Charles Orme


Charles Orme was a British film producer. He worked regularly with Powell & Pressburger, Ralph Thomas, Basil Dearden and John Boorman. He has over 50 credits on a number of classics including The 39 Steps, Khartoum, Deliverance, The Man with the Golden Gun and The Omen. He was an original member of the multiple-award-winning Powell & Pressburger production team known as The Archers. He was a production assistant, production manager and assistant director on many of their classic productions, including The Red Shoes, The Small Back Room, Gone to Earth and The Elusive Pimpernel, The Tales of Hoffmann, Oh... Rosalinda!!, The Battle of the River Plate and Ill Met by Moonlight.

Early years

Orme was born in Conway, Wales, He was one of four children with sisters Vanda, Daphne, and Wendy Orme. His parents were Edward Reginald Orme, British major, and Jessie May Allen. In his early years he spent time in Canada working as a lumberjack before entering the film industry.

Film career

On 29 March 1947, Emeric Pressburger married Orme's sister Wendy Orme, and they later had a daughter, Angela. Angela had two sons both becoming successful film-makers: Kevin Macdonald an Oscar-winning director whose work includes the documentaries One Day in September, Touching the Void and Marley as well as feature films The Last King of Scotland and Black Sea. Andrew Macdonald, a film producer and co-founder of DNA Films whose work has included films such as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and most recently Ex-Machina.
In 1947, aged 29, Orme's brother in law Emeric Pressburger introduced Orme to a career in the film industry which was to span the next 38 years. Orme was a member of the legendary production company The Archers which is renowned for making magnificent films such as 49th Parallel, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffmann.

The Archers/Powell and Pressburger

From 1947 to 1957, Orme learned his trade working as part of The Archers production team on eight Powell & Pressburger films:
Additional Films :
Also in 1951 he worked as unit and location manager on Warners Bros' Where's Charley? directed by David Butler and starring Ray Bolger.
In 1952, Orme worked as production manager on the first full-length feature film made by Billy Graham in England, Souls in Conflict, directed by Dick Ross and Leonard Reeve, photographed by cinematographer Guy Green, Oliver Twist ). Orme also worked as production manager on , a German film made partly in Ireland, directed by Gerhard Lamprecht and starring Curt Jurgens.

Rank Organisation

From 1956 to 1964, Orme was placed under contract with the Rank Organisation as a production manager, where he regularly worked with directors Ralph Thomas, Basil Dearden, John Paddy Carstairs and Robert Asher as well as producers such as Betty E. Box, Earl St. John, Hugh Stewart and Michael Relph on another 22 films, including films as diverse as The 39 Steps, several Norman Wisdom and Doctor films as well as The Intelligence Men with Morecambe and Wise.
As production manager on:
In 1965, Orme stepped out from under the Pinewood corporate umbrella into the role of freelance production supervisor for Khartoum, directed by Basil Dearden, produced by Julian Blaustein and starring Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Richard Johnson.
In 1968, Orme then worked as a production supervisor on Inspector Clouseau, directed by Bud Yorkin, starring Alan Arkin, Frank Finlay and Delia Boccardo.
In 1969, Orme made the jump from production supervisor to associate producer to reunite with director Basil Dearden on The Assassination Bureau, edited by Teddy Darvas, photographed by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth and starring Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas and Curt Jurgens.

1969–1970 Development and pre-production work

During 1969 and 1970, Orme worked on development and pre-production work for the following 18 projects:
For Paramount Pictures:
For Robert Chartoff & Irwin Winkler:
For Universal Studios:
For Warner Brothers:
For United Artists:
For MGM:
For Michael Relph & Basil Dearden:
In 1969, Orme worked as a Paramount production executive in Denmark on A Day at the Beach with producers Gene Gutowski and Roman Polanski. The film was directed by Simon Hesera and starred Peter Sellers, Mark Burns, Beatie Edney and Maurice Roëves.
In the same year, Orme also worked as a post-production supervisor on Performance, produced by Sanford Lieberson and David Cammell. The film was directed by both Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell and starred Mick Jagger, James Fox and Anita Pallenberg.

