Lewis Allen (1905-2000) was a British-born director of classic television series and a diverse range of films. Before moving to the United States and working as an assistant director at Paramount, Allen acted and directed onstage in England. His film credits include The Uninvited , Desert Fury , and Suddenly . Allen's TV credits include Perry Mason , The Rifleman , The Big Valley , The Fugitive , Mission Impossible , and Bonanza ; he directed 42 episodes of the latter.

Where was Lewis Allen born and where did he work as a director?

Lewis Allen was born in Oakengates, Telford, Shropshire, England, on December 25, 1905. Allen initially worked as an actor and stage director in England. After moving to the United States, he worked as an assistant director at Paramount Pictures. Later in his career, after his movie career ended, Allen directed classic television series, including Perry Mason , The Rifleman , The Big Valley , The Fugitive , Mission Impossible , and Bonanza . He directed 42 episodes of Bonanza .

What types of films did Lewis Allen direct?

Lewis Allen, a British-born director, worked across a diverse range of films, including suspense, drama, and thrillers. Allen directed The Uninvited , a ghost story, in 1944. Other films by Allen include the drama Chicago Deadline , the suspenseful So Evil My Love , the marital comedy The Perfect Marriage , and the crime story Desert Fury . Allen also directed the Cold War thriller A Bullet for Joey and Suddenly , a drama about an assassination plot.

What is one of Lewis Allen’s most famous movies?

One of Lewis Allen's most famous movies is The Uninvited , released in 1944. Many critics consider it the best ghost story to come out of Hollywood in the 1940s. The film is about siblings who purchase a house on the English coast and begin to experience strange occurrences. The suspenseful and atmospheric tale was enhanced by Gail Russell’s performance and an evocative score. Allen directed a wide range of films and classic television series.

How did Lewis Allen's directing style influence his movies?

Lewis Allen, a British-born director, began his film career in Hollywood in 1944. Critics noted that he may have never surpassed his first film, The Uninvited , a ghost story praised for its atmosphere and compelling performances. Allen directed a diverse range of films, including dramas, comedies, and thrillers. Allen's style involved creating suspenseful and atmospheric narratives, as seen in So Evil My Love and Appointment with Danger . He also demonstrated versatility by directing classic television series such as Perry Mason , The Rifleman , and Bonanza .

What lasting impact did Lewis Allen have on film or television?

Lewis Allen, a British-born director, left a significant mark on both film and television. Though critics suggest his 1944 ghost story, The Uninvited , may have been his best film, Allen had a diverse career. After his film career slowed, Allen directed classic television series, including Perry Mason , The Rifleman , The Big Valley , The Fugitive , Mission Impossible , and Bonanza . He directed 42 episodes of Bonanza . Allen retired from directing in the mid-1970s.

Lewis Allen

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Quick Facts

Born:: December 25, 1905, Oakengates, Telford, Shropshire, England

Died:: May 3, 2000, Santa Monica, California, U.S. (aged 94)

Notable Works:: “A Bullet for Joey”; “Another Time, Another Place”; “Appointment with Danger”; “Chicago Deadline”; “Decision at Midnight”; “Desert Fury”; “Illegal”; “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay”; “Sealed Verdict”; “So Evil My Love”; “Suddenly”; “The Imperfect Lady”; “The Perfect Marriage”; “The Uninvited”; “The Unseen”; “Those Endearing Young Charms”; “Whirlpool”

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Lewis Allen

British-born director

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Michael Barson

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History

Top Questions

Who was Lewis Allen?
Lewis Allen (1905-2000) was a British-born director of classic television series and a diverse range of films. Before moving to the United States and working as an assistant director at Paramount, Allen acted and directed onstage in England. His film credits include The Uninvited, Desert Fury, and Suddenly. Allen's TV credits include Perry Mason, The Rifleman, The Big Valley, The Fugitive, Mission Impossible, and Bonanza; he directed 42 episodes of the latter.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where was Lewis Allen born and where did he work as a director?
Lewis Allen was born in Oakengates, Telford, Shropshire, England, on December 25, 1905. Allen initially worked as an actor and stage director in England. After moving to the United States, he worked as an assistant director at Paramount Pictures. Later in his career, after his movie career ended, Allen directed classic television series, including Perry Mason, The Rifleman, The Big Valley, The Fugitive, Mission Impossible, and Bonanza. He directed 42 episodes of Bonanza.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Woody Allen: The 1980s
2. Lewis Allen
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What types of films did Lewis Allen direct?
Lewis Allen, a British-born director, worked across a diverse range of films, including suspense, drama, and thrillers.

