Director Lance Comfort embarked on his film career as a camera operator, subsequently venturing into roles as a sound recordist and animator, primarily working on British documentaries and medical training films. His inaugural feature was the ambitious but sluggish "Courageous Mr. Penn" (1942),a biography of 18th-century statesman William Penn, starring Deborah Kerr, which faced harsh criticism in the United States for its numerous historical inaccuracies.
Comfort's fortunes slightly improved with "A.J. Cronin's Hatter's Castle" (1942),featuring James Mason, which garnered moderate success. He then ventured into lowbrow comedy with "Old Mother Riley Detective" (1943),part of the "drag" comedy series starring Arthur Lucan in his signature Old Mother Riley character. Although the series thrived in the UK, it was a resounding failure in the US, with even American film historians struggling to recall its existence.
In 1948, Comfort produced and directed the somewhat noir-inspired Gothic drama "Daughter of Darkness," but his career suffered a devastating blow with the disastrous reception to "Portrait of Clare" (1950). The film's massive financial losses left Comfort's career in tatters, and he was subsequently relegated to directing low-budget "B" pictures and episodic television series.
Comfort's final film was released in 1965, and he passed away in Sussex, England, in 1966.
