Tom Priestley, the British film editor whose work assembling the dueling-banjos sequence and hellish “squeal like a pig” attack in John Boorman’s Deliverance landed him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 91.
His death on Christmas Day was only recently revealed.
Priestley also cut two other movies helmed by Boorman: Leo the Last (1970), which won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival, and Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
He also edited The Great Gatsby (1974); Blake Edwards’ The Return of the Pink Panther (1975); That Lucky Touch (1975), starring Roger Moore; Voyage of the Damned (1976), featuring an all-star cast; and Roman Polanski’s Tess (1979).
Priestley was the only son of renowned British novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley, who wrote the classic 1945 drama An Inspector Calls for the theater and served as a BBC Radio broadcaster during the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II.
Upon its release in 1972, Deliverance became the...
His death on Christmas Day was only recently revealed.
Priestley also cut two other movies helmed by Boorman: Leo the Last (1970), which won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival, and Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
He also edited The Great Gatsby (1974); Blake Edwards’ The Return of the Pink Panther (1975); That Lucky Touch (1975), starring Roger Moore; Voyage of the Damned (1976), featuring an all-star cast; and Roman Polanski’s Tess (1979).
Priestley was the only son of renowned British novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley, who wrote the classic 1945 drama An Inspector Calls for the theater and served as a BBC Radio broadcaster during the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II.
Upon its release in 1972, Deliverance became the...
- 2/19/2024
- by Rhett Bartlett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hammer Horror: the name rings so ubiquitously in the realms of cinema, and especially around Halloween. Hearing the name, you’re likely to picture one of a number of the British studio’s releases between the 1950s and early 1970s which boasted decadent set design and an intensity of fear and playfulness. A studio of progressive storytelling compared to other offerings of the time, in Hammer’s horror subdivision could be found Technicolor horror (and its subgenres), often sexually and socially provocative, taking classical source material and turning it on its head. Seen as vulgar to the critics, audiences loved the low-budget thrills of Hammer Horror as a refreshing alternative to Hollywood, with two actors in particular becoming distinct heroes of the cycle, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.But what are the sounds behind the horror? The wonder of movie soundtracks can be put on best display in the horror genre,...
- 10/24/2022
- MUBI
Stars: John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee, Robert Urquhart, Ray Jackson, Ronald Hines, Sean Barrett, Roland Curram, Meredith Edwards, Michael Bates, Maxine Audley, Lionel Jeffries | Written by David Divine, W.P. Lipscomb | Directed by Leslie Norman
While this year’s Dunkirk brought an intensity to the screen conveying the horrors of what was experienced by the soldiers at Dunkirk, there was a version of that same story that was released back in 1958. Now digitally restored and available on DVD and Blu-ray, this Dunkirk is an interesting look at how the true events affected many people.
When Nazi Germany invaded France, the British army found themselves in retreat. Making their way to Dunkirk which was the only means of escape, Operation Dynamo was put into action to get the soldiers out of France and home.
What is interesting about this version of Dunkirk is the fact it is a darker look at...
While this year’s Dunkirk brought an intensity to the screen conveying the horrors of what was experienced by the soldiers at Dunkirk, there was a version of that same story that was released back in 1958. Now digitally restored and available on DVD and Blu-ray, this Dunkirk is an interesting look at how the true events affected many people.
When Nazi Germany invaded France, the British army found themselves in retreat. Making their way to Dunkirk which was the only means of escape, Operation Dynamo was put into action to get the soldiers out of France and home.
What is interesting about this version of Dunkirk is the fact it is a darker look at...
