Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' (1960), a classic of

kitchen sink realism Kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a British cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as "angry young men" w ...

, and the romantic period drama '' The French Lieutenant's Woman'' (1981).

Early life

Reisz was born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia of Jewish extraction.Milne, Tom
"Obituary: Karel Reisz"
''Guardian.co.uk'', 28 November 2002 (Retrieved: 3 July 2009) His father was a lawyer. He was a refugee, one of the 669 rescued by Sir Nicholas Winton. He came to England in 1938, speaking almost no English, but eradicated his foreign accent as quickly as possible. After attending

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having been founded as a Quaker School in 1890. The school's ...

, he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

toward the end of the war; his parents were murdered at

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

. Following his war service, he read Natural Sciences at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican m ...

, and began to write for film journals, including ''

Sight and 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 ...

''. He co-founded ''

Sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called ...

'' with

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for ...

and Gavin Lambert in 1947.

Career

Free Cinema

Reisz was a founder member of the Free Cinema documentary film movement. His standard textbook ''The Technique of Film Editing'' was first published in 1953. His first short film '' Momma Don't Allow'' (1955), co-written and co-directed with Tony Richardson, was included in the first Free Cinema program shown at the National Film Theatre in February 1956. He produced '' Every Day Except Christmas'' (1957) directed by

and ''Band Wagon'' (1958). Reisz and Anderson produced and directed '' March to Aldermaston'' (1959), then Reisz alone directed '' We Are the Lambeth Boys'' (1959), a naturalistic depiction of the members of a South London boys' club, unusual in showing the leisure life of working-class teenagers as it was, with

skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United Stat ...

music and cigarettes,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

, drawing and discussion groups. The film represented Britain at the Venice Film Festival. (The BBC made two follow-up films about the same people and youth club, broadcast in 1985.) He produced '' I Want to Go to School'' (1959) directed by John Krish.

Early features

His first feature film '' Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' (1960) was based on the social-realism novel by

Alan Sillitoe Alan Sillitoe FRSL (4 March 192825 April 2010) was an English writer and one of the so-called "angry young men" of the 1950s. He disliked the label, as did most of the other writers to whom it was applied. He is best known for his debut novel ' ...

, and used many of the same techniques as his earlier documentaries. In particular, scenes filmed at the

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

factory in Nottingham have the look of a documentary, and give the story a vivid sense of verisimilitude. The film won the Grand Award for Best Feature Film at the 1961 Mar del Plata International Film Festival. It was successful at the box office and made a film star of

Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960 ...

. Reisz directed a TV series ''Adventure Story'' (1961). He produced Anderson's feature directorial debut '' This Sporting Life'' (1963), then he and Finney reunited on '' Night Must Fall'' (1964). Reisz directed '' Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'' (1966) adapted by David Mercer from his 1962 television play. His fourth feature as director was ''

Isadora Isidora or Isadora is a female given name of Greek origin, derived from Ἰσίδωρος, ''Isídōros'' (a compound of Ἶσις, ''Ísis'', and δῶρον, ''dōron'': "gift of he goddessIsis"). The male equivalent is Isidore. The name surviv ...

'' (1968), a biography of dancer Isadora Duncan, with a screenplay by

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of '' The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documen ...

that starred

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...

Hollywood

Reisz's first film shot in America was '' The Gambler'' (1974) with James Caan. He did '' Who'll Stop the Rain'' (1978) with Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld. He was meant to follow it with an adaptation of Brian Moore's novel ''The Doctor's Wife'' based on a script by Joe Eszterhas, but the film was never made. Back in London, he directed '' The French Lieutenant's Woman'' (1981), which was probably the most successful of his later films. Adapted from the John Fowles novel by

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

, it starred Jeremy Irons and

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

. In 1982 he directed John Guare's ''Gardenia Dreams'' on stage in Boston. He did '' Sweet Dreams'' (1985), based on the life of country singer Patsy Cline, starring Jessica Lange. After it he did a script about

Libby Holman Elizabeth Lloyd Holman (née Holzman; May 23, 1904 – June 18, 1971) was an American socialite, actress, singer, and activist. Early life Elizabeth Lloyd Holzman was born May 23, 1904, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of a lawyer and stockbrok ...

for Ray Stark but it was never made.

Later career

Reisz's last feature was '' Everybody Wins'' (1990), with a screenplay by

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

and based on his play. From 1991 to 2001, Reisz focused on theatre directing in London, Dublin and Paris. He directed an adaptation of '' The Deep Blue Sea'' (1994) for British TV. In 1995, he directed ''Moonlight'' by

with Jason Robards and Blythe Danner. At a Beckett festival at Lincoln Center in 1996, he directed ''Happy Days''. In 1999, he did Pinter's ''Ashes to Ashes,'' with Lindsay Duncan and David Strathairn at the Roundabout Theater Company. At the Pinter Festival at Lincoln Center in 2001, he staged ''A Kind of Alaska'' and ''Landscape.'' When the Gate Theater filmed all Beckett's stage plays, Reisz did ''Act Without Words I'' (2001).

Personal life

Reisz had three sons by his first wife Julia Coppard, whom he later divorced.Vallance, Tom
"Karel Reisz: Director of 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'"
''Independent.co.uk'', 28 November 2002 (Retrieved: 18 March 2009) Reisz wed Betsy Blair, former wife of

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

, in 1963 and remained married until his death.

Filmography

Films

* '' Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' (1960) * '' Night Must Fall'' (1964) * '' Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'' (1966) * ''

'' (1968) * '' The Gambler'' (1974) * '' Who'll Stop the Rain'' (1978) * '' The French Lieutenant's Woman'' (1981) * '' Sweet Dreams'' (1985) * '' Everybody Wins'' (1990)

Short films

* ''Momma Don't Allow'' 1955 (documentary) * ''Every Day But Christmas'' 1957 (documentary about Covent Garden Market) * ''We Are the Lambeth Boys'' 1958 (documentary) * ''March to Aldermaston'' 1959 (documentary) about the first of the

Aldermaston Marches The Aldermaston marches were anti- nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1950s and 1960s, taking place on Easter weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, England, and London, over a distance of fifty- ...

Television

* ''Adventure Story'' (1961) (6 episodes) * ''Performance'' (TV series) (1 episode) (1994)

Book

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reisz, Karel 1926 births 2002 deaths Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge BAFTA winners (people) Czech people of Jewish descent Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom Kindertransport refugees English film directors English film producers English-language film directors English people of Czech-Jewish descent People educated at Leighton Park School Film people from Ostrava Social realism 20th-century English businesspeople