Derek Elliston Michael Malcolm (born 12 May 1932) is an English film critic. Son of J. Douglas Malcolm (died 1967) and Dorothy Vera (died 1964; née Elliston-Taylor), Malcolm was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. As a child he expressed an interest in film, often going to the newsreel cinema on Victoria station. He worked for several decades as a film critic for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', having previously been an amateur

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

and the paper's first

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

correspondent. In 1977, he was a member of the jury at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival. In the mid-1980s he was host of ''The Film Club'' on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, which was dedicated to art house films, and was director of the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...

for several years. After leaving ''The Guardian'' in 2000, he published his final series of articles, ''The Century of Films'', in which he discusses films he admires from his favourite directors from around the world. He became chief film critic for the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', before being replaced in 2009 by novelist

Andrew O'Hagan Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. Three of his novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize and he has won several awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award. His most recent novel is ''Mayf ...

. He still contributes film reviews for the newspaper, but it emerged in July 2013 that his contribution to the title was to be reduced further. In 2008 he was a member of the jury at the 30th Moscow International Film Festival. Malcolm is president of the British Federation of Film Societies and the International Film Critics' Circle. In 2003 he published an autobiographical book, ''Family Secrets'', which recounts how in 1917 his father shot his mother's lover dead, but was found not guilty of murder. Malcolm has been married to the journalist and author Sarah Gristwood since 1994.

References

1932 births Living people Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British Film Institute English film critics English male journalists English sportswriters Film festival directors People educated at Eton College The Guardian journalists {{UK-film-bio-stub