1970–1985: Later career

In February 1970, Orme joined John Boorman as his associate and became a director of Christel Films and John Boorman Productions Limited. This relationship saw him working on a number of productions with Boorman.
In 1971, Orme began working as associate producer on Deliverance, directed by John Boorman, edited by Tom Priestley and starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox. Deliverance was a box office success in the United States, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 1972 after grossing a domestic total of over $46 million with only a $2 million budget. Deliverance was nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing. Deliverance was an inductee to the 2008 National Film Registry list; commenting, "With dazzling visual flair, director John Boorman and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond infuse James Dickey's novel with scenes of genuine terror and frantic struggles for survival battling river rapids — and in the process create a work rich with fascinating ambiguities about "civilized" values, urban-versus-backwoods culture, nature, and man's supposed taming of the environment."
In 1972, Orme worked for one year as production executive with Clive Parsons' Film and General Investments and Completion Guarantee Company.
In 1973, Orme reunited with John Boorman as associate producer for Zardoz, edited by John Merritt, photographed by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth and starring Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling and Sara Kestelman.
In 1974, Orme began working as associate producer for United Artists on The Man with the Golden Gun, the ninth film in the James Bond series, directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland.
In 1975, Orme worked as associate producer for 20th Century Fox on The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, edited by Jim Clark, starring Gene Wilder, Madeleine Kahn, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and John Le Mesurier.
In 1976, Orme worked as associate producer with producer Harvey Bernhard and executive producer Mace Neufeld on The Omen, directed by Richard Donner, edited by Stuart Baird and starring Gregory Peck. The film is considered by many as one of the best films of 1976, as well as one of the best horror films ever made. The film was a massive commercial success in the United States. It grossed $4.3m in its opening weekend and $60.9m domestically on a relatively small budget of $2.8m. The film was the fifth highest-grossing movie of 1976 and won an Academy Award for Best Original Score.
In the same year, Orme worked as associate producer on John Boorman's ', edited by Tom Priestley, photographed by cinematographer William A. Fraker and starring Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher and Richard Burton. The film's music was composed by another of the greatest film composers of all time, Ennio Morricone.
In 1977-78, Orme worked as co-producer on ', the second installment in The Omen series and was reunited again with producers Harvey Bernhard and
Mace Neufeld. The film was directed by Don Taylor and starred William Holden, Lee Grant and Jonathan Scott-Taylor.
Orme would remain in close contact throughout his career with both Harvey Bernhard and Mace Neufeld after having collaborated with them twice previously on The Omen and .
In 1979, Orme worked on John Boorman's Excalibur for 7 months in its pre-production stage.
In 1980, Orme worked as associate producer on Outland with producer Richard A. Roth and executive producer Stanley O'Toole. The film was directed by Peter Hyams and starred Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen and James Sikking. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound.
In 1981, Orme worked as associate producer on the film version of Brimstone and Treacle with executive producer Naim Attallah and producers Alan E. Salke, Herbert F. Solow and Kenith Trodd. The film was directed by Richard Loncraine and starred Sting and Denholm Elliott.
In 1982-85, Orme worked as associate producer on King David with producer Martin Elfand. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford and starred Richard Gere, Edward Woodward, Alice Krige and Cherie Lunghi.
During Orme's career he also worked as a European production supervisor for Paramount Pictures, a troubleshooter for Warner Brothers and was also resident expert on production problems with Film and General Investments.

Personal life

On 14 January 1950, Orme married Vivienne Knight, screenwriter and author who worked as the director of publicity for Powell and Pressburger on 12 films from 1943 to 1955. On 14 July 1953 Orme and Vivienne divorced. In 1966, Vivienne married Patrick Campbell, 3rd Baron Glenavy.
On 20 March 1960, Orme married his wife of 47 years, Brenda Anne Harper, a fashion model known for her stylish and sophisticated appearance who was photographed by the likes of Norman Parkinson and Terence Donovan notably for publications such as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Filmmaker Emeric Pressburger and Model Ingrid Walker were both present at the marriage.
Orme lived with his brother-in-law Emeric Pressburger in the late 1940s and early 1950s at 70 Redington Road in Hampstead. Orme and Emeric would often spend evenings in the study at No.70 in almost complete silence sipping beer or slivovitz and enjoying each other's silence.
On 9 May 2007, Orme died at his home in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire. He was survived by his wife, Brenda; his children, Nicholas and Toby; and his grandchildren, Nathan and Cameron.
Terrence A. Clegg, film producer and president of the Guild of Film Production Executives wrote an obituary on Orme: "I am sad to record the death of one of our long standing honorary members Charles Orme. Charles had been retired for many years and lived in recent times in Chalfont St. Giles. He spent much of his early career with Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell and was involved in many of their famous productions like The Red Shoes and The Battle of the River Plate. He also had a long standing working relationship with John Boorman. The last time I worked with him was on Khartoum way back in 1965 and I remember his stiff upper lip British reserve of being something of a comfort to a young and inexperienced second A.D. in the oppressive heat of Cairo. I thought of him as 'posh' in those days but in fact he was a thorough professional and someone you could rely on in any kind of adversity. He was a credit to our business."
Michael Powell, film director : "Charles Orme from the production office had been working for weeks on an elaborate cue board which was to be used to signal gun flashes, water splashes, drifting smoke, loud explosions, turning control towers and rocking bridges, as well as big bangs and flashes between the cameras and the actors. All this had to be controlled with the electrical panel behind, and above, the camera. I now broke it to him that he would have to work his panel himself because I was sending Syd to Montevideo, to mobilise the government, the police, the army, and ten thousand civilians to come down to the docks on a specified Saturday and Sunday. Charles had led a rather sheltered life up until then, but he rose to the occasion all right. Archers do, and after all he was Emeric's brother-in-law"

Filmography

Personal quotes