Kevin Brownlow
Encyclopedia
Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian
, television documentary
-maker, author
, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film
at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent documenting and restoring film. He has rescued many silent films and their history. His initiative in interviewing many largely forgotten, elderly film pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s preserved a legacy of cinema. Brownlow received an Academy Honorary Award
at the 2nd Annual Governors Awards
given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
on November 13, 2010.
prompted the creation of an alternative-history film, It Happened Here
in which the Nazis
have conquered Britain
. Brownlow began work on the film at the age of 18 and began to collaborate with a friend Andrew Mollo
, who was 16. After 8 years of struggle, during which the film's content changed dramatically, it was completed in 1964 with the last-minute aid of Tony Richardson
but not released until 1966.
In 1968 Brownlow published a book, How It Happened Here, which described the making of the film, and the reception it received. Not only does it explain how two teenage boys made a feature film, it also explores the provocative social issues
raised by the movie. Brownlow had allowed genuine British Fascists
to play themselves in the film, which angered some Jewish organizations. The book contained almost 100 pictures, mostly stills from the film and an introduction by film critic and author David Robinson
. It was re-issued in 2007 by The UKA Press
.
After this cinematic feat Mollo and Brownlow began another project, Winstanley
, about Gerrard Winstanley
and the Diggers commune following the English Civil War
. The duo spent several years trying to gain support and following a long and difficult shoot, the film was released in 1975. In 2009 The UKA Press
published Winstanley: Warts and All, a making-of book. Brownlow had written it shortly after completing work on the film, but the manuscript had sat on the shelf for 34 years before being published.
's 1927 French
classic, Napoléon, a 'lost' epic film that used many novel cinematic techniques. Brownlow's championing of the film succeeded, and the restored version, with a new score
by Carl Davis
, was shown in London
and New York
in 1980 and 1981. Gance lived to see the acclaim for his restored film. In March 2012, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
will present the complete 2000 restoration of the film, with Davis conducting his score, at the Paramount Theatre Oakland.
Brownlow also began a collaboration with David Gill
with whom he produced several documentaries on the silent era. The first was Hollywood
, a 13-part history of the silent era in Hollywood, produced for Thames Television
and screened in Britain in 1980. This was followed by Unknown Chaplin
(1983) (Charlie Chaplin
), Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow
(1987) (Buster Keaton
), Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius (1989) (Harold Lloyd
) and Cinema Europe: the Other Hollywood (1995), among others. They also restored and released a large number of classic silent films through the Thames Silents
series (later via Photoplay Productions) in the 1980s and 1990s, generally with new musical scores by Carl Davis
. The Search for Charlie Chaplin (2010, The UKA Press
), a making-of book for Unknown Chaplin
, was published in 2009.
Since David Gill's death in 1997, Brownlow has continued to produce documentaries and conduct film restoration with Patrick Stanbury. These include Lon Chaney
, A Thousand Faces (2000), Garbo
, a documentary produced for Turner Classic Movies to mark the centenary of actress Greta Garbo
's birth, and I Am King Kong
(2005) about filmmaker Merian C. Cooper
.
In August 2010, Brownlow was announced as the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award for his role in film and cinema history preservation.
History of film
The history of film is the historical development of the medium known variously as cinema, motion pictures, film, or the movies.The history of film spans over 100 years, from the latter part of the 19th century to the present day...
, television documentary
Television documentary
Documentary television is a genre of television programming that broadcasts documentaries.* Documentary television series, a television series which is made up of documentary episodes....
-maker, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent documenting and restoring film. He has rescued many silent films and their history. His initiative in interviewing many largely forgotten, elderly film pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s preserved a legacy of cinema. Brownlow received an Academy Honorary Award
Academy Honorary Award
The Academy Honorary Award, instituted in 1948 for the 21st Academy Awards , is given by the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of...
at the 2nd Annual Governors Awards
Governors Awards
The Governors Awards presentation is an annual award ceremony hosted by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center. Three awards, the Academy Honorary Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and the Irving G. Thalberg...
given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
on November 13, 2010.
It Happened Here and Winstanley
His interest in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
prompted the creation of an alternative-history film, It Happened Here
It Happened Here
It Happened Here is a 1966 British film, directed by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo. It is set in an alternate history in which Nazi Germany successfully invades and occupies the United Kingdom during World War II.-Setting:...
in which the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
have conquered Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Brownlow began work on the film at the age of 18 and began to collaborate with a friend Andrew Mollo
Andrew Mollo
Andrew Mollo is a British expert on military uniforms that has led him into a career in motion pictures and as an author of various books on military uniforms...
