Italian comedian and director (1897?1950)
Monty Banks
|
---|
|
Born
| Mario Bianchi
(
1897-07-18
)
18 July 1897
|
---|
Died
| 7 January 1950
(1950-01-07)
(aged 52)
|
---|
Occupations
|
- Comedian
- actor
- director
- producer
|
---|
Years active
| 1916?1945
|
---|
Spouses
|
(
m.
1929;
div.
1932)
|
---|
Montague (Monty) Banks
(born
Mario Bianchi
; 18 July 1897 ? 7 January 1950)
[1]
was a 20th century Italian-born American comedian, film actor, director and producer who achieved success in the
United States
and
United Kingdom
.
Career
[
edit
]
Banks was born Mario Bianchi in
Cesena
, Italy. In 1914, Bianchi emigrated to the United States, first trying his luck on the New York stage. By 1918, he was an actor in Hollywood with the
Arbuckle
Company, performing in over 35 silent short comedies by the early 1920s,
[2]
and then, starring in feature-length action comedy-thrillers as
Play Safe
(1927). (A large excerpt from this movie is included in
Robert Youngson
's compilation film
Days of Thrills and Laughter
(1961) and the car-to-train transfer stunt explained in the 1980 documentary series
Hollywood
).
Like
Harold Lloyd
, the comedy-thrillers he produced were popular but became increasingly risky and Banks was seriously injured after being roped to the back of a car and dragged down a cliff face.
[3]
With the arrival of
sound films
, Banks's strong Italian accent forced him to phase out his acting career in favor of working as a
gagman
and director. He directed
Laurel and Hardy
in their film
Great Guns
, under the name "Montague Banks".
By the 1930s he had relocated to the United Kingdom where he produced and directed
“quota quickies“
for the comedy team of
Leslie Fuller
and
Syd Courtenay
, and later the breakthrough films of
George Formby
and
Gracie Fields
. After
Warner Bros.
purchased
Teddington Studios
outright in 1934, he directed (and occasionally acted in) various comedies and crime stories intended for UK release only, featuring actors of the caliber of
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
,
Edmund Gwenn
and
Margaret Lockwood
.
[4]
Banks subsequently became an associate producer at
20th Century Fox
.
[
citation needed
]
Personal life
[
edit
]
He was married to American actress
Gladys Frazin
. The marriage was not a happy one and they divorced on 29 April 1932 as a result of her abusive behaviour.
[5]
She subsequently committed suicide in March 1939.
[6]
Banks met British singer and actress
Gracie Fields
in 1935, subsequently directing her in four of her films, and they married in March 1940.
[7]
As an Italian national, he would have been classified as an 'enemy alien' in Britain during World War II. Consequently, he and Fields left the UK for Canada initially, and then the neutral United States in order to prevent his internment.
[8]
Italian American internment
also came into place in the United States during 1941 and 1942, affecting thousands of Italians, but this was eventually relaxed.
[
citation needed
]
Death
[
edit
]
Banks held dual Italian and American citizenship.
[
citation needed
]
He died, reportedly in the arms of Fields, while traveling on the
Orient Express
train just outside
Arona
, Italy, of a
heart attack
, aged 52.
[1]
Aula Didattica Monty Banks
[
edit
]
In his home town of
Cesena
a Foundation was created in honor of Banks, entitled the Aula Didattica Monty Banks.
[9]
It is "an initiative promoted by the municipality, the course is open to all and provides the opportunity to create videos".
[10]
Selected filmography
[
edit
]
Actor
[
edit
]
Director
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Monty Banks, 52, Screen Director"
.
The New York Times
.
Associated Press
. 9 January 1950. p. 20
. Retrieved
16 December
2008
.
- ^
Robert S. Birchard (2015).
Monty Banks: A Filmography 1920?1924
. CreateSpace. pp. 1?72.
ISBN
978-1511695817
.
- ^
Arthur Wise & Derek Ware,
Stunting in the Cinema
, Constable, London, 1973, p. 89.
- ^
Hirschhorn, Clive,
The Warner Bros. Story
, Octopus Books, London, 1979, p. 446.
- ^
Westhollywoodusa.com
Archived
18 June 2009 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Actress leaps to death"
.
The New York Times
. 10 March 1939. p. 19.
ProQuest
102812231
. Retrieved
8 January
2021
– via
ProQuest
.
- ^
Gracie Fields (1960).
Sing As We Go
. Frederick Muller Limited.
ISBN
978-1245763554
.
- ^
"Our Gracie"
.
Time
. 1 September 1947. Archived from
the original
on 14 May 2009
. Retrieved
16 December
2008
.
- ^
www.comune.cesena.fc.it, Comune di Cesena-.
"Monty Banks: per fare, per scoprire"
.
www.comune.cesena.fc.it
(in Italian)
. Retrieved
6 November
2020
.
- ^
"Aula Didattica Monty Banks - YouTube"
.
www.youtube.com
. Retrieved
6 November
2020
.
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|