Clarence Elder

Clarence Elder was born in Glasgow on October 2nd. 1892. He studied drawing and painting at The Glasgow School of Art. After a couple of exhibits at The Royal Scottish Academy and The Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts he joined the film industry, working in the art department. He became Supervising Art Director at British International Pictures (later renamed Associated British Picture Corporation), where he designed for example the sets for Abdul the Damned (1935), frequently working with German filmmakers and technicians who went to London to make pictures, in multilingual teams, as in Die Bräutigamswitwe (1931). During World War Two he helped in camouflage design tasks. In 1947 Elder wrote and directed his only film, The Silver Darlings (1947), the story of a Scottish fishing village in the 1800s. He also directed a short documentary entitled The Little Singer (1956).