Kevin Brownlow (born Robert Kevin Brownlow; 2 June 1938) is a British

film historian The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art, visual art form created using history of film technology, film technologies that began in the late 19th century. The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. Th ...

, television documentary-maker, filmmaker, author, and film editor. He is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era, having become interested in

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent documenting and restoring film. Brownlow has rescued many silent films and their history. His initiative in interviewing many largely forgotten, elderly film pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s preserved a legacy of early mass-entertainment cinema. He received an

Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Mot ...

at the 2nd Annual Governors Awards given by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

on 13 November 2010. This was the first occasion on which an Academy Honorary Award was given to a film preservationist.

Early life

Brownlow was born in

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest and the highest town in the High Weald AONB, High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is located south-west of Royal Tunbridge ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, the only child of Thomas Brownlow, an Irish commercial artist making film posters for

The Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertical integration, ve ...

and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, and his wife Ninya (née Fortnum), also an artist, who was the daughter of a Governor of Trinidad and Tobago. He grew up in

Finchley Road Finchley Road is a designated arterial road in north-west London, England. The Finchley Road starts in St John's Wood near central London as part of the A41 road, A41; its southern half is a major dual carriageway with high traffic levels oft ...

, north London. His first exposure to films came at prep school, where films rented from Wallace Heaton were screened. He attended Haileybury, where his contemporaries included John Howard Davies. He was rejected from

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

owing to short-sightedness. He began collecting silent films at the age of 11, and aged 15, he began apprenticing in the British film industry: he began as an office boy, and within five days was assigned as a trainee assistant editor, becoming an editor in 1958, working on a string of documentaries. Writing fan letters to silent film directors, he began to strike up a correspondence with figures from silent-era cinema.

''It Happened Here'' and ''Winstanley''

Brownlow's interest in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

prompted the creation of his alternative-history film '' It Happened Here'', premised upon the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

having conquered Britain. Brownlow began work on the film at the age of 18 and soon began to collaborate with a 16-year-old friend, Andrew Mollo. After eight years of struggle, during which the film's content changed dramatically, it was completed in 1964 with the last-minute aid of

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and play ...

.Robinson, David (1968). "Introduction", pp. 11–20. In Kevin Brownlow, ''How It Happened Here''. London & Japan: UKA Press 2007, . The film was widely seen in the UK at film festivals, and it was picked up for major distribution by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

(UA). There were negative reactions in the media to parts of the film, complaints from some Jewish groups, and in October 1965, UA's American president,

Arthur B. Krim Arthur Brian Krim (April 4, 1910 – September 21, 1994) was an American entertainment lawyer, the former finance chairman for the U.S. Democratic Party, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson and the former chairman of Eagle-Lion Films (1945� ...

, said the film would not see theatrical release unless the offending parts were cut out. Brownlow and Mollo tried to persuade UA to run the film complete, but they were outmanoeuvred. The film finally began its theatrical run in May 1966, minus the disputed scenes. It was seen in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, and was reviewed positively. After the run, UA reported to Brownlow and Mollo that all of the box-office receipts had been used to pay the advertising and distribution costs. The two filmmakers did not make any money from the film. In 1968, Brownlow published a book, ''How It Happened Here'', which described the making of the film, and the reception it received. Not only does it explain how two teenage boys made a feature film: it also explores the provocative

social issues A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's control. Soc ...

raised by the film. Brownlow had allowed genuine British Fascists to play themselves in the film, which angered some Jewish organizations. The book contained almost 100 pictures, mostly stills from the film and an introduction by film critic and author David Robinson. A new edition was published by UKA Press in 2007. After this, Mollo and Brownlow began another project, '' Winstanley'', about

Gerrard Winstanley Gerrard Winstanley (baptised 19 October 1609 – 10 September 1676) was an English Protestant religious reformer, political philosopher, and activist during the period of the Commonwealth of England. Winstanley was the leader and one of the fo ...

and the

Diggers The Diggers were a group of religious and political dissidents in England, associated with a political ideology and programme resembling what would later be called agrarian socialism.; ; ; Gerrard Winstanley and William Everard (Digger), Will ...

' commune following the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. The duo spent several years trying to gain support and following a long and difficult shoot, the film was released in 1975. In 2009, UKA Press published ''Winstanley: Warts and All'', a making-of book. Brownlow had written it shortly after completing work on the film, but the manuscript sat on the shelf for 34 years before being published.

Cinema history and preservation

Brownlow's first book on silent film, ''The Parade's Gone By...'', was published in 1968. The book features many interviews with the leading actors and directors of the silent era, and began his career as a film historian. He spent twenty years gaining support for the restoration of

Abel Gance Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director, producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J'ac ...

's French epic, '' Napoléon'' (1927), a then-mutilated film that used many novel cinematic techniques. Brownlow's championing of the film succeeded, and the restored version, with a new score by

Carl Davis Carl Davis (October 28, 1936 – August 3, 2023) was an American-born British conductor and composer. He wrote music for more than 100 television programmes, notably the landmark ITV series '' The World at War'' (1973) and BBC's '' Pride and P ...

