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Richard MacDonald
Richard Macdonald (1919 – 1993) was a British art director. He frequently collaborated with Joseph Losey.Gardner p.263 He subsequently relocated to Hollywood where he worked on numerous productions. Biography Macdonald was born in Yeovil and studied at the West of England College of Art in Bristol from 1937, continuing his education at the Royal College of Art in 1939. He subsequently held teaching posts at Leeds College of Art and at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts from 1951 to 1955. Macdonald exhibited his artworks, both in solo shows and in group exhibitions with the London Group, the New English Art Club and at the Royal Academy. From the mid-1950s he was involved in film production and divided his time between London and Los Angeles. The Royal West of England Academy in Bristol holds examples of his paintings. Selected filmography * ''Time Without Pity'' (1957) * ''The Gypsy and the Gentleman'' (1958) * '' The Criminal'' (1960) * ''Eva'' (1962) * '' The Damned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yeovil
Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, from London, south of Bristol, from Sherborne and from Taunton. The aircraft and defence industries which developed in the 20th century made it a target for bombing in the Second World War; they are still major employers. Yeovil Country Park, which includes Ninesprings, is one of several open spaces with educational, cultural and sporting facilities. Religious sites include the 14th-century Church of St John the Baptist, Yeovil, Church of St John the Baptist. The town is on the A30 road, A30 and A37 road, A37 roads and has two railway stations. History Archaeological surveys have yielded Palaeolithic burial and settlement sites mainly to the south of the modern town, particularly in Hendford, where a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gypsy And The Gentleman
''The Gypsy and the Gentleman'' is a 1958 British costume drama film directed by Joseph Losey. It stars Melina Mercouri and Keith Michell. Plot The beautiful and fiery gypsy Belle (Melina Mercouri) marries Regency playboy Sir Paul Deverill (Keith Michell) for his money. Unbeknownst to her he has squandered his fortune and is desperately in debt. When Deverill's sister Sarah (June Laverick) inherits a fortune, the couple hatch a plan to kidnap her. Sarah is loved by the young Dr Forrester and is looked after by a retired actress, Mrs Haggard. A corrupt lawyer, Brook, also gets involved. Deverill eventually sides with his sister against Belle and her gypsy lover, Jess. He rescues his sister and crashes into the water with Belle. Bella watches Jess flee, and then she and Deverill drown in the river. Cast Production Joseph Losey had been offered a three-picture deal with Rank at the recommendation of Dirk Bogarde; the director was also admired by James Archibald who was a Rank exec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Day Of The Locust (film)
''The Day of the Locust'' is a 1975 American satirical historical drama film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Donald Sutherland, Karen Black, William Atherton, Burgess Meredith, Richard Dysart, John Hillerman and Geraldine Page. Set in Hollywood, California just before World War II, the film depicts the alienation and desperation of a disparate group of individuals whose dreams of success fail to come true. The screenplay by Waldo Salt is based on the 1939 novel of the same title by Nathanael West. The film has garnered attention from scholars for its critical commentary on the film industry, as well as its nightmarish depiction of Hollywood, with some critics identifying implicit horror elements in the film's visuals. Plot Aspiring artist and recent Yale graduate Tod Hackett arrives in 1930s Hollywood to work as a painter at a major film studio. He rents an apartment in the San Bernardino Arms, a rundown apartment building occupied by various people, many on the fri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Romantic Englishwoman
''The Romantic Englishwoman'' is a 1975 British film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Michael Caine, Glenda Jackson, Helmut Berger. It marks the feature-length screen debut for Kate Nelligan. The screenplay was written by Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman. Caine plays a successful English novelist whose discontented wife, played by Jackson, decides to take a holiday to Germany in order to "find herself". There she meets a mysterious young man, played by Berger, in an elevator, which initiates an often bizarre, but extremely mature examination of desire, responsibility and the nature of love. The film was shown at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, but not entered into the main competition. Plot Elizabeth, bored wife of Lewis, a successful pulp writer in England, leaves husband and child and runs away to the German town of Baden-Baden. There she meets Thomas, who claims to be a poet but whom viewers know to be a petty thief, conman, drug courier, and gigolo. Though the two are br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galileo (1975 Film)
''Galileo'' is a 1975 biographical film about the 16th- and 17th-century scientist Galileo Galilei, whose astronomical observations with the newly invented telescope led to a profound conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. The film is an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's 1943 play of the same name. The film was produced by Ely Landau for the American Film Theatre, which presented thirteen film adaptations of plays in the United States from 1973 to 1975. Brecht's play was recently called a "masterpiece" by veteran theater critic Michael Billington, as Martin Esslin had in 1960. The film's director, Joseph Losey, had also directed the first performances of the play in 1947 in the US — with Brecht's active participation. The film is fairly true to those first performances, and is thus of historical significance as well. Plot The film closely follows the "American" version of Brecht's play ''Galileo''. In 1609 Galileo is a mathematics professor in Padua, Italy. While his sal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Assassination Of Trotsky
''The Assassination of Trotsky'' is a 1972 British historical drama film, directed by Joseph Losey with a screenplay by Nicholas Mosley. It stars Richard Burton as Leon Trotsky, as well as Romy Schneider and Alain Delon. Plot Exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929, Leon Trotsky travels from Turkey to France to Norway, before arriving in Mexico in January 1937. The film begins in Mexico City in 1940, during a May Day celebration. Trotsky has not escaped the attention of the Soviet dictator of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, who sends out an assassin named Frank Jacson. The killer decides to infiltrate Trotsky's house by befriending one of the young communists in Trotsky's circle. Cast * Richard Burton as Leon Trotsky * Alain Delon as Frank Jacson * Romy Schneider as Gita Samuels * Valentina Cortese as Natalia Sedowa Trotsky * Luigi Vannucchi as Ruiz * Jean Desailly as Alfred Rosmer * Simone Valère as Marguerite Rosmer * Duilio Del Prete as Felipe * Jack Betts as Lou ''( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloomfield (film)