- 9/26/2017
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
So, it's pretty obvious why this film suddenly has currency. It's a fascinatingly different take on the historical events dealt with in Christopher Nolan's current war epic (and also in Leslie Norman's more low-key 50s production). While it's possible to imagine people liking all three films, it seems likely everyone will greatly prefer one or other of them.Henri Verneuil enjoyed a long collaboration with Jean-Paul Belmondo, his star here, some of which exploited the star's fearless enthusiasm for daredevil stunts. Though the actor runs about among huge explosions here, so does everybody else, so that doesn't seem so special, though he does perform a spectacular crash down a flight of stairs. But on the whole, the film's talk seems to be to strip away Belmondo's superhero charisma and make him just one of the guys, hundreds of thousands of them, stranded on a beach and prey to bombs,...
- 8/1/2017
- MUBI
Christopher Nolan is back to his best with this spectacular second world war action epic
“You can practically see it from here… ” Kenneth Branagh’s stoical naval commander is talking about “home”, the word that recurs throughout Christopher Nolan’s long-nurtured epic of wartime retreat. Yet he could equally have been referring to the Imax 70mm presentation in which I saw Dunkirk, and which was also probably visible from France – a jaw-dropping spectacle in which the picture for the most part stretched beyond my field of vision, both vertically and horizontally. “We have a big love for the big format,” says cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, who works agile wonders with the bulky film cameras used to capture such stunning images. Available in a dizzying array of projection formats (digital, 35mm, 70mm etc), Dunkirk hits our screens with aspect ratios ranging from square to oblong and all points in between, depending...
“You can practically see it from here… ” Kenneth Branagh’s stoical naval commander is talking about “home”, the word that recurs throughout Christopher Nolan’s long-nurtured epic of wartime retreat. Yet he could equally have been referring to the Imax 70mm presentation in which I saw Dunkirk, and which was also probably visible from France – a jaw-dropping spectacle in which the picture for the most part stretched beyond my field of vision, both vertically and horizontally. “We have a big love for the big format,” says cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, who works agile wonders with the bulky film cameras used to capture such stunning images. Available in a dizzying array of projection formats (digital, 35mm, 70mm etc), Dunkirk hits our screens with aspect ratios ranging from square to oblong and all points in between, depending...
- 7/23/2017
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Nowadays you can just get a ferry or the Eurostar and be there in a few relatively painless minutes, but had you hoped to cross the Strait of Dover from France to England in May 1940, you’d be in for some real hell. You might very well drown, or be crushed by the hull of a listing ship, or scorched alive by burning oil, or bombed, or shot. Or maybe all of these things at once, or in sequence. Worse still, you’d most likely have to do a lot of standing around and waiting for it beforehand. Back then, whatever side of history you were on, be it Axis or Allied, you’d still want to be on the English side of the Strait of Dover. Truly nobody wanted to cross the other way, from England to France. Yet many brave souls did so anyway, to rescue nearly 340,000 soldiers...
- 7/22/2017
- MUBI
Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” is finally making its way into theaters this weekend, and with it comes one of the few big screen depictions of this pivotal moment in both British and World War II history. Only Leslie Norman’s 1958 war film of the same name has also chronicled the events of Operation Dynamo, in which the British Air Force and Navy embarked on a rescue mission to save thousands of Allied soldiers stranded on Dunkirk beach. But anyone who has seen Joe Wright’s “Atonement” has been to Dunkirk before, courtesy of a jaw-dopping long take that ranks among cinema’s finest.
Read More: ‘Dunkirk’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Monumental War Epic Is The Best Film He’s Ever Made
The showcase scene in Wright’s adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel is a five-minute tracking shot that follows James McAvoy’s wounded British soldier Robbie Turner as he...
Read More: ‘Dunkirk’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Monumental War Epic Is The Best Film He’s Ever Made
The showcase scene in Wright’s adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel is a five-minute tracking shot that follows James McAvoy’s wounded British soldier Robbie Turner as he...
- 7/20/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Author: Cai Ross
With more TV channels then there are bacteria on a lab technician’s wellington boot, and with social media weaponising opinions en masse, these days everyone is a critic. But as far as British TV audiences in the 70s, 80s and 90s were concerned, there was only really one film critic, Barry Norman Cbe, who has sadly passed away this weekend at the age of 83.
