One of his earliest productions was as a writer on Will Hay’s Oh, Mr Porter!.
He and his partner Sydney Gilliat created the Charters and Caldicott characters in Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes film in 1938 which were resurrected in Night Train To Munich 1939 and Millions Like Us 1943. The Charters and Caldicott characters were also due to appear in I See A Dark Stranger in 1946 but due to a disagreement with the actors they were replaced by two similar characters played by different actors.
Some of the many other films that he and his partner were behind include The Young Mr Pitt 1942, , Green For Danger 1946, The Happiest days of Your Life 1950, Folly to be Wise 1952, The Belles of St Trinians 1954 as well as the four subsequent St Trinians' films, Geordie 1955 and Left Right and Centre 1959.