Elvey worked with such performers as Leslie Howard, Ivor Novello, Ida Lupino, Benita Hume, Gracie Fields, Claude Rains, Alastair Sim, Leslie Banks, and Fay Wray, and mentored future directors Carol Reed, David Lean, and Ronald Neame. In 1944, he was charmed by Petula Clark when he saw her perform at the Royal Albert Hall, and he launched her film career by casting her as a precocious waif in his wartime drama Medal for the General. The two collaborated on three additional films.
