Robert Hamer

Robert Hamer was educated at Cambridge University. He went to work at London Films as a clapper boy in 1934, and by 1938 was on the editing staff. An associate producer from 1943, Hamer made his directorial entree with the "Haunted Mirror" sequence in the portmanteau feature Dead of Night (1943); his first feature-length assignment was Pink String and Sealing Wax (1944). For several years, Hamer's career soared like a comet, thanks largely to his quartet of films with Alec Guinness. The best of these, Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), is an imperishable comedy classic. But as the 1950s rolled on, Hamer's reputation plummeted. Three years after directing his last film, the enjoyable but money-losing School for Scoundrels, Robert Hamer was dead at 52.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide