Maurice Ostrer (né Morris Ostravitch; 9 May 1896, London – 3 December 1975, Cannes) was a British film executive. He was best known for overseeing the Gainsborough melodramas. He was head of production at Gainsborough Studios from 1943–46. He resigned from the studio in 1946 after a disagreement with J. Arthur Rank, who had taken over the studio.[1] Ostrer left the film industry and went to work in textiles.[2] He was married to actress Renee Clama, with whom he had two sons, Darryl (1934-2012) and Nigel (born 1935).

According to writer Robert Murphy, "Maurice's subsequent disappearance from the film industry... makes it easy to dismiss him as a dilettante whose success owed more to luck than judgement. The break-up of the partnership with [producer Ted] Black was unfortunate and Gainsborough became severely debilitated in terms of acting, writing and directing talent. But of the ten films Maurice Ostrer was directly responsible for, seven were big box-office successes and his vision of an efficiently run studio dedicated to medium budget entertainment films with the emphasis on a particular genre was unique and it was to provide a model for Hammer a decade later."[3]

Select credits

As Head of Production at Gainsborough

Executive producer

References

  1. ↑ "MR. M. OSTRER RESIGNS: "Difference with the Rank Organisation"". The Manchester Guardian. 30 April 1946. p. 6.
  2. ↑ "New chairmen on top, U.K. textile industry on bottom". The Irish Times. 22 December 1975. p. 14.
  3. ↑ Murphy, p. 17

Notes

  • Murphy, Robert (1997). "Gainsborough's producers". In Pam Cook (ed.). Gainsborough Pictures. Cassell.
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