HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - David McGillivray (screenwriter)
OR:
David McGillivray (screenwriter) on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

David McGillivray (born 7 September 1947 in London) is an actor, producer, playwright, screenwriter and film critic. On the
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
discussion programme ''Free Thinking'' on 10 February 2015, writer and broadcaster
Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...
described McGillivray as "The Truffaut of Smut", leading to McGillivray later commenting via his Twitter feed @makeadelivery, "I can die happy". Originally a critic for ''
Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'', McGillivray wrote his first film script, ''Albert's Follies'', for friend Ray Selfe in 1973. Intended as a vehicle for
The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comed ...
, who turned it down, the film was eventually released as ''
White Cargo ''White Cargo'' is a 1942 film drama starring Hedy Lamarr and Walter Pidgeon, and directed by Richard Thorpe. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is based on the 1923 London and Broadway hit play by Leon Gordon, which was in turn adapted from ...
'' (1973) and starred a young
David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector J ...
in one of his earliest leading roles. McGillivray was soon involved in the British sex film industry, writing scripts for ''The Hot Girls'' (1974) and ''
I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight ''I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight'' is a 1976 British comedy film directed by Joseph McGrath and starring Barry Andrews, James Booth and Sally Faulkner. Cast * Barry Andrews as Jon Pigeon * James Booth as S.J. Nutbrown * Sally Faulkner as Che ...
'' (1976), two films produced by pornographer
John Jesnor Lindsay John Jesnor Lindsay (born 1939) is a Scottish photographer who turned to the more lucrative trade of making blue movies during the late 1960s and all the way through the 1970s. A former student of the Glasgow School of Art, Lindsay had begun hi ...
. As would be the case with many of his films, McGillivray makes cameo appearances in both: in ''I’m Not Feeling Myself Tonight'' he is “Man at Party” who pulls Monika Ringwald’s dress off while in ''The Hot Girls'' he was given the job of doing an onscreen interview with Danish actress
Helli Louise Helli Louise Brunchmann Jacobson, often billed as Helli Louise (2 August 1949 – 22 June 2018), was a Danish born actress who appeared in British films and television, including ''The Benny Hill Show'', during the 1970s. Career Jacobson was b ...
, who according to the synopsis in ''
Cinema X ''Cinema X'' was a British film magazine best known for its coverage of sexploitation films. Early issues of the magazine were undated, but it is believed the first issue was published in 1969. The first film to grace the cover of ''Cinema X'' was ...
'' magazine, talks to him about "working on a movie, and telling a few facts of life about screen nudity and enacting lesbian love scenes."


Horror

McGillivray gained attention with his scripts for the
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
s of
Norman J. Warren Norman John Warren (25 June 1942 – 11 March 2021) was an English film director best known for such 1970s horror films as '' Satan's Slave'' (1976), ''Prey'' (1977) and '' Terror'' (1978). Warren is also known for sex comedies such as '' Oute ...
and especially Pete Walker. McGillivray wrote two scripts for Warren ('' Satan's Slave'', '' Terror'') and four for Walker ('' Frightmare'', ''
House of Whipcord ''House of Whipcord'' is a 1974 British exploitation horror film directed and produced by Pete Walker and starring Barbara Markham, Patrick Barr, Ray Brooks, Ann Michelle, Sheila Keith, Dorothy Gordon, Robert Tayman and Penny Irving. Plo ...
'', ''
House of Mortal Sin ''House of Mortal Sin'' (also known as ''The Confessional'' and ''The Confessional Murders'') is a 1976 British horror slasher film directed and produced by Pete Walker. It was scripted by David McGillivray from a story by Walker. Its plot con ...
'', '' Schizo''). The films were not commercially successful and McGillivray's scripts attracted mostly hostile reviews. ''
House of Whipcord ''House of Whipcord'' is a 1974 British exploitation horror film directed and produced by Pete Walker and starring Barbara Markham, Patrick Barr, Ray Brooks, Ann Michelle, Sheila Keith, Dorothy Gordon, Robert Tayman and Penny Irving. Plo ...
'' did receive one or two positive reviews, with ''
Films and Filming ''Films and Filming'' was the longest-running British gay magazine prior to the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.Bengry, Justin"The Queer History of Films and Filming."''Little Joe: A magazine about queers and cinema ...
'' commenting: “Shows that something worthwhile in the entertainment-horror market can be done for the tiny sum of £60,000”. It was memorably dismissed by Russell Davies writing in British newspaper ''The Observer'' as a "feeble fladge fantasy” and described by the ''Evening News'' “as nasty an exploitation of sadism as I can recall in the cinema.” Indeed, McGillivray's background as a critic for ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' and '' Time Out'' hardly excluded his writing efforts from the savage criticism of ex-colleagues. For example, a ''Films Illustrated'' review of ''I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight'' lamented that "It is depressing to see David McGillivray writing scripts like this," while a ''Time Out'' review of ''Satan's Slave'' opens with: “Another absolute stinker from the withered pen of David McGillivray.” In 1975 McGillivray was interviewed for an edition of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
programme '' Man Alive'', dealing with sexploitation films, along with Walker, Bachoo Sen and
Kent Walton Kent Walton (22 August 1917 – 24 August 2003), born Kenneth Walton Beckett, was a British television sports commentator, presenter and actor. He is best remembered as the predominant commentator on ITV's coverage of British professional wrest ...
. However, he later felt that he and his fellow contributors had presented a distorted view of the business, telling ''
Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...
'' magazine in the same year "thrilled to bits that our opinions were held to be important enough for transmission we had all -may we be forgiven- said what the nations moral reformers wanted to hear i.e. that the films we made degraded us and that we were thoroughly miserable that the public didn't want to see anything more uplifting. This is not the case. I have never worked with anyone who found it unpleasant or distasteful to do a job which involved standing in close proximity to naked women.” From 2004 he wrote and produced a series of short horror films, which were not particularly successful either on their own or when joined together as a portmanteau "Worst Fears", in which he also appeared as an actor. "Worst Fears" was shown at the Derby Film Festival in 2017 along with his short film Trouser Bar.


Theatre and comedy

With the abolition of the
Eady levy The Eady Levy was a tax on box-office receipts in the United Kingdom, intended to support the British film industry. It was introduced in 1950 as a voluntary levy as part of the Eady plan, named after Sir Wilfred Eady, a Treasury official. The le ...
tax in the early 1980s spelling the end for
low-budget A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced or ...
British sex comedies and horror films, McGillivray moved into the theatre, co-writing lowbrow farces for his own company. Working in collaboration with Walter Zerlin Jnr, a series of 10 plays focused on ''The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomens Guild Dramatic Society'' spoofed local amateur dramatic productions. The plays are published by
Samuel French Ltd Samuel French, Inc. is an American company, founded by Samuel French and Thomas Hailes Lacy, who formed a partnership to combine their existing interests in London and New York City. It publishes plays, represents authors, and sells scripts fr ...
and continue to be performed in front of astonished audiences. During this period he also met the performer
Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...
, who was then starting as a stand-up comic. McGillivray has continued to this day to write for Clary, but claims that his are the jokes that "don't get laughs". His work has included writing material for Clary when he presented the BBC TV quiz show ''Come and Have A Go...'' in 2005, directing and co-writing Clary's 2009 national UK tour "Lord of the Mince", and directing and co-writing Julian Clary's 2012–14 tour "Position Vacant, Apply Within". As an actor, he appeared with Olegar Fedoro in a new production of the
Russian Futurist Russian Futurism is the broad term for a movement of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's " Manifesto of Futurism," which espoused the rejection of the past, and a celebration of speed, machinery, violenc ...
opera "Victory Over the Sun" presented by the New Factory of the Eccentric Actor at
Pushkin House, London Pushkin House (russian: Пушкинский Дом), established in 1954, is the UK's oldest independent Russian cultural centre, now based in Bloomsbury, London. It was founded by a group of émigré Russian friends, led by Maria Mikhailovna ...
in December 2008. McGillivray financed and produced '' Trouser Bar'', the award-winning 2016 British erotic comedy/fantasy film directed by Kristen Bjorn, photographed by Sam Hardy, edited by Esteban Requejo, and intended for a mainstream audience. Focusing on a single "situation" in a menswear boutique in 1976, the short film has been described as an “erotic fantasy" in the style of a 1970s British sex comedy and does not include hardcore scenes. Released in 2017, the film played film festivals around the world.


Books

In 1992 McGillivray wrote the book ''Doing Rude Things'', which documented the British sex film genre from its
nudist camp A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation (or at least camping space) and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual socia ...
beginnings to its demise in the video-era.
Pamela Green Phyllis Pamela Green (28 March 1929 – 7 May 2010) was an English glamour model and actress, best known at the end of the 1950s and early 1960s. She modeled for Zoltán Glass and his brother Stephen, Horace Roye, Jean Straker, Bill Brandt, ...
wrote the foreword. In it McGillivray admits to a fondness for "the second rate and the downright worthless". A television version of his original ''Doing Rude Things'' book was produced by the BBC in 1995, in which he was interviewed along with the likes of Donovan Winter, and
Pamela Green Phyllis Pamela Green (28 March 1929 – 7 May 2010) was an English glamour model and actress, best known at the end of the 1950s and early 1960s. She modeled for Zoltán Glass and his brother Stephen, Horace Roye, Jean Straker, Bill Brandt, ...
. McGillivray has subsequently appeared in several similar documentaries. He also edited ''Scapegoat'' (1995), a one-shot anti-censorship magazine produced during the second "
video nasty Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that w ...
" furore of the early 1990s. A vastly expanded and updated 25th anniversary edition of this 'seminal history' of the British sex film was published in October 2017 by Wolfbait Books, an imprint of
Korero Press Korero Press is a London-based art book publisher. Its list of books mainly includes pop culture, street art, erotica and horror titles. It has published books by contemporary artists Ron English, Patrick J. Jones and Graham Humphreys. Korero Pr ...
. The new edition is twice as long as the original, with 150 additional film titles added. The launch took place at a central London venue close to the main locations of Michael Powell's notorious 1960 film ''Peeping Tom''. McGillivray has said that the new edition appeared to a "lukewarm response". His autobiography, "Little Did You Know", was published by FAB Press in 2019.


Filmography


References


Sources

* ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books) * ''Doing Rude Things: The History of the British Sex Film'' by David McGillivray (Wolfbait Books, 2017) * ''
Cinema X ''Cinema X'' was a British film magazine best known for its coverage of sexploitation films. Early issues of the magazine were undated, but it is believed the first issue was published in 1969. The first film to grace the cover of ''Cinema X'' was ...
'' magazine, 1975, Vol 6. No 7. "The Hot Girls" * ''Nekrofile: Cinema of the Extreme'' by Alan Jones (contains the 1975 ''Screen International'' quotes), Midnight Media publishing, 1997.


External links

*
Worst Fears website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGillivray, David Living people English film directors English film producers English screenwriters English male screenwriters 1947 births