, who was 16. After 8 years of struggle, during which the film's content changed dramatically, it was completed in 1964 with the last-minute aid of Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
but not released until 1966.
In 1968 Brownlow published a book, How It Happened Here, which described the making of the film, and the reception it received. Not only does it explain how two teenage boys made a feature film, it also explores the provocative social issues
Social issues
Social issues are controversial issues which relate to people's personal lives and interactions. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues...
raised by the movie. Brownlow had allowed genuine British Fascists
British Fascists
The British Fascists were the first avowedly fascist organisation in the United Kingdom. William Joyce, Neil Francis Hawkins, Maxwell Knight and Arnold Leese were amongst those to have passed through the movement as members and activists.-Early years:...
to play themselves in the film, which angered some Jewish organizations. The book contained almost 100 pictures, mostly stills from the film and an introduction by film critic and author David Robinson
David Robinson (film critic and author)
David Robinson is a British film critic and author. He started writing for Sight and Sound and the Monthly Film Bulletin in the 1950s, becoming Assistant Editor of Sight and Sound and Editor of the Monthly Film Bulletin in 1957-1958...
. It was re-issued in 2007 by The UKA Press
The UKA Press
The UKA Press is an independent small publisher based in the United Kingdom. Since its launch in January 2004, it has published poetry, novels, short story collections and nonfiction titles...
.
After this cinematic feat Mollo and Brownlow began another project, Winstanley
Winstanley (film)
Winstanley is the title of a film made in 1975 in the UK by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo, based on the 1961 David Caute novel Comrade Jacob....
, about Gerrard Winstanley
Gerrard Winstanley
Gerrard Winstanley was an English Protestant religious reformer and political activist during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell...
and the Diggers commune following the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. The duo spent several years trying to gain support and following a long and difficult shoot, the film was released in 1975. In 2009 The UKA Press
The UKA Press
The UKA Press is an independent small publisher based in the United Kingdom. Since its launch in January 2004, it has published poetry, novels, short story collections and nonfiction titles...
published Winstanley: Warts and All, a making-of book. Brownlow had written it shortly after completing work on the film, but the manuscript had sat on the shelf for 34 years before being published.
Cinema History and Preservation
In 1968 Brownlow's first book on silent film, The Parade's Gone By..., was published. The book had many interviews with the leading actors and directors of the silent era and began his career as a film historian. Brownlow spent many years getting support for the restoration of Abel GanceAbel Gance
Abel Gance was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. He is best known for three major silent films: J'accuse , La Roue , and the monumental Napoléon .-Early life:...
's 1927 French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
classic, Napoléon, a 'lost' epic film that used many novel cinematic techniques. Brownlow's championing of the film succeeded, and the restored version, with a new score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
by Carl Davis
Carl Davis
Carl Davis CBE is an American born conductor and composer who has made his home in the UK since 1961. In 1970 he married the English actress Jean Boht....
, was shown in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1980 and 1981. Gance lived to see the acclaim for his restored film. In March 2012, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
San Francisco Silent Film Festival
The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is a film festival first held in 1996 and presented annually every July at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, California, USA...
will present the complete 2000 restoration of the film, with Davis conducting his score, at the Paramount Theatre Oakland.
Brownlow also began a collaboration with David Gill
David Gill (film historian)
David Ian Gill was born in Papua New Guinea, the son of Cecil Gill, a missionary doctor. His uncle was the sculptor Eric Gill. The family returned to England in 1933 where Gill attended the Belmont Abbey School, Hereford...
with whom he produced several documentaries on the silent era. The first was Hollywood
Hollywood (documentary)
Hollywood is a 1980 documentary series produced by Thames Television which explored the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture....
, a 13-part history of the silent era in Hollywood, produced for Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
and screened in Britain in 1980. This was followed by Unknown Chaplin
Unknown Chaplin
Unknown Chaplin is an acclaimed three-part 1983 British television documentary about the career and the methods of the film luminary Charles Chaplin using previously unseen film for illustration....
(1983) (Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
), Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow
Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow
Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow is a 3-part television documentary series made in 1987, charting the life and career of Buster Keaton. The series was written and produced by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill for Thames Television and narrated by Lindsay Anderson...
(1987) (Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
), Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius (1989) (Harold Lloyd
Harold Lloyd
Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
) and Cinema Europe: the Other Hollywood (1995), among others. They also restored and released a large number of classic silent films through the Thames Silents
Thames Silents
Thames Silents is a series of releases of films from the silent era produced by the British ITV contractor Thames Television...
series (later via Photoplay Productions) in the 1980s and 1990s, generally with new musical scores by Carl Davis
Carl Davis
Carl Davis CBE is an American born conductor and composer who has made his home in the UK since 1961. In 1970 he married the English actress Jean Boht....
