Biography of 'RUSSELL, Stanley Livingstone'

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Films associated with 'RUSSELL, Stanley Livingstone'

Film-maker and producer

Born: August 1905, Glasgow
Died: 1964, Glasgow

Russell, a lawyer by profession, was one of a group of cine enthusiasts who set up the Meteor ('Shooting Star') Film Producing Society in 1932, organising in 1933 an Open Competition, the first Scottish Amateur Film Festival. Russell joined Malcolm Irvine's company Scottish Film Productions in 1936. The company, established in 1928, had started out to make silent films, but the advent of 'talkies' forced it to readapt technically. However, as they did so the production of films came to a halt. Russell's instatement was designed to remedy this and with his input the company attracted an array of clients, from the Clyde Navigation Trust to the Ministry of Information.

For a brief period in the early 1940's Russell set up on his own with Russell Productions as well as undertaking newsreel work. In 1945 the company became known as Thames and Clyde Films, specialising in industrial and educational commissions. Russell was an active evangelist for the establishment and expansion of a Scottish film industry. He believed that Scotland had a place in the film market, but was a pragmatist, arguing that it was imperative to create a domestic outlet for the obvious existence of Scottish talent, which was being compelled to go elsewhere.

Russell and five others set up the Scottish Film Producers Association in 1948 in an attempt to promote a Scottish film industry. His sudden death in 1964 brought Thames and Clyde Films to abrupt closure.

Researcher: Ross Ferguson