Frank Launder

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Frank Launder 28 January 1906 23 February 1997 was a British writer film director and producer who made more than 40 films many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat He was born in Hitchin Hertfordshire England and worked briefly as a clerk before becoming an actor and then a playwright He began working as a screenwriter on British films in the 1930s contributing the original story for the classic Will Hay comedy Oh Mr Porter 1937 After writing a number of screenplays with Gilliat including The Lady Vanishes 1938 for Alfred Hitchcock and Night Train to Munich for Carol Reed the two men wrote and directed the wartime drama Millions Like Us 1943 After founding their own production company Individual Pictures they produced a number of memorable dramas and thrillers including I See a Dark Stranger 1945 and Green for Danger 1946 but were best known for their comedies including The Happiest Days of Your Life 1950 and most famously the St Trinians series based on Ronald Searles cartoons set in an anarchic girls school He was married to actress Bernadette OFarrell from 1950 until his death in Monaco The couple had two children