Ken Hughes

Kenneth Graham Hughes (19 January 1922 – 28 April 2001) was an English film director, writer and producer. He was the co-writer and director of the children's film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). He has been called "a filmmaker whose output was consistently interesting and entertaining, and deserved more critical attention than it has received." Early life and career Hughes was born in Yates St, Toxteth, Liverpool. His family moved to London soon after. Hughes won an amateur film contest at age 14 and worked as a projectionist. When he was sixteen he went to work for the BBC as a technician and became a sound engineer. In 1941 he began making documentaries and short features; he also made training films for the Ministry of Defence. Hughes eventually returned to the BBC where he made documentaries. Director Hughes's first film as director was the "B" movie Wide Boy (1952). He did a short feature, The Drayton Case (1953), which became the first of Anglo-Amalgamated's Scotland Yard film series (1953-61), and several of the later installments including The Dark Stairway (1953) and Murder Anonymous (1955). He did Black 13 (1954) then made The House Across the Lake (1954) for Hammer Films, based on Hughes's own novel.