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39-550: Together with Gavin Lambert , Anderson and Reisz had previously founded the short-lived but influential journal Sequence , of which Anderson later wrote 'No Film Can Be Too Personal'. So ran the initial pronouncement in the first Free Cinema manifesto. It could equally well have been the motto of SEQUENCE'. The manifesto was drawn up by Anderson and Mazzetti at a Charing Cross cafe named The Soup Kitchen, where Mazzetti worked. It read: These films were not made together; nor with

78-402: A Hollywood screenwriter , Lambert was able to interview and gain personal remembrances of most of the cast and crew involved with the film, including dismissed director George Cukor and star Vivien Leigh ( Scarlett O'Hara ). His final biography, Natalie Wood: A Life (2004) supplied an insider's look at actress Natalie Wood and chronicled everything concerning her life, since Lambert was

117-508: A teenager 's battle with schizophrenia . Later, the author also wrote the scripts for some TV movies such as Second Serve (1986) on transgender tennis player Renée Richards and Liberace: Behind the Music (1988) on gay performer Liberace . In 1997, he contributed to Stephen Frears 's film A Personal History of British Cinema . He was heavily quoted in William J. Mann 's book, Behind

156-535: A bevy of tinsel-town lowlifes, Inside Daisy Clover (1963), The Goodbye People (1971) about Hollywood's beautiful people, and Running Time (1982), a portrait of an indefatigable woman from child starlet to screen goddess, but also a unique life history of the American film industry. Other works of fiction included Norman's Letter (1966), which received the Thomas R. Coward Memorial Award for Fiction, A Case for

195-430: A closeted gay leading man. However, in the film version, he was not fully identified as gay because, at Redford's request, the husband he played was changed from homosexual to appear as though he might be bisexual. From this time on, Lambert and Wood became lifelong friends. Another of Lambert's screenplays was I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), based on a novel by Hannah Green , which describes in layman's terms

234-464: A degree. From 1949 to 1956 he edited the journal Sight and Sound , again with Anderson as a regular contributor. At about the same time Lambert was deeply involved in Britain's Free Cinema movement which called for more social realism in contemporary movies. He also wrote film criticism for The Sunday Times and The Guardian . In late 1955, he moved to Hollywood , California , to work as

273-745: A friend of Wood for sixteen years. The book was praised by Natalie Wood's daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner , as "a wonderful biography on my Mom. It will be the definitive biography on my mother." Lambert's biography includes Wood's relationship with Elvis Presley , and interviews with the people who knew Wood best, such as Robert Wagner , Warren Beatty , Tony Curtis , Paul Mazursky , Tab Hunter and Leslie Caron . In his book, Lambert controversially claimed that Wood frequently dated gay and bisexual men, including director Nicholas Ray and actors Nick Adams , Raymond Burr , James Dean , Tab Hunter , and Scott Marlowe . Lambert said that Wood supported homosexual playwright Mart Crowley (a later lover of Lambert's) in

312-481: A love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected working-class young man (Jimmy Porter), his upper-middle-class, impassive wife (Alison) and her haughty best friend (Helena Charles). Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace. The character of Ma Tanner, only referred to in the play, is brought to life in the film by Edith Evans as a dramatic device to emphasise the class difference between Jimmy and Alison. The film and play are classic examples of

351-567: A manner that made it possible for him to write his play, The Boys in the Band (1968). Lambert's final book was The Ivan Moffat File: Life Among the Beautiful and Damned in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood (2004). Lambert also wrote seven novels primarily with Hollywood settings, among them The Slide Area: Scenes of Hollywood Life (1959), a collection of seven short stories that portray

390-423: A non-synchronised soundtrack added separately. Most of the films deliberately omitted narration. The film-makers shared a determination to focus on ordinary, largely working-class British subjects. They felt these people had been overlooked by the middle-class -dominated British film industry of the time. The founders of the movement were dismissive of mainstream documentary film-making in Britain, particularly of

429-467: A personal assistant to director Nicholas Ray and worked on the script (uncredited) for Ray's Bigger Than Life (1956). Later, he co-wrote the screenplay for Ray's film Bitter Victory (1957). According to the critic David Robinson , Lambert was Ray's lover for a time. Gavin Lambert became an American citizen in 1964. From 1974 to 1989, he chiefly stayed in Tangier , where he was a close friend of

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468-625: A style’ meant that ‘a style is not a matter of camera angles or fancy footwork, it's an expression, an accurate expression of your particular opinion’. The first ‘Free Cinema’ programme featured just three films: The films were accompanied by the above provocative film manifesto , written chiefly by Anderson, which brought the film-makers valuable publicity. Later programmes brought in like minded filmmakers, among them Alain Tanner and Claude Goretta (with Nice Time ), Michael Grigsby and Robert Vas . The two film technicians closely associated with

507-401: A submissive girl from an upper-middle-class family. Jimmy's love for Alison is mixed with contempt, as he feels she never had to experience want, pain, or suffering. He verbally abuses her telling her, in temper, that he wishes she would have a child that would die. Unbeknownst to Jimmy, Alison is pregnant, and having mixed feelings about the pregnancy and her marriage. Tensions heighten between

