Edward Dmytryk, director of So Well Remembered (1947), wrote of Sir John Mills, "I will never work with a finer actor or a better man." In the film, based on the James Hilton novel (and narrated by the author), Mills stars as an idealistic newspaper editor trying to improve conditions in his factory town in Browdley, England, between the two World Wars. Shot on location in England, the RKO movie marked the first occasion where Dmytryk had worked with a mostly British cast. In his autobiography, It's a Hell of a Life But Not a Bad Living, the director recalled that he had expected the English to be cold and aloof. During one of the first days of the production, as some members of the cast and crew enjoyed a game of pool in their hotel, Dmytryk sank an "impossible" shot. "Why, you lucky SOB!" screamed Mills at the top of his lungs. "I knew then that we were going to get along just fine," wrote Dmytryk, who acknowledged that his "stereotyped notions" about the English in general, and Mills in particular, were off the mark.

Mills, born in North Elmham, Norfolk, in 1908, began his career as a song-and-dance man in England in 1929. After theater experience that included the 1938 season at the Old Vic, he made his film debut in 1932. After wartime service in the British Army, he attracted attention in such patriotic films as In Which We Serve (1942), This Happy Breed (1944) and Scott of the Antarctic (1948). He played the adult Pip in David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) and would later win an Oscar® as Best Supporting Actor for his role as the village idiot in Lean's Ryan's Daughter (1970). Among his many other outstanding film performances are those in Hobson's Choice (1954), Tunes of Glory (1960) and Gandhi (1982). He was knighted in 1976. Married to playwright Mary Hayley Bell, Mills is the father of actresses Hayley and Juliet Mills, both of whom appear in So Well Remembered, although Hayley's bit as an infant is uncredited. Even though he has lost his sight, Sir John continues to perform with his wife's assistance.

Because director Dmytryk, producer Adrian Scott and composer Hanns Eisler were being scrutinized by Hollywood red-baiters at the time, So Well Remembered suffered unfair accusations that its attitudes were Communist-inspired. The same year of the film's release, Dmytryk and Scott became members of the "Hollywood Ten" and were sentenced to one-year jail terms for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities committee. Dmytryk salvaged his career by becoming a friendly witness in the second round of hearings of the committee in 1951, identifying Scott and others as Communists. Dmytryk went on to direct such films as Raintree County (1957), Walk on the Wild Side (1962) and The Human Factor (1975). But So Well Remembered was the final film credit for Scott. The German-born Eisler, deported as an unfriendly witness, resumed his career in Europe.

Producer: Adrian Scott, Ruby Rosenberg (associate)
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Screenplay: John Paxton, from novel by James Hilton
Art Direction: Lawrence P. Williams
Cinematography: Freddie Young
Costume Design: Renie
Editing: Harry W. Gerstad, Douglas Robertson (supervising)
Original Music: Hanns Eisler
Cast: John Mills (George Boswell), Martha Scott (Olivia Channing/Olivia Boswell/Olivia Winslow), Patricia Roc (Julie Morgan), Trevor Howard (Dr. Richard Whiteside), Richard Carlson (Charles Winslow).
BW-115m.

by Roger Fristoe