by Harrison Smith Feb 27, 2018
Lewis Gilbert, a British filmmaker who directed World War II epics, three popular entries in the James Bond franchise, and understated dramas centered on working-class characters, including the Oscar-nominated Michael Caine hit "Alfie," died Feb. 23 in Monaco. He was 97.
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, producers of the Bond movie company Eon Productions, confirmed the death in a statement. Mr. Gilbert's son John Gilbert told the BBC his father had dementia.
The son of vaudevillians, Mr. Gilbert performed in silent films as a child and appeared with Laurence Olivier in the romantic comedy "The Divorce of Lady X" (1938) before stepping behind the camera. He became an assistant to director Alfred Hitchcock and leading British film producer Alexander Korda, and went on to direct more than 40 movies.
Mr. Gilbert drew on his experience as a Royal Air Force documentarian for the combat films "Reach for the Sky" (1956), about World War II flying ace Douglas Bader; "Carve Her Name With Pride" (1958), based on the story of Violette Szabo, an undercover agent for British intelligence during World War II; and "Sink the Bismarck!" (1960), based on C.S. Forester's book about efforts to scuttle the seemingly impregnable German battleship.