''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a narrow

arthouse An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily ...

release.

History

''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was edited in the mid-1950s by

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

, in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Peter John Dyer, and then by

Tom Milne Tom Milne (2 April 1926 – 14 December 2005) was a British film critic. See also After war service, he studied English and French at Aberdeen University and later at the Sorbonne. Interested in the theatre too, he wrote for the magazine ' ...

. By the end of the 1960s, when the character and tone of its reviews changed considerably with the arrival of a new generation of critics influenced by the student culture and intellectual tumult of the time (not least the overthrow of old ideas of "taste" and quality), David Wilson was the editor. It was then edited by Jan Dawson (1938Richard Roud (ed) ''Cinema: a Critical Dictionary; The Major Film Makers'', 1980, Secker & Warburg, p. v – 1980), for two years from 1971, and from 1973 until its demise by the New Zealand-born critic Richard Combs. In 1991, ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was merged with ''

'', which had until then been published quarterly - ''Sight & Sound'' then became a monthly publication and took up ''The Monthly Film Bulletins remit to review all films released in the UK. ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was originally published to allow UK cinema managers to decide what films to show, hence the complete cast and production lists, full plot followed by a thorough critique. Only films that had been registered with the UK government trade authority were covered each month. During the years of full supporting programmes, ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' printed long lists of B-features and short films with brief capsule reviews; by the 1970s, the tone and style of its reviews had changed considerably, and was increasingly influenced in some cases by the

auteur theory An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...

and Marxist-influenced film theory, though some more traditional critics such as

John Gillett John Gillett (1925–1995) was a British film critic and researcher whose career at the British Film Institute spanned over 44 years. He was also a programmer for the National Film Theatre on the works of Buster Keaton, early Russian cinema and J ...

remained, and others such as David McGillivray and Paul Taylor took exploitation movies more seriously than had previously been considered acceptable, while Steve Jenkins wrote a lengthy defence in 1981 of ''

Glen or Glenda ''Glen or Glenda'' is a 1953 American exploitation film directed, written by and starring Ed Wood (credited in his starring role as "Daniel Davis"), and featuring Wood's then-girlfriend Dolores Fuller and Bela Lugosi. It was produced by George W ...

''. Another change was that all reviews had a byline - up to September 1968, only the reviews of films considered more significant by the BFI had a partial byline of initials only (so Tom Milne would be "T.M."). From January 1971, all films were listed in alphabetical order, mainly because a new wave of critics who were influencing the magazine had already overturned the assumptions implicit in the separation of films (for example, several by Sergio Leone and many from the stable of

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

were only included in the "shorter notices" section). From the July 1982 issue, ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' changed again to include more feature articles, interviews, and photographs.

Contributors

''The Monthly Film Bulletin''s many contributors included:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monthly Film Bulletin, The 1934 establishments in the United Kingdom 1991 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Film magazines published in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1934 Magazines disestablished in 1991