Allen directed The Uninvited, a ghost story, in 1944. Other films by Allen include the drama Chicago Deadline, the suspenseful So Evil My Love, the marital comedy The Perfect Marriage, and the crime story Desert Fury. Allen also directed the Cold War thriller A Bullet for Joey and Suddenly, a drama about an assassination plot.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Woody Allen: The 1980s
2. Lewis Allen
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What is one of Lewis Allen’s most famous movies?
One of Lewis Allen's most famous movies is The Uninvited, released in 1944. Many critics consider it the best ghost story to come out of Hollywood in the 1940s. The film is about siblings who purchase a house on the English coast and begin to experience strange occurrences. The suspenseful and atmospheric tale was enhanced by Gail Russell’s performance and an evocative score. Allen directed a wide range of films and classic television series.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How did Lewis Allen's directing style influence his movies?
Lewis Allen, a British-born director, began his film career in Hollywood in 1944. Critics noted that he may have never surpassed his first film, The Uninvited, a ghost story praised for its atmosphere and compelling performances. Allen directed a diverse range of films, including dramas, comedies, and thrillers.

Allen's style involved creating suspenseful and atmospheric narratives, as seen in So Evil My Love and Appointment with Danger. He also demonstrated versatility by directing classic television series such as Perry Mason, The Rifleman, and Bonanza.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Woody Allen: The 1980s
2. Lewis Allen
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What lasting impact did Lewis Allen have on film or television?
Lewis Allen, a British-born director, left a significant mark on both film and television. Though critics suggest his 1944 ghost story, The Uninvited, may have been his best film, Allen had a diverse career.

After his film career slowed, Allen directed classic television series, including Perry Mason, The Rifleman, The Big Valley, The Fugitive, Mission Impossible, and Bonanza. He directed 42 episodes of Bonanza. Allen retired from directing in the mid-1970s.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Woody Allen: 2000 and beyond
2. Lewis Allen
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Lewis Allen (born December 25, 1905, Oakengates, Telford, Shropshire, England—died May 3, 2000, Santa Monica, California, U.S.) was a British-born director whose credits included classic television series and a diverse range of films.

Allen acted and directed onstage in England before moving to the United States to work as an assistant director at Paramount. He made his first feature film in 1944, and many critics held that he never surpassed it. The Uninvited was possibly the best ghost story to come out of Hollywood in the 1940s. The atmospheric tale (adapted from Dorothy Macardle’s novel) was enhanced by Gail Russell’s compelling performance as the haunted girl and by an evocative score that yielded the standard “Stella by Starlight.” Russell was joined by Diana Lynn and Dorothy Gish in Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944), a dramatization of actress and screenwriter Cornelia Otis Skinner’s memoir of her travels to Paris in the 1920s. Allen ventured again into the spectral world with The Unseen (1945), about a governess (Russell) who discovers that her predecessor was murdered.

(Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film preservation.)

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Those Endearing Young Charms (1945) featured Laraine Day as a young woman who falls in love with a womanizing air force pilot (Robert Young) during World War II, while The Perfect Marriage (1946) was a lightweight marital comedy (based on a Broadway play) starring a perpetually feuding couple portrayed by David Niven and Loretta Young. In 1947 Allen directed The Imperfect Lady, a period drama about a politician (Ray Milland) who falls for a music-hall dancer (Teresa Wright) in 1890s London, and the crime yarn Desert Fury, in which a police officer (Burt Lancaster) wrests his former girlfriend (Lizabeth Scott) away from a compulsive gambler (John Hodiak). The suspenseful So Evil My Love (1948) featured Milland as a con man who seduces a widow (Ann Todd) and manipulates her into assisting him in a scheme involving one of her friends (Geraldine Fitzgerald). Milland also starred in Sealed Verdict (1948), a courtroom melodrama in which he romances a Nazi’s former mistress while preparing to prosecute her. In 1949 Allen helmed Chicago Deadline, a drama featuring Alan Ladd as an investigative reporter delving into the life and death of a prostitute. The two men reteamed for Appointment with Danger (1951), a film noir in which Ladd played a postal inspector who calls on a nun (Phyllis Calvert) to help him infiltrate a mob of airmail crooks.

Allen subsequently left Paramount to freelance. He made Valentino (1951) and At Sword’s Point (1952) before finding success with Suddenly (1954), a gripping drama about a plot to kill the president of the United States in a backwater town. Frank Sinatra, as a professional assassin, gave one of the best performances of his career, and Suddenly ranks among Allen’s best films. The Cold War thriller A Bullet for Joey (1955) followed, with George Raft and Edward G. Robinson as a gangster and an inspector, respectively, who struggle over the fate of an atomic scientist in Canada. Robinson returned in Illegal (1955), portraying a criminal lawyer defending a woman (Nina Foch) accused of murder. In 1958 Allen helmed Another Time, Another Place, in which Lana Turner was cast as a woman suffering a nervous breakdown when her lover (Sean Connery) is killed during World War II. Allen’s last movies were Whirlpool (1959), a British production filmed in West Germany, and Decision at Midnight (1963), a political thriller starring Martin Landau.

When his film career ended, Allen remained busy, directing television series. His TV credits include such classic shows as Perry Mason, The Rifleman, The Big Valley, The Fugitive, Mission Impossible, and Bonanza; for the latter he helmed 42 episodes. Allen retired from directing in the mid-1970s.

Michael Barson

Lewis Allen

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