Elvey directed more than two hundred films between 1913-1957, making him the most prolific film director in UK history. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year . Born William Seward Folkard at 14 Park Road, Stockton, Elvey began his career as an actor at the age of 17 and appeared in the first British production of Chekhov’s The Seagull. He quickly rose to directing and producing plays and established his own theatrical company before switching to films with The Great Gold Robbery in 1913. He directed a wide array of popular features in a variety of genres, including Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Suicide Club (1914) and a version of Shakespeare’s As You Like It entitled Love in a Wood (1916) - and profiles of such luminaries as Florence Nightingale and Horatio Nelson. The Life Story of David Lloyd George, suppressed for political reasons just prior to its release in 1918, was rediscovered in the Lloyd George family archives decades later. It had its world premiere in Cardiff in May 1996 and was hailed by critics and film historians as one of the best silent films produced in the UK.

In 1921, Elvey directed 16 shorts and one full-length feature film The Hound of the Baskervilles with Ellie Norwood as Sherlock Holmes. The actor was Arthur Conan Doyle’s favourite among those who portrayed his literary sleuth. This film was the first David Lean ever saw. Elvey worked with such performers as Leslie Howard, Gracie Fields, Claude Raines, Alastair Sim and Fay Wray. He also mentored future directors Carol Reed and David Lean.