- Uncle of Oliver Reed.
- Did not rate Alfred Hitchcock very highly, as he thought that the best directors should display their range through filming a variety of subjects, whereas Hitchcock chose to direct mainly thrillers.
- It is worth noting that when Reed resigned as director of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), he claimed that it was as a result of disagreements with producer Aaron Rosenberg--not, as is usually said, with star Marlon Brando. Brando always claimed that he admired Reed greatly and had supported him in arguments with Rosenberg.
- He worked in close collaboration with writer Graham Greene in the late 1940s, producing two of his greatest films: The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
- Was the illegitimate son of Herbert Beerbohm Tree (Reed's mother, May Reed, was Tree's mistress).
- His lovers included Daphne Du Maurier and Jessie Matthews.
- Steven Spielberg has named him as an influence.
- Step-father of actress Tracy Reed.
- Had a son Max from his marriage to Penelope Dudley-Ward.
- In 1952 he became the first British film director to receive a knighthood for his craft. Although producer/director Alexander Korda and actor/director Laurence Olivier had previously been knighted, Reed was the first to receive the distinction primarily for his directing work.
- Is buried at Gunnersbury Cemetery in West London. His widow Penelope was laid to rest beside him following her death in 1982.
- He suffered increasingly from deafness in his later years, which made him less and less inclined to direct films.
- One of his earliest mentors was writer Edgar Wallace.
- A retrospective of his work was held at the 48th Donostia-San Sebastián Film Festival in 2000.
- Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 917-923. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
- He planned to film Henry De Vere Stacpoole's "The Blue Lagoon" for Gaumont-British as an epic in the way Gone with the Wind (1939) was made in Hollywood, with the intention of telling the story as a triptych.
- He died only one day before Sidney James, whom he directed in both A Kid for Two Farthings (1955) and Trapeze (1956).
- Quit after several months as director of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) because he found he was unable to handle Marlon Brando's ego. He was unaware that the studio had given Brando control of the picture.
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