Leslie Halliwell
Leslie Halliwell | |
---|---|
Born | Robert James Leslie Halliwell 23 February 1929 |
Died | 21 January 1989 | (aged 59)
Occupation(s) | Film critic, encyclopaedist |
Years active | 1952−1987 |
Robert James Leslie Halliwell
Halliwell's promotion of the cinema through his books and seasons of "golden oldies'"on
Early life
Born in
The Rex Cinema, Cambridge
Television career
After leaving The Rex, Halliwell joined the
Halliwell was given responsibility for buying TV shows and in 1968 became the chief film buyer for the
In 1982, at the invitation of Jeremy Isaacs, he became buyer and scheduler of US films for Channel 4. In keeping with the channel's intention to appeal to specialist audiences, Halliwell focused primarily on films from the 1930s and '40s. Over the next few years, the channel showed hundreds of vintage movies in seasons, with many titles introduced by filmmakers such as Samuel Goldwyn Jnr, Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Isaacs later wrote that Halliwell had made an "unsurpassed contribution" to the channel's success.[15] The British Film Institute gave Halliwell an award in 1985 'for the selection and acquisition of films with a view to creative scheduling.'[4] Author and film historian Jeffrey Richards wrote:
For lovers of the golden age of the cinema like myself, Channel 4 became a source of unalloyed delight as time and again one encountered films one had only ever read about and never expected to see.[16]
During this period, Halliwell also presented two television series celebrating the British wartime documentary movement: Home Front, for Granada in 1982 and The British at War for Channel 4 two years later. Both featured Ministry of Information productions such as Listen to Britain, Desert Victory and The True Glory.[17]
Encyclopaedias
The Filmgoer's Companion
First published in 1965,
There is a well-developed consensus among film scribes that Leslie Halliwell's The Filmgoer's Companion is the single most valuable reference book on film."[20]
Others were less enthusiastic, criticising Halliwell's subjectivity and occasionally reactionary opinions on the films included, as well as the bias towards older films. Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote in 1979 that "the referrer needs an iron will to look up only one fact,"[21] in reference to the perceived density of the book.
Halliwell's Film Guide
First published in 1977 and regularly updated,[citation needed] Halliwell's Film Guide originally incorporated capsule reviews and information on over 8,000 English-speaking titles. He used a four-star rating system similar in appearance to the system used by Steven Scheuer and (with slight modification) Leonard Maltin.[citation needed] However, in Halliwell's system even a one-star rating was a definite recommendation.[citation needed] Poor or mediocre films which other critics would rate one or two stars were equally missable to him, so they received no star.[citation needed] By the time of Halliwell's death in 1989, the Film Guide had doubled in size. He acknowledged his predecessors in the introduction to the first edition,
I salute especially the work of Leonard Maltin, James Robert Parish, Denis Gifford, Douglas Eames and the unsung anonymous heroes who compiled the reviews of the BFI's Monthly Film Bulletin during the fifties and sixties.[22]
This second work also came in for as much criticism as it did praise. Halliwell came under fire from journalists and critics for the brevity of his assessments, and his dismissive stance on more modern films.[
Halliwell's Television Companion
Halliwell's third encyclopaedic work began life as the Teleguide in 1979. Disappointed with the first edition, he joined with
Retirement and death
Halliwell retired from the television industry in 1986 but continued to edit his film guides.[25] He wrote a regular TV article for the Daily Mail beginning in 1987, and published a number of historical and critical works about the cinema. He also published three volumes of ghost stories inspired by M. R. James.[26][27]
Halliwell died of
Halliwell's favourite films
This list of Leslie Halliwell's favourite films was originally published in the fifth edition of the Film Guide.[29]
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- Trouble in Paradise (1932)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- Le Million (1931)
- A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
- Lost Horizon (1937)
- Sons of the Desert (1933)
- The Philadelphia Story (1940)
- The Maltese Falcon (1941)
- The Lady Vanishes(1938)
Biography
A biography, Halliwell's Horizon, written by Michael Binder, was published in 2011.[30]
Books authored
- 1965 – The Filmgoer's Companion. – ISBN 0-00-255798-3(editions 1–9 by Halliwell)
- 1973 – The Filmgoer's Book of Quotes. – ISBN 0-583-12889-0
- 1975 – The Clapperboard Book of the Cinema. – with Graham Murray, ISBN 0-246-10814-2
- 1976 – Mountain of Dreams: the Golden Years of Paramount. – ISBN 0-246-10825-8
- 1977 – Halliwell's Movie Quiz. – ISBN 0-905018-42-7
- 1977 – Halliwell's Film Guide. – ISBN 0-00-714412-1(editions 1–7 by Halliwell)
- 1979 – Halliwell's Television Companion. – ISBN 0-586-08379-0
- 1982 – Halliwell's Hundred. – ISBN 0-246-11330-8
- 1984 – The Ghost of Sherlock Holmes: Seventeen Supernatural Stories. – ISBN 0-586-05995-4
- 1985 – Seats in All Parts: Half a Lifetime at the Movies. – ISBN 0-246-12478-4
- 1986 – Halliwell's Harvest. – ISBN 0-684-18518-0
- 1986 – The Dead that Walk. – ISBN 0-8044-2300-8
- 1987 – A Demon Close Behind. – ISBN 0-7090-2932-2
- 1987 – Double Take and Fade Away. – ISBN 0-246-12835-6
- 1987 – Return to Shangri-La. – ISBN 0-586-07081-8
- 1988 – A Demon on the Stair. – ISBN 0-7090-3181-5
References
- ^ Halliwell's birth certificate: Apr/May/Jun 1929, Bolton, Vol 8c, Page 480
- ^ See the following book reviews: Anthony Quinton in The Times Literary Supplement, 25 November 1977; Charles Champlin in The Los Angeles Times, 4 May 1979; Benny Green in The Spectator, 11/1977; John Russell Taylor in The Times Educational Supplement, 2 June 1978; David Bartholomew in Library Journal Book Review, 1979; Variety, 23 December 1987.quoted in Halliwell's Horizon, Michael Binder, p.195
- ^ The Guardian, 6 December 1988 and 30 May 1997.
- ^ a b Broadcast magazine, 28 June 1985.
- ^ Bolton Evening News, 26 March 1990.
- ^ See Halliwell's memoir, Seats in all Parts.
- ^ Cambridge Evening News, 31 January 1983.
- ^ Sight & Sound, summer 1955; Daily Express, 22 March 1955; Cambridge Daily News, 12 April 1955.
- ^ The Boltonian (Bolton School's magazine), July 1957.
- ^ The Boltonian, March 1959.
- ^ Marriage certificate: Jul/Aug/Sep 1959, Vol 5g, Page 984, Surrey N.
- ^ See TV Times, July 1964 for the launch of the show. See Television Mail, 4 December 1964 and any subsequent edition for the viewing figures.
- ^ See The Observer, 22 March 1987 and Films & Filming, January 1987
- ^ See The Sunday Times Magazine, 1 October 1978 and Broadcast magazine, 8 March 1976; Sunday Times, 13 February 1983; Broadcast, 21 February 1983; Broadcast, 2 February 1981 and The Observer, 13 March 1988; Daily Express, 23 October 1982; The Observer, 22 March 1987 and The Listener, 5 February 1987.
- ^ Book Storm Over 4: A Personal Account by Jeremy Isaacs. Halliwell had regular columns in the TV Times and See 4 magazines in 1984-85, in which he publicised upcoming films and responded to reader questions and requests.
- ^ Daily Telegraph, 23 January 1989.
- ^ The British at War is advertised in The Times TV Section, 25 October 1984.
- ^ Sunday Times, 30 July 1989.
- ^ Looks Familiar, Thames Television, 2 January 1974.
- ^ Chicago Tribune, 18 May 1975.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, 4 May 1979.
- ISBN 0-246-10982-3.
- ^ The Spectator, 24 February 1978.
- ^ Emerson, Jim (2 March 1990). "Rating 6 recently published guides to movies on video". Chicago Tribune. pp. 74–75 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Screen International, 15 June 1986.
- ^ 'Halliwell's Screen Choice' in the Saturday edition of the Daily Mail, 14 March 1987-10/10/1987.
- ^ See bibliography.
- ^ Death certificate: Jan/Feb/Mar 1989, Vol 17, Page 295, Reg no. 189, Surrey Northern.
- ^ Top Tens. – LeslieHalliwell.com
- ^ Halliwell's Horizon