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Margaret K. Johns was once described as "the most beautiful film producer in the world” but her contribution to British documentary and sponsored film production extends far beyond her looks (Knott 1997). Margaret is perhaps best known for the many commissioned films she made for the charity now called Scope which helped to shed light on the life and dignity of individuals with cerebral palsy. Alongside these films, she also made documentaries on charity, fashion, financial, and medical issues. Her life as a woman film producer was still seen as a “rarity in the film world” of the 1960s but that career was cut tragically short by a series of unforeseeable events (Coventry Evening Telegraph 1963, 4).
Born in 1922 in India as Margaret Kathleen De Monte to parents Arthur and Norah, Johns spent her early years between England and India, before settling in England in 1943 with her first husband Peter Bartlett. Claiming to still be 18, Margaret secured a place at RADA in 1947 and found her passion in the theatrical arts even if she did not think she made ‘a very good’ actress (Jenner 1962, 8). Her interest was more focused on the behind-the-scenes areas side of filmmaking, regularly asking questions of the various technicians and operators on the other side of the camera.
As her passion for cinema waxed, the passion in her marriage waned. Estranged and living separately by 1952, Peter still agreed to finance a short documentary she wanted to make about the Battersea Fun Fair (part of the 1951 Festival of Britain). Speaking of the arrangement a decade later, Margaret described his investment as a ‘sweet gesture...but he got his money back – and a handsome profit into the bargain,’ (Walsh 1962, 8). From this profitable first film, Margaret funded further productions, moving into the role of producer and assembling a regular team of directors with whom she collaborated, including Patrick Young (five films), Peter Seabourne (four films), Wolf Rilla (two films), Peter Lambert (two films) and many others.
In 1959, Margaret formed her company, Libertas Film Productions, and quickly found success with the film Jessy, which was commissioned by the National Spastics Society (now called Scope) about a young girl with cerebral palsy. One of the co-founders of the society was Ian Dawson-Shepherd, a frequent collaborator and, from 1972, Margaret’s husband. The couple worked with Janet Lacey on Every Eight Hours (1961), a hugely influential and informative film about cerebral palsy. The Birmingham Daily Post reported on the film’s premiere at the House of Commons:
‘M.P.s in the Grand Committee Room at the House of Commons last night [Tuesday 12th April 1960] watched the premiere of a film showing how seemingly incurable children are slowly taught to be useful citizens… The film shows work being done by the National Spastics Society at its centres in Britain. Mr Bernard Braine, Conversative M.P. for South-east Essex… added “This film is a gigantic progress report to the nation, and it is right that Parliament should have the premiere,”
(Birmingham Daily Post Wednesday 15th April 1960, 4)
Libertas’ work was incredibly diverse across the 1960s. There was more charity and medical work in Medicine Man (1963) and Medicine in Focus (1965); while Margaret, bucking societal expectations of femininity, developed projects with more challenging content: a commission (with director Peter Seabourne) to make The Tibetan Story (1965) as well as documentary The Long March, a film about refugees for which production spanned 20,000 miles across ‘Korea, Assam, Persia, and Algeria,’ (Strathearn Herald 1965, 6). John Treveylon, the head of the British Board of Film Classification, said of the latter film, which was broadcast as part of the religious discussion television series Viewpoint, ‘It is far too lurid for a 'U.' In fact, I nearly gave it an 'X,’’ (The Daily Mirror 1965, 11).
Margaret made directed two further films – Eye of a Needle (1962) and Too Much Whichcraft? (1963) - and made headlines for trailblazing as the only independent female film producer in the UK at that time. She also made headlines for the film Money Go-Round (1967), which saw her and her crew entering the floor of the Stock Exchange. As one newspaper reported, that institution had only one week before voted to bar women from membership. Yet that was not enough to stop Margaret.
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Alongside this period of full-time production at Libertas, Johns was also underway with the organisation, pre-production, and production on three different international projects. Signing funding agreements with the Egyptian government in 1962, these were planned as feature length documentaries with major talent attached: Orson Welles was slated to narrate one of them. World politics intervened in Libertas’ fate. As diplomatic relations between the UK and Egypt deteriorated, and after significant work and financial outlay, all three productions were cancelled. Never able to recover from such a financial blow Libertas announced liquidation in August of 1967.
Given her history, it seems unlikely that this financial setback would have slowed Johns down for very long. However, her recovery was upset by the development of a rare bone disease, osteomyelitis. She spent the next decade wilfully insisting that she would not spend her life in a wheelchair, reteaching herself to walk despite tremendous pain. In 1980, she was hit by a car while crossing the street and this horrific event ended any chance of her returning to film production. She and Ian Dawson-Shepherd spent the remainder of their lives together, dying in 1997 and 1996, respectively.
Never fully acknowledged in histories of British film production, despite a string of successful and often challenging documentary films, Margaret K. Johns stated that despite being one of only three women film producers in the UK, she had ‘never found any prejudice against me as a woman, certainly not among the technicians. Once you've had a successful film, you can work on equal terms,”’ (Knott 1997).
Selected Filmography
As Director
Unknown Battersea Fun Fair Documentary (1951)
God is Our Refuge and Strength (1962)
Eye of a Needle (1963)
Too Much Whichcraft? (1963)
As Producer
The Magic Carpet (Patrick Young, 1956)
Jessy (Wolf Rilla, 1959)
Every Eight Hours (Phil Wrestler, 1960)
The Hungry People (Peter Seabourne, 1961)
Right for the Job (Peter Seabourne, 1963)
The Medicine Man (Peter Seabourne, 1963)
What is a Spastic? (Peter Lambert 1964)
“The Long March”, ep 6.16 of Viewpoint (Patrick Garland, 1965)
Medicine in Focus (John Kruse, 1965)
Tibetan Story (Patrick Garland, 1965)
Money-Go-Round (Alvin Rakoff, 1967)
Bibliography
Birmingham Daily Post. 1960, 13 April 1960.
Coventry Evening Telegraph. 1963. ‘WIFE AND MOTHER AT THE TOP OF A MAN’S WORLD’, 18 July 1963.
Harrow Observer. 1961, 3 August 1961.
Jenner, Sheila. 1962. ‘Woman’s Touch in a Man’s Country’. Daily Herald, 27 July 1962.
Knott, Andy. 1997. ‘Obituary: Margaret Johns’. The Independent. 7 March 1997. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-margaret-johns-1271460.html.
Strathearn Herald. 1965. ‘The Long March of Human Life’, 4 December 1965.
Sutton, Surrey, England, Electoral Registers, 1931-1970
The Daily Mirror. 1965, 17 February 1965.
UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960
UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960
Walsh, Michael. 1962. ‘Success for the Beauty behind a Desk’. Daily Express, 12 September 1962.