Join our special guests, Melanie Williams, Neil Sinyard and Elena Lazic, to explore what made Jack Clayton one of Britain’s most distinctive auteurs. In this richly illustrated event, hosted by the BFI’s James Bell, our speakers will consider Clayton’s recurring thematic preoccupations, meticulous craftsmanship, interest in literary adaptations, and unforgettable female characters. The panel will also situate his work within the broader cultural and critical contexts of British cinema and discuss his collaborations on and off-screen.
Melanie Williams is Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia and she has published extensively on British cinema including the books Transformation and Tradition in 1960s British Cinema, Female Stars of British Cinema, David Lean, Ealing Revisited, and British Women’s Cinema. She is currently completing a BFI Film Classic book on A Taste of Honey.
Neil Sinyard is Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at Hull University. He has published over 25 books on film, including studies of directors such as Billy Wilder, William Wyler, George Stevens, Richard Lester, Fred Zinnemann, Alfred Hitchcock, Nicolas Roeg, Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen, as well as books on film adaptations of literature, representations of childhood on film, silent movies, film comedy, Walt Disney, Marilyn Monroe, and Graham Greene. He has also contributed numerous book chapters and articles to international journals such as Sight and Sound (UK), Positif (France), Literature/Film Quarterly (USA), Metro (Australia), and Dutch Crossing (the Netherlands). He is a consultant and contributor to the film entries for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; and co-editor of the series of monographs on British filmmakers for Manchester University Press. He has contributed commentaries, interviews and essays, for over 70 DVD and Blu-ray releases, including Jack Clayton’s Room at the Top, The Innocents, The Pumpkin Eater and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. His book on Jack Clayton was published in 2000.
Elena Lazic is the founder and editor of online film magazine Animus, and a freelance film writer whose byline has appeared in Sight and Sound, Little White Lies, Mubi Notebook, The Guardian, and on the BFI website among other outlets.
James Bell (host) is Senior Curator of Fiction Film in the BFI National Archive. Formerly, he was Features Editor at Sight and Sound magazine, and Special Projects Editor at the BFI. In addition to his work in the archive and at Sight and Sound, he has been series editor of the BFI Compendium book titles, and regular programmer of the biannual BFI Southbank Deep Focus seasons.
A CLASS OF HIS OWN: THE FILMS OF JACK CLAYTON
Room at the Top
Thu 2 Dec 18:10 (+ intro by BFI Curator Josephine Botting); Sat 18 Dec 14:10; Wed 22 Dec 18:10; Wed 29 Dec 14:30
The Innocents
Sat 4 Dec 20:40; Thu 9 Dec 20:45; Mon 13 Dec 18:10; Thu 23 Dec 14:20; Mon 27 Dec 15:20; Thu 30 Dec 14:30
Our Mother’s House
Tue 7 Dec 20:40 (+ intro); Mon 20 Dec 18:15
The Passions of Jack Clayton
Wed 8 Dec 18:10
The Pumpkin Eater
Wed 8 Dec 20:40; Sat 18 Dec 12:50 (+ pre-recorded intro by critic Lucy Scholes); Tue 28 Dec 12:15; Thu 30 Dec 18:10
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Fri 10 Dec 20:30; Tue 21 Dec 14:20; Wed 29 Dec 17:50
The Great Gatsby
Sat 11 Dec 20:20; Mon 27 Dec 12:45
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Sun 12 Dec 18:30; Tue 21 Dec 20:40
Memento Mori + The Bespoke Overcoat
Sun 19 Dec 18:00
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Programme notes and credits compiled by the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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