. The Search for Charlie Chaplin (2010, The UKA Press
The UKA Press
The UKA Press is an independent small publisher based in the United Kingdom. Since its launch in January 2004, it has published poetry, novels, short story collections and nonfiction titles...
), a making-of book for Unknown Chaplin
Unknown Chaplin
Unknown Chaplin is an acclaimed three-part 1983 British television documentary about the career and the methods of the film luminary Charles Chaplin using previously unseen film for illustration....
, was published in 2009.
Since David Gill's death in 1997, Brownlow has continued to produce documentaries and conduct film restoration with Patrick Stanbury. These include Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
, A Thousand Faces (2000), Garbo
Garbo
-People:* Greta Garbo , Swedish actress* Gunnar Garbo , Norwegian journalist, politician and former Ambassador to Tanzania* Ingvald Garbo , member of the Norwegian Resistance in World War II...
, a documentary produced for Turner Classic Movies to mark the centenary of actress Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
's birth, and I Am King Kong
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
(2005) about filmmaker Merian C. Cooper
Merian C. Cooper
Merian Caldwell Cooper was an American aviator, United States Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, screenwriter, and film director and producer. His most famous film was the 1933 movie King Kong.-Early life:...
.
In August 2010, Brownlow was announced as the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award for his role in film and cinema history preservation.
Filmography
- Nine, Dalmuir West (1962)
- It Happened HereIt Happened HereIt Happened Here is a 1966 British film, directed by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo. It is set in an alternate history in which Nazi Germany successfully invades and occupies the United Kingdom during World War II.-Setting:...
(1966) - Abel GanceAbel GanceAbel Gance was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. He is best known for three major silent films: J'accuse , La Roue , and the monumental Napoléon .-Early life:...
: The Charm of Dynamite (1968) - WinstanleyWinstanley (film)Winstanley is the title of a film made in 1975 in the UK by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo, based on the 1961 David Caute novel Comrade Jacob....
(1975) - HollywoodHollywood (documentary)Hollywood is a 1980 documentary series produced by Thames Television which explored the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture....
(1980) - Millay at Steepletop (1983)
- Unknown ChaplinUnknown ChaplinUnknown Chaplin is an acclaimed three-part 1983 British television documentary about the career and the methods of the film luminary Charles Chaplin using previously unseen film for illustration....
(1983) - Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to FollowBuster Keaton: A Hard Act to FollowBuster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow is a 3-part television documentary series made in 1987, charting the life and career of Buster Keaton. The series was written and produced by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill for Thames Television and narrated by Lindsay Anderson...
(1987) - Harold LloydHarold LloydHarold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
: The Third Genius (1989) - D.W. Griffith: Father of Film (1993)
- Cinema Europe: The Other HollywoodCinema Europe: The Other HollywoodCinema Europe: The Other Hollywood was a 1995 documentary produced by David Gill and silent film historian Kevin Brownlow.The six-part mini-series focused on the origin of European cinema, from its infancy as a novelty created by French inventors Louis and Auguste Lumiere to a serious artistic and...
(TV series 1996) - Universal Horror (1998)
- Lon ChaneyLon Chaney, Sr.Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
: A Thousand Faces (2000) - The Tramp and the Dictator (2002)
- Cecil B. DeMilleCecil B. DeMilleCecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
: American Epic (2004) - So Funny It Hurt: Buster KeatonBuster KeatonJoseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
& MGM (2004) - Garbo (2005)
- I'm King Kong!: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper (2005)
External links
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055024 It Happened Here (1965)
- 2004 Interview at the NFT
- Article by Dennis Doros Upon Brownlow's receipt of the Mel Novikoff Award at the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival
- Kevin Brownlow: Introduction to Silents Brief program note by Brownlow for his lecture at the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival, includes photo of Brownlow
- Article: "Winstanley"; or, Kevin Brownlow Camps Out on St. George's Hill 2003 by John C. Tibbetts
- Article: Between the Map and the Painted Landscape: Kevin Brownlow's Historical Films by John C. Tibbetts
- History Repeating, Kevin Brownlow on His Obsessive Period Reconstructions article by Elliott Stein in the Village Voice 1999
- Sunday Times Article: Silents Please by Kevin Brownlow March 24, 2007
- Silent Films, What was the Right Speed? an article by Brownlow in Sight and Sound, Summer 1980
- Brownlow on Beckett (on Keaton) Article by Brownlow in Film West