546-507: Is based on a novel by D. H. Lawrence . The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) adapted a novella by Tennessee Williams on the affairs of an older actress with a young Italian gigolo . As, from the 1920s through the late 1960s, homosexuality was rarely portrayed on the screen, gay screenwriters like Lambert learned to express their personal sensibilities discreetly between the lines of a film. "The important thing to remember about 'gay influence' in movies," observed Gavin Lambert, "is that it

585-467: Is irrelevant. Perfection is not an aim.       An attitude means a style. A style means an attitude. At an interview in 2001, Mazzetti explained that the reference to size was prompted by the then-new experiments in CinemaScope and other large screen formats. "The image speaks" was an assertion of the primacy of the image over the sound. Reisz said that ‘An attitude means

624-560: The Documentary Film Movement of the 1930s and 1940s associated with John Grierson , although they made an exception for Humphrey Jennings . Another acknowledged influence was French director Jean Vigo (1905–34). Free Cinema bears some similarities to the cinéma vérité and Direct Cinema movements. Free Cinema was a major influence on the British New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and all of

663-848: The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University . Lambert became a notable screenwriter of the Hollywood studio era. In 1954, while still living in England, he wrote his first screenplay , Another Sky , about the sexual awakening of a prim English woman in North Africa . In 1955, he also directed Another Sky in Morocco . This was followed in 1958 by the Hollywood screenplay, Bitter Victory and in 1960 by Sons and Lovers . The latter, for which Lambert gained an Academy Award nomination,

702-551: The kitchen sink realism genre, and many of them are adaptations of novels or plays written by members of Britain's so-called " angry young men ". Gavin Lambert Gavin Lambert (23 July 1924 – 17 July 2005) was a British-born screenwriter , novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood . His writing was mainly fiction and nonfiction about the film industry . Lambert

741-616: The Angels (1968), and In the Night All Cats Are Grey (1976). In 1996, Lambert wrote the introduction to 3 Plays , a collection of works by his longtime friend, Mart Crowley . Look Back in Anger (1959 film) Look Back in Anger is a 1959 British kitchen sink drama film starring Richard Burton , Claire Bloom and Mary Ure and directed by Tony Richardson . The film is based on John Osborne 's play about

780-639: The British cultural movement known as kitchen sink realism. Jimmy and Alison Porter, a young married couple, live in a Midlands industrial town ( Derby ) in a shabby attic flat, which they share with Jimmy's best friend and business partner, Cliff. Despite graduating from university, Jimmy and Cliff make a meagre living running a sweet -stall in the local market. Jimmy's inability to climb the socioeconomic ladder, coupled with other injustices he sees around him make him angry at society, particularly to those in authority. He takes out his frustrations on his wife Alison,

819-554: The Canadian actress Norma Shearer . His book, Nazimova: A Biography (1997) was the first full-scale account of the private life and acting career of lesbian actress Alla Nazimova . He was the author of the memoir Mainly About Lindsay Anderson (2000) (whose title echoed that of Anderson's own work, About John Ford ). He also wrote the book GWTW: The Making of Gone with the Wind ( Little, Brown and Company , 1973). Working as

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858-564: The Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969. Lambert was also a biographer and novelist, who focused his efforts on biographies of gay and lesbian figures in Hollywood. According to screenwriter and writer Joseph McBride , he was "a keenly observant, wryly witty chronicler of Hollywood's social mores and artistic achievements." He wrote biographies on Hollywood figures such as On Cukor (1972) on film director George Cukor and Norma Shearer: A Life (1990) on

897-433: The couple when Alison invites her assertive friend, Helena, whom Jimmy loathes, to temporarily stay with them. After witnessing Jimmy's treatment of Alison, Helena persuades Alison to leave Jimmy on the same day that Ma Tanner, who lent Jimmy the money to set up his stall, has a fatal stroke. Eventually, Alison moves out and departs with her kindly father, Colonel Redfern, who has come to collect her. A grieving Jimmy returns to

936-481: The deal because of the choice of director. Saltzman and Richardson persuaded Richard Burton to take on the title role, at a much lower fee than his accustomed Hollywood payoff. (His fee for the film was $ 125,000.) It is not known what Kenneth Haigh , who had created the role, thought of this. The idea of recruiting Nigel Kneale to extend the play into a screenplay is credited to the influential theatre critic Kenneth Tynan (who had been in large part responsible for

975-488: The film performed "better than average" at the British box office in 1959. The film was nominated in four categories for the 1959 BAFTA Awards : Best British Actor (Richard Burton), Best British Film, Best British Screenplay (Nigel Kneale) and Best Film from any Source. However, it won none, the winners being respectively Peter Sellers ( I'm All Right Jack ), Sapphire , Frank Harvey , John Boulting and Alan Hackney for I'm All Right Jack and Ben-Hur . Burton

1014-557: The flat to find Alison gone, and learns for the first time that she is pregnant. He starts an emotional tirade with Helena, who first slaps him but then kisses him passionately, and the two begin an affair. Months later, Jimmy and Helena have settled into a comfortable relationship, but Jimmy is still hurt at Alison's departure. She, living in her parents' tranquil home, is having a precarious pregnancy, and fears that Jimmy's wish for her to suffer tragedy might come true. Cliff decides to strike out on his own, and Jimmy and Helena see him off at

1053-481: The founders except Mazzetti would make films associated with the movement. Richardson directed Look Back in Anger (1958), A Taste of Honey (1961) and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962); Reisz directed Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960); and Anderson directed This Sporting Life (1963) and If.... (1968). Many of these films have also been categorized as part of

1092-439: The idea of showing them together. But when they came together, we felt they had an attitude in common. Implicit in this attitude is a belief in freedom, in the importance of people and the significance of the everyday. As filmmakers we believe that       No film can be too personal.       The image speaks. Sound amplifies and comments.       Size

1131-545: The incredible success of the play). Osborne was relieved at not having to do the job and handed over story rights for a mere £2,000. The part of the doctor was specially created for George Devine , the artistic director of the English Stage Company and the man to whom Osborne most owed his success. Glen Byam Shaw , Devine's longtime collaborator (they created the Young Vic Company), was handed

1170-517: The market scenes were shot in Deptford market; the railway station was Dalston Junction . Deptford and Dalston are in fact in the London area. The first market scenes were shot in the centre of Romford Market , Romford , Essex (now in the east London Borough of Havering ). The scenes showing the street outside Jimmy and Alison Porter's flat were filmed in Harvist Road, London N7. The road

1209-629: The movement were Walter Lassally and John Fletcher. The three of the six programmes were devoted to foreign work, including the new Polish cinema (fourth programme), emerging French New Wave (fifth programme); and American independent filmmaker Lionel Rogosin was invited to screen his ground-breaking film On the Bowery at the second Free Cinema programme in September 1956. That event also included Norman McLaren 's Neighbours and Georges Franju 's Le Sang des bêtes . The films were free in

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1248-423: The railway station. After Cliff's train departs, Jimmy and Helena see Alison sitting disconsolately in the station. Alison explains to Helena that she has lost the baby and Helena, realizing that she was wrong to break up their marriage, informs Jimmy that she is leaving him. Jimmy and Alison reconcile. Look Back in Anger was produced by the Canadian impresario Harry Saltzman , who was seen an obvious choice as he

1287-538: The role of Colonel Redfern. Two other members of the English Stage Company, Nigel Davenport and Alfred Lynch , were given small roles as commercial salesmen who try to pick up Alison and Helena in the railway station bar. The Chris Barber jazz band appears in the opening scenes set at a jazz club. Interiors were shot at Elstree Studios in September 1958. Some establishing shots were shot in Derby but

1326-655: The sense that they were made outside the confines of the film industry and were distinguished by their style and attitude and the conditions of production. All of the films were made cheaply, for no more than a few hundred pounds, mostly with grants from the British Film Institute 's Experimental Film Fund. Some of the later films were sponsored by the Ford Motor Company or funded independently. They were typically shot in black and white on 16mm film , using lightweight, hand-held cameras, usually with

1365-520: The writer and composer Paul Bowles . He spent the final years of his life in Los Angeles , where he died of pulmonary fibrosis on 17 July 2005. He left behind a brother, niece and nephew, and named Mart Crowley executor of his estate. Gavin's father's half-sister was Ivy Claudine Godber aka Claudine West (1890–1943), a screenwriter who won an Oscar for her joint writing of the script of Mrs. Miniver in 1942. His papers are currently housed at

1404-422: Was a fan of the play and it was he who had urged Osborne and Richardson to set up Woodfall Film Productions . The film was to be Woodfall's first production. Osborne insisted, against resistance from Saltzman, that Richardson was the right man to direct the film. Richardson had directed the original theatrical production but had no track record in feature films. The original backer, J. Arthur Rank , pulled out of

1443-510: Was educated at Cheltenham College and Magdalen College, Oxford , where one of his professors was C. S. Lewis . At Oxford, he befriended Penelope Houston and filmmakers Karel Reisz and Lindsay Anderson , and they founded a short-lived but influential journal, Sequence , which was originally edited by Houston. The magazine, which lasted for only 15 issues, moved to London after the fifth issue, and Lambert and Anderson took over as co-editors. Lambert eventually left Oxford without obtaining

1482-519: Was later demolished by Islington Borough Council and rebuilt as the Harvist Estate. The film was not successful at first. Westminster Council gave it an X certificate , and it opened on 29 May 1959 during one of London's rare heatwaves. Tim Adler wrote that Richardson never found out whether the film made a profit. Burton was widely felt to be too old and mature-looking for the young character he played. According to Kinematograph Weekly

1521-432: Was obviously never direct. It was all subliminal. It couldn't be direct because the mass audience would say, Hey, no way." But then, in 1965, Lambert adapted his own Hollywood insider novel Inside Daisy Clover (1963) for the screen. Clover , starring Natalie Wood and Robert Redford , which tells the cautionary tale of a teenage movie star involved in the Hollywood studio system of the 1930s and her unhappy marriage to

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