Biography
Lewis Gilbert started out as a child actor on the London stage and in British silent films. Making his last on-camera appearance in
The Divorce of Lady X (1938), Gilbert remained in the movie industry as an assistant director. During World War II, he served with the U.S. Air Corps Film Unit, receiving his first opportunity to direct. After a string of documentaries, he helmed his first dramatic feature,
The Ballerina (1947). His subsequent films include the superior wartime dramas
Carve Her Name with Pride (1957) and
Sink the Bismarck (1960), the tender coming-of-age study
Loss of Innocence (1961) and the cynical sex seriocomedy
Alfie (1967). He also helmed three James Bond epics, one with Connery (1967's
You Only Live Twice) and two above-average
Roger Moore efforts (The Spy Who Loved Me,
Moonraker). The best of Lewis Gilbert's more recent films include a brace of adaptations of Willy Russell stage plays,
Educating Rita (1983) and
Shirley Valentine (1989). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide