Overview

British cinema has been in the shadow of Hollywood for over a hundred years, constantly attempting to define itself in an effort to challenge its dominance. During the 1920s, a small group of intellectuals argued that injecting a level of 'art' into the medium was the way to do this, a view strongly opposed by the industry's commercial forces. Using the experiences of Adrian Brunel, Josephine Botting demonstrates how this clash affected the careers of filmmakers attempting to prove their theory. Brunel was cultured yet financially insecure, caught between the creative Bohemianism of 1920s London and a conventional, conservative film industry. Tracing the ups and downs of Brunel's biography with detailed reference to his personal papers, Adrian Brunel and British Cinema of the 1920s exposes the various forces controlling the production, distribution and exhibition of films in Britain as Brunel tried to negotiate them and find a niche in the insecure and competitive arena of British film.

Full Product Details

9781399501354

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""A welcome addition to the growing scholarship on late silent British cinema. Josephine Botting's meticulous archival research and expert synthesis of sources does full justice to Adrian Brunel's career. Botting challenges received wisdoms about this period of British cinema and demonstrates how Brunel navigated a shifting industrial and economic landscape."" -James Chapman, University of Leicester"

""A welcome addition to the growing scholarship on late silent British cinema. Josephine Botting's meticulous archival research and expert synthesis of sources does full justice to Adrian Brunel's career. Botting challenges received wisdoms about this period of British cinema and demonstrates how Brunel navigated a shifting industrial and economic landscape."" -James Chapman, University of Leicester

Author Information

Josephine Botting is a Curator at the BFI National Archive.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available