John Paddy Carstairs
Illustration — John Paddy Carstairs John Paddy Carstairs (born John Keys; 11 May 1910, in London – 12 December 1970, in London) was a British film director (1933–62) and television director (1962–64), usually of light-hearted subject matter. He was also a comic novelist and painter.
John Paddy Carstairs
- Full name
- Nelson John Keys.
- Born
- 1910. · London.
- Died
- 1970. · London.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Occupation
- screenwriter, autobiographer, painter, writer, film producer and director.
- Education
- Alleyn Court Preparatory School.
- Languages
- German and English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — John Paddy Carstairs John Paddy Carstairs (born John Keys; 11 May 1910, in London – 12 December 1970, in London) was a British film director (1933–62) and television director (1962–64), usually of light-hearted subject matter. He was also a comic novelist and painter.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for John Paddy Carstairs. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.

Born In · outgoing
London
Place
Pencil sketch by George Henry Harlow, 1814, http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/largerimage.php?mkey=mw05495

Died In · outgoing
London
Place
Pencil sketch by George Henry Harlow, 1814, http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/largerimage.php?mkey=mw05495
Citizen Of · outgoing
United Kingdom
Place
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1701310 · wikipedia · John Paddy Carstairs
In this article
Biography
Biography
The son of actor Nelson Keys, and the brother of director Anthony Nelson Keys, Carstairs changed his name to his mother's surname in order to avoid the appearance of nepotism. He directed 37 films in total. He had a long association with the character of Simon Templar (the character's creator, Leslie Charteris, dedicated the 1963 book, The Saint in the Sun to Carstairs). Aside from directing the 1939 Saint film, The Saint in London, he also directed two episodes of The Saint in the 1960s, making him the only individual (other than Charteris himself) to be connected to both the Hollywood film and British series of The Saint. Carstairs directed many British comedies including Norman Wisdom's first six films. Filmink magazine argued Carstairs had "a style as recogniseable as any British auteur – we’re surprised more academics don’t discuss him."
Death
Death
Carstairs died of a heart attack on 12 December 1970, aged 60.
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
• A Honeymoon Adventure (1931, screenwriter) • The Water Gipsies (1932, screenwriter) • Nine till Six (1932, screenwriter) • The Impassive Footman (1932, screenwriter) • Love on the Spot (1932, screenwriter) • It's a Boy (1933, screenwriter) • Paris Plane (1933) • Boomerang (1934) • Gay Love (1934) • It's a Cop (1934, screenwriter) • Lost in the Legion (1934, screenwriter) • Falling in Love (1935) • While Parents Sleep (1935, screenwriter) • Two's Company (1936, screenwriter) • The Captain's Table (1936, screenwriter) • Holiday's End (1937) • Double Exposures (1937) • Night Ride (1937) • Missing, Believed Married (1937) • Incident in Shanghai (1938) • Lassie from Lancashire (1938) • A Yank at Oxford (1938, screenwriter) • The Saint in London (1939) • The Lambeth Walk (1939, screenwriter) • All Hands (1940) • Meet Maxwell Archer (1940) • Now You're Talking (1940) • The Second Mr. Bush (1940) • Dangerous Comment (1940) • Telefootlers (1941) • He Found a Star (1941) • Spare a Copper (1941) • Dancing with Crime (1947) • Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948) • Fools Rush In (1949) • The Chiltern Hundreds (1949) • Tony Draws a Horse (1950) • Talk of a Million (1951) • Made in Heaven (1952) • Treasure Hunt (1952) • Little Big Shot (1952, screenwriter) • Top of the Form (1953) • Trouble in Store (1953) • Up to His Neck (1954) • The Crowded Day (1954, story) • One Good Turn (1955) • Man of the Moment (1955) • Jumping for Joy (1956) • Up in the World (1956) • Just My Luck (1957) • The Big Money (1958) • The Square Peg (1959) • Tommy the Toreador (1959) • And the Same to You (1960, screenwriter) • Sands of the Desert (1960) • A Weekend with Lulu (1961) • The Devil's Agent (1962)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “John Paddy Carstairs”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1701310: John Paddy Carstairs
General reference · Wikidata
Select bibliography
• Movie Merry-Go-Round (1937) • Vinegar and Brown Paper (1939) • Nicer to Stay in Bed (1940) • Bunch: A biography of Nelson Keys (1941) • Whatho she bumps! (1941) • Honest Injun (1942) • But Wishes Aren't Horses (1942) • Rain on Her Face (1943) • Down the Wide Stream (1943) • Gremlins in the Cabbage Patch (1944) • No Music in the Nightingale (1944) • Hadn't We the Gaiety (1945) • Lillipop Wood. A story for children (1945) • Magical was the Moment (1945) • Kaleidoscope and a Jaundiced Eye (1946) • Kimmie by John Paddy Carstairs (1946) • Nothing Happens Mondays (1947) • Love and Ella Rafferty (1947) • My Fancy has Wings (1948) • Solid! Said the Earl (1948) • Fingle-Fangle (1949) • Tinsel and Stars (1950) • Call No Man Faithful (1951) • Exultation of Skylarks (1952) • Hope Comes on the South Wind (1953) • Paintings and Watercolours (1955) • Sunshine and Champagne (1955) • Gardenias Bruise Easily (1958) • Watercolour is Fun (1958) • No Wooden Overcoat (1959) • Touch a French Pompom (1960) • Pardon My Gun (1962) • The Concrete Kimono (1965) • A Smell of Peardrops (1966) • No Thanks for the Shroud (1967)
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
18,623 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- John Nost SartoriusArtist
- John of KastavArtist
- John OlsenArtist
- John OpieArtist
- John PairmanArtist
- John PartridgeArtist
- John PercevalArtist
- John PerreaultArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by John Paddy Carstairs?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.