R.I.P. director Roy (Ward) Baker, 1916-2010

Sad news that Roy Baker, the director of A Night to Remember, has died in Britain at the age of 93. Baker was born on Dec. 19, 1916, and passed away Oct. 5, 2010.

ANTR was by far Baker's most famous (and best) film, one any director could be proud of, and showed his talent for fealty to facts (as far as they were known at the time), attention to detail, and ability to expertly handle both actors and action within the same film. The movie speaks for itself, as well as for its director.

Baker also helmed other good films, including The October Man, Morning Departure, The One That Got Away, Quatermass and the Pit, The Vampire Lovers and many more, several, like the last two, for Hammer Films. He also worked briefly in Hollywood in the early 50s, where among other films he made Don't Bother to Knock with Marilyn Monroe and the neat little (originally 3-D) thriller, Inferno. Beginning in the 60s movies mysteriously forsook him, and he worked mostly in British television (notably on The Avengers), aside from his several forays for Hammer in the late 60s and 70s. He added the "Ward" (not his original middle name, which was Horace) to his screen credits in the 60s.

He began his career in small jobs at Gaumont-British, working his way up to assistant director on such films as Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. He spent WWII in the British Army making training films, then resumed his career, now a full director.

Roy Baker seems to have been a gentleman in addition to being a conscientious craftsman. Perhaps not a giant of cinema, but a well-regarded film craftsman whose work is his legacy, and survives him to entertain millions in the future. Rest in peace.