, was shown in London in 1980, and again in London in 2013 with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Gance lived to see the acclaim for his restored film. The San Francisco Silent Film Festival presented the complete 2000 restoration of the film, with Davis conducting his score, at the Paramount Theatre Oakland in March 2012. Brownlow also began a collaboration with David Gill, with whom he produced several documentaries on the

silent era A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. The first was ''

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

'' (1980), a 13-part history of the silent era in Hollywood, produced by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

. This was followed by '' Unknown Chaplin'' (1983) (

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

), '' Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow'' (1987) (

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

), ''Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius'' (1989) (

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

) and '' Cinema Europe: the Other Hollywood'' (1995), among others. They also restored and released many classic silent films through the Thames Silents series (later via Photoplay Productions) in the 1980s and 1990s, generally with new musical scores by

. ''The Search for Charlie Chaplin'' (2005; new version: 2010, UKA Press), a making-of book for '' Unknown Chaplin'', was published in 2010. Since Gill died in 1997, Brownlow has continued to produce documentaries and conduct

film restoration Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the wid ...

with Patrick Stanbury. These include '' Lon Chaney, A Thousand Faces'' (2000), '' Garbo'', a documentary produced for Turner Classic Movies to mark the centenary of actress

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

's birth, and ''I Am

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' (2005) about filmmaker

Merian C. Cooper Merian Caldwell Cooper (October 24, 1893 – April 21, 1973) was an American filmmaker, actor, producer and air officer. In film, his most famous work was the 1933 movie ''King Kong (1933 film), King Kong'', and he is credited as co-inventor of ...

. In August 2010, Brownlow received an

Honorary Academy Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienc ...

for his role in film and cinema history preservation. On 13 November 2016, Brownlow was featured in an episode of '' The Film Programme'' entitled "Napoleon and I", dedicated to

's 1927 film '' Napoléon'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. It tells how Brownlow has spent 50 years of his life piecing together the lost sequences into the latest restoration of the silent movie and about his meeting the dapper Gance when still a schoolboy. On 9 August 2018, Brownlow again featured on ''The Film Programme'', in which he discussed the making of and initial responses to ''It Happened Here''. In April 2019, Brownlow was honored at the Turner Classic Movie Festival in

at a screening of ''It Happened Here'' at

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, also known as Egyptian Hollywood and the Egyptian, is a historic movie theater located on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace ...

.TCM Festival website, festival program

Personal life

Brownlow is married to Virginia Keane, the daughter of Molly Keane.

Filmography

Directorial credits

Feature films

*'' It Happened Here'' (1964, co-director, co-writer, cinematographer, editor) *'' Winstanley'' (1975, co-director, co-producer, co-writer)

Cinema documentaries

*''The World of Josef Von Sternberg'' (Episode of BBC TV series ''The Movies'', aired 16 January 1967) *''Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite'' (1968) *'' Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film'' (TV series, 13 episodes, 1980) *'' Unknown Chaplin'' (TV series, 3 episodes, 1983) *'' Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow'' (TV series, 3 episodes, 1987) *''Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius'' (TV series, 2 episodes, 1989) *''D. W. Griffith: Father of Film'' (TV series, 3 episodes, 1993) *'' Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood'' (TV series, 6 episodes, 1996) *''Universal Horror'' (1998) *''Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces'' (2000) *''The Tramp and the Dictator'' (2002) *''Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic'' (TV series, 2 episodes, 2004) *''So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM'' (2004) *''Garbo'' (2005) *''I'm King Kong!: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper'' (2005)

Editing credits

Shorts

*''Band Wagon'' (1958, short) *''Ascot, a Race Against Time'' (1961, documentary short) *''Eye Doctor on Safari'' (1962, short) *'' I Think They Call Him John'' (1964, documentary short) *''Turkey the Bridge'' (1966, short) *'' The White Bus'' (1967, short)

Feature films

*'' The Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1968)

Bibliography

*''How It Happened Here''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1968; new edition: London & Japan: UKA Press, 2007. *''The Parade's Gone By ...''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1968. *''The War, the West and the Wilderness''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1979. *''Hollywood, the Pioneers''. London: Collins, 1979. *''Napoleon: Abel Gance's Classic Film''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1983. *''Behind the Mask of Innocence''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1990. *''David Lean''. London: Richard Cohen, 1996. *''Mary Pickford Rediscovered. Rare pictures of a Hollywood legend''. New York: Abrams, 1999. *''The Search for Charlie Chaplin''. Le Mani – Microart (Cineteca Bologna) 2005; New edition: UKA Press 2010, *''Winstanley. Warts and All''. London & Yorkshire: UKA Press, 2009. * "Interview with Director Dorothy Arzner" in ''Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema''. London: Aurora Metro Books, 2016.

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. A different ISBN is assigned to e ...

978-0956632999

References

External links

* *
''A Tribute to Kevin Brownlow''
by various friends and peers, May 2015, archived at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

6 September 2015
Mel Novikoff Award article
by Dennis Doros of Milestone Films, 2007, archived at the

5 October 2013
''History Repeating''
by Elliott Stein in the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

, 1999
''Between the Map and the Painted Landscape: Kevin Brownlow's Historical Films''
by John C. Tibbetts, 2005, including January 1999 interview Interviews and articles by Brownlow

by Brownlow in ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...

'', 1980, archived at the

9 November 2011
''Brownlow on Beckett (on Keaton)''
by Brownlow i

magazine, 1995
''Silents Please''
by Brownlow in the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

, 24 March 2007; archived at the

15 June 2011
''Kevin Brownlow: Introduction to Silents''
lecture note for the 2007

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

September 2008 interview
+ Part

a
Ann Harding's Treasures
blog
March 2009 interview
at Killruddery Film Festival
October 2016 interview
by

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 ...

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlow, Kevin 1938 births Living people Academy Honorary Award recipients BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award English documentary filmmakers English historians British film historians Film theorists German-language film directors Peabody Award winners People from Crowborough

Early life

''It Happened Here'' and ''Winstanley''

Cinema history and preservation

Personal life

Filmography

Directorial credits

Feature films

Cinema documentaries

Other documentaries

Editing credits

Shorts

Feature films

Bibliography

References

External links