Before entering politics, Levy was a successful playwright and screenwriter. He was the dialogue writer for Blackmail (1929); directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it was the first British sound film.[2] Later, he wrote the adapted screenplay for James Whale's macabre horror film The Old Dark House (1932) in collaboration with R. C. Sherriff, based on the novel Benighted (1927) by J. B. Priestley. Levy directed one film, Lord Camber's Ladies (1932), which was the only film produced by Hitchcock which he did not himself direct.[3]
As an MP, Levy made an unsuccessful effort to abolish theatrical censorship in Britain, and towards the end of his life, he was the principal author of a report opposing the arguments for censorship made by Lord Longford, the anti-pornography campaigner. He was married for more than 40 years to the American-born screen and stage actress Constance Cummings; the couple had one daughter and one son.[2]
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