Maurice Elvey (November 11 1887 - August 28 1967), the most prolific film director in British history , helmed nearly 200 movies between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year .

Born William Seward Folkard in Stockton-on-Tees, Elvey began his career as an actor at the age of 17. He quickly rose to directing and producing plays and established his own theatrical company before switching to films with The Great Gold Robbery in 1913. He directed a wide array of popular features in a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, literary adaptations - including Robert Louis Stevenson's The Suicide Club (1914) and a version of William Shakespeare's As You Like It entitled Love in a Wood (1916) - and biographical profiles of such luminaries as Florence Nightingale and Lord Nelson. The Life Story of David Lloyd George, suppressed for political reasons just prior to its release in 1918, was rediscovered in the Lloyd George family archives decades later. It had its world premiere in Cardiff in May 1996 and was hailed by critics and film historians as one of the best silent films produced in the UK.

In 1921, Elvey directed 16 shorts and one full-length feature film (The Hound of the Baskervilles) with Ellie Norwood as Sherlock Holmes. The actor was Arthur Conan Doyle's favorite among those who portrayed his literary sleuth .

Elvey worked with such performers as Leslie Howard, Gracie Fields, Claude Rains, Alastair Sim, Leslie Banks, and Fay Wray, and mentored future directors Carol Reed and David Lean. In 1944, he was charmed by Petula Clark when he saw her perform at the Royal Albert Hall, and he launched her film career by casting her as a precocious waif in his wartime drama Medal for the General. The two collaborated on three additional films.

Elvey was married three times, to actress Philippa Preston, sculptor Florence Hill Clarke, and actress Isobel Elsom, whom he met on the set of The Wandering Jew in 1923. The couple went on to make eight films together.

The loss of an eye and failing health prompted Elvey's retirement at the age of 70. Ten years later he died in Brighton.

Maurice Elvey was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham England, the oldest son of William Clarence Folkard, an inspecting engineer and Sarah Anna Seward Folkard (formerly Pearce). He never had a formal education, and was working on the streets of London by the age of nine having run away from home. For a time he worked as a page boy in the Hyde Park Hotel and a lucky encounter with a wealthy American set him on the road to a career in, firstly, the theatre and then in films. It was while in New York when he was working as a stage producer that he saw his first film, The Flying Dutchman. This made such an impression on him that when he came back to England he was determined to produce/direct films; and thus began a career spanning 44 years, during which time he made over 300 feature films, and innumerable shorts. Amongst the 'firsts' that Maurice Elvey can claim as a director are: Gaumont's first talking feature film 'High Treason' in 1929, and the first British colour film 'Sons of the Sea' in 1939. Carol Reed and David Lean began their distinguished careers in film by working for him, and he directed Gracie Fields in her first movie 'Sally in Our Alley' which was made in 1931. Maurice Elvey was the older brother of Fred V. Merrick, and during the 20's and 30's they worked on a number of films together. In May 1996 the world premiere of a long-lost film about David Lloyd George, directed by Elvey, took place in Cardiff more than 70 years later than scheduled. The 3-hour film was suppressed on the eve of its release in circumstances which have still not been fully explained. The film was acclaimed by cinema historians as a milestone in film making, and it is believed that had it been released in 1918, as originally planned, it may well have changed the course of British cinema. Maurice Elvey was married three times. His first marriage took place on 31st December 1910 to Adeline Maud Charlton Preston (Philippa Preston the actress). This marriage ended in divorce. He then married Florence Hill Clarke (a sculptor) on 2nd February 1916. This marriage too ended in divorce. On 13th January 1923 he married Isabella Reed (Isobel Elsom the actress), but this marriage also ended in divorce. As Maurice Elvey's niece and god-daughter I was privileged to unveil a plaque in April 1997 at the Green Dragon Museum, Stockton-on-Tees as part of the Centenary of Cinema Celebrations.