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Tony Richardson (British Film Makers)

This monograph on Tony Richardson is the first comprehensive study devoted entirely to work of this significant director. Richardson worked in feature films, theatre and television over a period of more than thirty years from the mid 1950s to the early 1990s. He was a key figure in the radical cultural change which took place in the arts in the Britain in the late 1950s referred to by historians as the British New Wave. In particular, his original theatrical production of John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger is widely regarded as the most influential theatrical event of its time. The study reassesses his crucial contribution to the New Wave, which brought a greater realism to British films and drama, as well as foregrounding topical issues such as abortion or race relations.

The study also examines his work in the context of the 1960s, an era of substantial social change in Britain. During this time he was regarded as a key cultural figure, winning the Oscar as Best Director in 1964 for Tom Jones. The study moves on to examine his later neglected films from the 1970s, and his work for television in the 1980s. Richardson’s career is placed against the backdrop of historical change in Britain and the restructuring of the British film industry, and Richardson’s working relationship with a number of other key creative figures is also considered.

The book contributes to key debates which have taken place over the last ten years within the study of British cinema regarding the significance of the New Wave and its impact on British film culture. It also sheds light on a wider debate instigated by historians such Arthur Marwick and taken up by Dominic Sandbrook regarding the nature of the cultural change which took place between 1955 and 1975 in Britain.