Robert Hamer: a forgotten icon of British cinema
The Ealing Studio is one of the oldest film studios in the world and a hub of British creativity and innovation since its opening in 1902. Perhaps most famous for their post-WW2 wave of films with the likes of Ladykillers, Saraband for Dead Lovers and The Lavender Hill Mob, it became synonymous with Britain’s creative recovery and rehabilitation after a difficult decade. The studio became host to some of the UK’s greatest comedy directors of the time, including Basil Dearden, Walter Forde and Robert Stevenson. However, one of the studio’s most successful films was directed by a relatively unknown director, a figure who is often swept under the historical rug.
Kind Hearts and Coronets, directed by Robert Hamer in 1949, quickly became an instant classic from the Ealing Studio. The film follows Louis Mazzini, a man on a quest to avenge his mother’s death and regain the family fortune; an epic tale of error, misfortune and murder, with dazzling performances from the legendary Alec Guinness and Dennis Price.
The film is one of the highlights from this era of Ealing’s releases, with Terence Davies listing it as one of his personal favourites and praising its beauty. Hamer continued to work with the studio on pictures such as Dead of Night and It Always Rains on Sunday, shaping not only the noir style that defined the post-war era but the career of Googie Withers (working on both films), who before her collaboration with Hamer had struggled to find any substantial female roles.
However, Hamer’s career never found longevity or widespread recognition, as it was tragically cut short by his death in 1963. Withers revealed in an interview later on that Hamer had suffered from alcoholism and addiction for much of his adult life, stating that “although he made wonderful films, he was a very unhappy man and he was a drunk. He died too soon because but then he was a drunk and he had nobody who cared for him, it was all very sad.” Wither always spoke highly of Hamer, which cannot be said of the way she spoke of Powell, Pressburger, and Hitchcock, all directors she later worked with, with whom she didn’t have overwhelmingly positive opinions.
Whilst on set at the Ealing Studio, Hamer was often reported to be drunk by 6pm and struggled to find common ground with the studio, which reluctantly greenlit his films with little support from their creative board. Eventually, he left the studio and tried to make his films independently but struggled to find success with any new projects.
There were also rumours that Hamer was closeted, something that some attributed to his drinking problem, that he was described as an outcast and someone ‘who always felt like an outsider’. His alcoholism remained untreated and continued to spiral, eventually leading to his death at the age of 52.
However, Hamer’s mark on cinema can still be felt today, a director with an enormous passion for filmmaking that lives on in his work and paved the path of progress for British cinema.