''Bloomfield'' (released in the United States as ''The Hero'') is a 1971 British-Israeli drama film directed by Richard Harris and Uri Zohar. It was entered into the 21st Berlin International Film Festival. The soundtrack of the film composed and produced by Johnny Harris includes a short version of " The Loner", a song co-written by Maurice Gibb and Lulu's brother Billy Lawrie. Johnny Harris was MD for Lulu at the time this song was composed and recorded in 1969. It was released on a Pye Records single in 1972 performed by The Bloomfields when the film was finally released in Great Britain. The soundtrack also includes 3 tracks by Heads Hands & Feet. Production The film was originally called ''Knights of Bloomfield'' and was to be directed by Uri Zohar. At one point the film was going to be shot in Italy and was known as ''Viva Higgins''. Harris called the story "very autobiographical. It's a story about freedom and man's success and moments of failure." The film was financed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boom! (film)
''Boom!'' is a 1968 British drama film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Noël Coward. It was adapted by Tennessee Williams from his own play ''The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore''. Plot Flora 'Sissy' Goforth (Taylor, in a part written for an older woman) is a terminally-ill woman living with a coterie of servants, whom she verbally abuses, in a large mansion on a secluded Italian island. Into her life comes a mysterious man, Christopher Flanders, nicknamed "Il Angelo Dellamorte" " The Angel of Death" (played by then-husband Burton, in a part intended for a younger man). Christopher claims to have met her previously, while Flora, for her part, affects not to remember having met him before. Flora is said to suffer from neuritis and several other kinds of "-itis." In her complex of villas wired for sound, so she can at any moment resume her dictation, Flora is dictating her memoirs detailing her multiple marriages, and her affair wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Ceremony
''Secret Ceremony'' is a 1968 British drama-thriller film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow and Robert Mitchum. Plot Leonora, a middle-aged prostitute, is despondent over the death of her daughter. Cenci, a lonely young woman, follows Leonora to the cemetery and strikes up a conversation with her, inviting Leonora to her home. Leonora is struck by the likeness between Cenci and her late daughter. A resemblance of Leonora to Cenci's late mother becomes obvious once Leonora notices a portrait. Cenci, who is 22 but looks and acts much younger, asks Leonora to stay. A lie is told to her aunts, Hilda and Hannah, that Leonora is actually Cenci's late mother's cousin. Cenci is found one day cowering under a table. Albert, her stepfather, has paid a visit. Cenci is terrified of him, claiming that Albert had raped her. Leonora is repelled by the man's presence until Albert tells her that Cenci is mentally unstable and had repeatedly tried to seduce him ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Far From The Madding Crowd (1967 Film)
''Far from the Madding Crowd'' is a 1967 British epic period drama film adapted from Thomas Hardy's 1874 book of the same name. The film, starring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Terence Stamp and Peter Finch, and directed by John Schlesinger, was Schlesinger's fourth film (and his third collaboration with Christie). It marked a stylistic shift away from his earlier works exploring contemporary urban mores. The cinematography was by Nicolas Roeg and the soundtrack was by Richard Rodney Bennett. He also used traditional folk songs in various scenes throughout the film. It was nominated for one Oscar for Best Original Music Score and two BAFTAs, Best British Cinematography (Colour) and Best British Costume (Colour) ( Alan Barrett). Plot Set in the rural West Country in Victorian England (circa 1870), the story features Bathsheba Everdene (Julie Christie), a beautiful, headstrong, independently minded woman who inherits her uncle's farm and decides to manage it herself. This enge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modesty Blaise (1966 Film)
''Modesty Blaise'' is a 1966 British spy-fi comedy film directed by Joseph Losey, produced by Joseph Janni, and loosely based on the popular comic strip ''Modesty Blaise'' by Peter O'Donnell, who co-wrote the original story upon which Evan Jones and Harold Pinter based their screenplay. It stars Monica Vitti as "Modesty", opposite Terence Stamp as Willie Garvin and Dirk Bogarde as her nemesis Gabriel. The cast also includes Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Alexander Knox, Rossella Falk, Clive Revill (in a dual role), and Tina Aumont. The film's music was composed by Johnny Dankworth and the theme song, ''Modesty'', sung by pop duo David and Jonathan. It was Vitti's first English-speaking role. The film's production saw creative clashes between director Losey and ''Blaise'' creator O'Donnell over the vision of the final film, Losey wanting to create a " pop art"-inspired spoof of the spy movie craze prevalent at the time, in contrast to the relatively serious and grounded tone of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Servant (1963 Film)
''The Servant'' is a 1963 British drama film directed by Joseph Losey. It was written by Harold Pinter, who adapted Robin Maugham's 1948 novella. ''The Servant'' stars Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles, Wendy Craig and James Fox. It opened at London's Warner Theatre on 14 November 1963. The first of Pinter's four film collaborations with Losey, ''The Servant'' is a tightly constructed film about the psychological relationships among the four central characters and examines issues relating to social class. Plot Wealthy Londoner Tony, who says he is part of a plan to build cities in Brazil, moves into his new house, and hires Hugo Barrett as his manservant. Barrett appears to take easily to his new job, and he and Tony form a quiet bond, retaining their social roles. Relationships begin shifting, however, when Tony's girlfriend Susan meets Barrett. She is suspicious of Barrett and asks Tony to dismiss him, but he refuses. To bring his lover, Vera, into his world, Barrett convinces T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
