A PANTOMIME at Darlington Civic Theatre nearly a century ago inspired a member of one of the North-East's most famous families to become a world-renowned film-maker.

Sadly, the name of the pantomime is lost in the mists of time, but the name of Sir Anthony Havelock-Allan, who died last Saturday, will live on through his films.

And the family name lives on throughout the North-East. It was catapulted to fame by Sir Henry Havelock who was born in Bishopwearmouth in 1795. In 1857, as a Major-General trying to put down the Indian Mutiny, he took his men on one of the most gruelling marches in British military history, then led them through two victorious battles before relieving the town of Lucknow.

Henry was then himself beseiged in Lucknow, but his victories had broken the Mutiny and he was soon saved - only to die a week later.

His son, also Henry, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his brave part in the battle, and was given a baronetcy. It was this Sir Henry who, in 1880, inherited Blackwell Grange on the outskirts of Darlington from his second cousin, Robert Allan, on the proviso that he take Allan as his surname.

The newly-named Sir Henry Havelock-Allan became MP for Sunderland, but couldn't resist the lure of India. Aged 67, he went back for a quick military engagement, and was killed up the Khyber Pass. His son, the third Sir Henry, resided at Blackwell Hall near the Grange. It was in the Hall that the film-maker Sir Anthony was born in 1904.

The boy was destined for an army career until, aged about four, he was treated to the pantomime at the Civic (or the New Hippodrome as it was then known). He also saw the famous Edwardian actress Gertie Millar in The Quaker Girl at the Hippodrome.

He was also taken to see a panto at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle. "It was Jack and the Beanstalk," he later remembered. "I thought it was paradise."

And so began an extraordinary life in showbiz. He started in music, and helped Ravel and Stravinsky make records; he drew up the first recording contract for Gracie Fields.

Around 1933, he moved into films. He was an associate producer and scriptwriter, working with David Lean on propaganda titles like In Which We Serve (1942) and This Happy Breed (1944). The pair worked with Noel Coward on the best loved British film of its era, Brief Encounter (1945), before turning to Charles Dickens with Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948).

It was in Havelock-Allan films that Vivien Leigh, Rex Harrison, Margaret Rutherford, Wendy Hiller and George Sanders made their debuts, and he married the film star Valerie Hobson.

His final film was Ryan's Daughter (1970) which starred Robert Mitchum. It was panned by the critics but became one of the first successes of the home video age.

He was last back in Darlington in 1997. Blackwell Hall, his birthplace, had been demolished in 1965, and Blackwell Grange, his ancestral home, had been a hotel since 1970. He unveiled a plaque in Blackwell near where he had been born.