julian_craster

Some Forthcoming British Film Books which may be of interest.....


Directors in British and Irish Cinema: A Reference Guide
Robert Murphy
BFI Publishing
Paperback
672pp pages, Illustrated
Published August 2006
Paperback ISBN: 1844571262


This unique volume presents a comprehensive reference guide to directors who
have worked in the British and Irish film industries between 1895 and 2006.
Each of its 1028 entries on individual directors, from Rodney Ackland to
Fred Zinneman, gives a résumé of the director's career, evaluates their
achievements and provides a guide to source material and a complete
filmography. Engaging with the entire history of British and Irish cinema,
The book encompasses film-makers from Birt Acres and Frank Mottershaw in the
1890s to Shona Auerbach, Paddy Breathnach and Charles Chaplin to Lynne
Ramsay in the 21st century;, directors who worked in mainstream cinema and
those who worked in the independent sector; those who are associated with
the heyday of British cinema - Asquith, Powell and Pressburger, Mackendrick
and Korda - or with the heady years of the 1960s and 70s - - Joseph Losey,
Ken Russell, Nicolas Roeg, Derek Jarman, and Stanley Kubrick - - as well as
addressing contemporary film-makers such as Stephen Frears, Mike Leigh, Ken
Loach, Neil Jordan Nick Broomfield, Mike Figgis, Antonia Bird and Anthony
Minghella.

The book is packed with fascinating facts, critical summaries and invaluable
contextualising details. It will be an invaluable resource for anyone with
an interest in film-making in Britain and Ireland.


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The Birth of the British 'B' Film
Steve Chibnall
Published November 2006
BFI Publishing
Paperback ISBN: 1844571556
256 pages, Illustrations


This book, the first of two volumes, will provide a major new history of the
British 'B' film, tracing the development of the low- budget supporting
feature from the 1927 Films Act (which introduced a quota system for the
distribution and exhibition of indigenous product) to the age of television,
when 'B' film producers channelled their energies into making tv programmes.
Along the way the authors will address leading producers and studios, 'B'
film stars, distributors, the genres and themes that tended to dominate 'B'
film production (comedy, horror, crime and fantasy). Quota Quickies will
include a case study of the 'B' films of Michael Powell. The authors'
argument is that the 'B' film was hugely imporatnt in British cinema history
in offering an opportunity for British actors and technicians to develop
their careers, and that the films themselves provided an outlet for the
exploration of peculiarly British cultural concerns in an industry
traditionally dominated by Hollywood output. They also contend that some of
the films stand up well to contemporary viewing and are deserving of
critical re-evaluation.

Volume 2 - to 1960s (by Brian McFarlane) is due out next year

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British Film Posters: An Illustrated History
Sim Branaghan
Edited by Steve Chibnall

BFI Publishing
288pp pages, Colour Illustrations
Published December 2006
Paperback ISBN: 1844572218

British Film Posters is the first complete history of the subject ever
published, covering every aspect of design, printing and display, and
including detailed biographies of all the major artists. The full story of
illustrated film posters in the UK is discussed, from their emergence in the
late Victorian period as an offshoot of the variety/theatrical posters of
the period, through to the rapid decline of the illustrated (ie
hand-painted) tradition over the mid-1980s, and subsequent 'end of an era'
arrival of computer DeskTop Publishing. The overall theme of the book is
that such 'vintage' film posters represent a significant and coherent
movement in British popular art of the 20th century, which has up to now
remained completely overlooked and undocumented. It will thus be required
reading for anyone interested in the twin subjects of British Cinema and UK
Graphic Design.

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The British Musical Film
Manchester University Press
Paperback
Due out : Feb 2007

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The Encyclopedia of British Film (*3rd Edition*)
Expanded and updated to the end of 2006
With a new preface.
Edited by Brian McFarlane

Methuen
Due out Mid-2007 (to tie in with the 13 part BBC2 tv series on British cinema history)

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Lawrence of Arabia
Kevin Jackson
Paperback
Published June 2007
Paperback ISBN: 1844571785

Lawrence of Arabia is widely considered one of the ten greatest films ever
made - though more often by film-goers and film-makers than by critics. This
monograph will argue that popular wisdom is correct, and that Lean's film is
a unique blend of visionary image-making, narrative power, mythopoetic charm
and psychological acuteness; far from being a Boy's Own Tale, it is one of
popular cinema's greatest tragedies, closer to Shakespeare than to Biggles.

This volume is the first since Adrian Turner's (now long out of print, and
unobtainable for less than £120) to bring together a critical analysis of
the film and an account of its tangled production history - a kind of epic
in its own right. It is the first ever to combine these elements with the
story of attempts by Alexander Korda and others to bring Lawrence's story to
the screen, and to be written from the perspective of someone who is as
deeply immersed in the lore of the real-life Lawrence as in the movie.

It should appeal both to the film's enormous fan-base and to the
exceptionally large number of readers who are fascinated by all aspects of
Lawrence and his many careers.

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DB7

Glad to see the 'B' and quickies being documented but I do hope it covers Butchers and the Danziger's rather than the BFI's usual narrow-view that there was Michael Powell, Carol Reed and pretty much nobody else involved in British filmmaking.

The_Late_Peter_Cook

Directors in British and Irish Cinema: A Reference Guide, alongside The Cinema Of Britian And Ireland arrived for me today and very good they look too! :)

Thanks for the tip about the rest. I used to find searching for forthcoming books on Amazon quite easy, but receantly it's become a bit difficult and user-unfriendly.