomination for his screenplay of the former, but his experience on Bulge was far different. The production ran into funding difficulties that required him to go far beyond his expected duties in order to ensure successful completion of the film. Perhaps the greatest compliment to extend to Annakin is that there was no "typical Ken Annakin picture". He delved into many different genres, including the South African High Noon- like adventure The Hellions, the period war film The Long Duel, the delightful caper comedy The Biggest Bundle of Them All and the sentimental film Paper Tiger for producer Euan Lloyd.
Ken Annakin personified the British gentleman and came of age in an era in which film directors would wear suits and ties on the set. He was a wonderful story-teller with a great sense of humor, attributes I got to enjoy first-hand several years ago when Dave Worrall and I visited him in his Los Angeles home. Ken loved the concept of Cinema Retro and afforded us an entire day in which to interview him for future issues. He shared priceless memories of working with Walt Disney, Darryl F. Zanuck and other giants of the industry. He was hard at work on more film projects, though he wasn't delusional about his chances of success in an industry obsessed with youth. "These will probably never be made, but I can't help myself", he said in relation to finding an outlet for his creative ideas. Dave and I were greatly honored by Ken's enthusiastic reaction to our recent book
The Great War Movies which we authored for 20th Century Fox. Ken sent word that the extensive section on the making of
The Longest Day brought back a lot of fond memories.
He authored a well-received autobiography (So You Wanna Be a Director...) which recounted his remarkable career. He even figures as a footnote in the Star Wars saga, as it's said that George Lucas' decision to name the character Anakin Skywalker was a nod of respect to Ken. He is survived by Pauline, his wife of 50 years, and his daughter Deborah, an executive at Paramount.
The only unpleasant aspect of running Cinema Retro is having to report on the loss of so many revered figures in the film industry. This time, the loss is personal, as we're not likely to see another Ken Annakin anytime soon. The man may be gone, but we can take comfort from the fact that generations of future movie goers will still be entertained by his work.