Robert Paul and the Origins of British Cinema (Cinema and Modernity)

Humor & Entertainment

Christie, Ian

Movies

University of Chicago Press

<div>The early years of film were dominated by competition between inventors in America and France, especially Thomas Edison and the Lumière brothers . But while these have generally been considered the foremost pioneers of film, they were not the only crucial figures in its inception. Telling the story of the white-hot years of filmmaking in the 1890s, Robert Paul and the Origins of British Cinema seeks to restore Robert Paul, Britain's most important early innovator in film, to his rightful place. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; From improving upon Edison's Kinetoscope to cocreating the first movie camera in Britain to building England's first film studio and launching the country's motion-picture industry, Paul played a key part in the history of cinema worldwide. It's not only Paul's story, however, that historian Ian Christie tells here. Robert Paul and the Origins of British Cinema also details the race among inventors to develop lucrative technologies and the jumbled culture of patent-snatching, showmanship, and music halls that prevailed in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Both an in-depth biography and a magnificent look at early cinema and fin-de-siècle Britain, Robert Paul and the Origins of British Cinema is a first-rate cultural history of a fascinating era of global invention, and the revelation of one of its undervalued contributors. &nbsp;</div>

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

First Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &amp; Francis, an informa company.

The Film Factory: Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents 1896-1939 (Soviet Cinema S)

TAYLOR, RICHARD

Routledge

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp traces, in flashback, the intertwined lives of a dashing young officer and his German Counterpart from their first encounter, fighting a duel in Berlin in 1902, to a double defeat - the gallant British officer becomes a crusty old Blimp, and his gallant German counterpart arrives in England as a pathetic refugee from Nazi Germany. The plot is juxtaposed to that of the British officer's thrice lost love - which introduces a disturbing undercurrent of romantic pessimism into what might otherwise seem a nostalgic chronicle. This volume also contains documentary material relevant to Powell and Pressburger's struggle to get the film made in war-torn Britain.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Arts & Photography

Powell, Michael

Pressburger, Emeric

Performing Arts

Faber&Faber

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger formed the greatest creative partnership in the history of British Cinema - The Archers. Their films were often controversial: Churchill tried to suppress the release of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Later, The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffman startled and enchanted cinema audiences with their use of colour, form and music. In the last ten years the magic, poetry and passion of their work has been acknowledged around the world and they are firmly in the pantheon of film masters.

Arrows of Desire

Ian Christie with Martin Scorsese

Terry Gilliam talks about the background and development of each of his films, including "Brazil," "Time Bandits," "Twelve Monkeys," "The Fisher King," and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

Gilliam on Gilliam

Gilliam, Terry

The British experience during the years surrounding the American Revolution was harsh and testing. Against a background of international turmoil, the country faced its own severe internal stresses as rapid population growth and the first rumblings of the industrial revolution transformed social and economic life. At the same time, political and religious traditions were challenged by radicals and reinforced by conservatives in a contest of ideas and beliefs.

Wars and Revolutions: Britain, 1760-1815

History

Europe

Harvard University Press

BRAND NEW(never opened)!!-ships immediately

Managing Sustainable Development

Business & Money

Carley, Michael

Carley

Economics

Univ of Minnesota Pr

The Film Factory: Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents 1896-1939

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Produced in the aftermath of the Second World War, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946) stars David Niven as an RAF pilot poised between life and death, his love for the American radio operator June (Kim Hunter) threatened by medical, political and ultimately celestial forces. The film is a magical, profound fantasy and a moving evocation of English history and the wartime experience, with virtuoso Technicolor special effects. In the United States it was released under the title Stairway to Heaven, referencing one of its most famous images, a moving stairway between earth and the afterlife. Ian Christie's study of the film shows how its creators drew upon many sources and traditions to create a unique form of modern masque, treating contemporary issues with witty allegory and enormous visual imagination. He stresses the teamwork of Powell and Pressburger's gifted collaborators, among them Director of Photography Jack Cardiff, production designer Alfred Junge, and costume designer Hein Heckroth, and explores the history of both British and international responses to the film. Christie argues that the film deserves to be thought of as one of the greatest achievements of British cinema, but of all cinema.

A Matter of Life and Death (BFI Film Classics)

British Film Institute

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Christie, Ian. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Christie, Ian