Between 1971 and 1998, Norman’s was the positive verdict every studio wanted on their film poster. With a sprightly, conversational style that sounded like audible handwriting, and a dependable selection of comfortable jumpers to hand, Barry Norman was the nation’s film critic: our Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert rolled into one package.
Coming up through the ranks the old fashioned way, Norman ended up at the BBC via early work as a jobbing journalist and a film critic for various national newspapers. He...
With more TV channels then there are bacteria on a lab technician’s wellington boot, and with social media weaponising opinions en masse, these days everyone is a critic. But as far as British TV audiences in the 70s, 80s and 90s were concerned, there was only really one film critic, Barry Norman Cbe, who has sadly passed away this weekend at the age of 83.
Between 1971 and 1998, Norman’s was the positive verdict every studio wanted on their film poster. With a sprightly, conversational style that sounded like audible handwriting, and a dependable selection of comfortable jumpers to hand, Barry Norman was the nation’s film critic: our Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert rolled into one package.
Coming up through the ranks the old fashioned way, Norman ended up at the BBC via early work as a jobbing journalist and a film critic for various national newspapers. He...
- 7/3/2017
- by Cai Ross
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Fans of Christopher Nolan are eagerly waiting to find out what his next film project will be. The last movie he made what the mind-blowing sci-fi space exploration film Interstellar. Now it sounds like he'll be taking on a whole new genre. According to La Voix du Nord (via Nolan Fans), Nolan's next film will be a World War II drama.
The film is said to be inspired by Operation Dynamo, a mission in 1940 where nearly 340,000 Allied troops were rescued after being trapped by the Nazis in Dunkirk, France. There's no confirmation that this will be Nolan's next project, but if it turns out to be true, then I'll be very much looking forward to seeing it!
The film project was described as a “super-production” by Patrice Vergriete, the mayor of Dunkirk, almost two weeks ago, and the initial reports say that Nolan has traveled to Dunkirk several times with his brother,...
The film is said to be inspired by Operation Dynamo, a mission in 1940 where nearly 340,000 Allied troops were rescued after being trapped by the Nazis in Dunkirk, France. There's no confirmation that this will be Nolan's next project, but if it turns out to be true, then I'll be very much looking forward to seeing it!
The film project was described as a “super-production” by Patrice Vergriete, the mayor of Dunkirk, almost two weeks ago, and the initial reports say that Nolan has traveled to Dunkirk several times with his brother,...
- 12/28/2015
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
‘Doctor Who’ actor Bill Kerr, also featured in Peter Weir’s ‘Gallipoli’ and ‘The Year of Living Dangerously,’ dead at 92 (photo: Bill Kerr and Patrick Troughton in ‘Doctor Who’) Australian actor Bill Kerr, best known internationally for a guest spot in the 1960s TV series Doctor Who, and for his supporting roles in the Peter Weir movies Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously, died on August 28 (or 29, according to some sources), 2014, while watching the TV show Seinfeld at his home in Perth, West Australia. Kerr, whose exact cause of death is unclear, was 92. Born William Kerr on June 10, 1922, in Capetown, South Africa, to Australian vaudevillian parents touring the country, Bill Kerr grew up in Australia, where he became a popular television, stage, and film personality. His show business career began at an early age. “My mother took about 10 weeks off to have me, and when she returned to the...
- 8/29/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Interview Simon Brew 30 Sep 2013 - 06:03
With his new book See You In The Morning out now, Simon chats to Barry Norman about his writing, his BBC Film programme, writing and more...
There's a bit in his new book, See You In The Morning, where Barry Norman relates his frustration with movie stars being late for interviews, to the point where George Clooney was once kept waiting because Norman had gone off to the loo, so convinced was he that Clooney wouldn't be on time.
Let us tell you: the man practices what he preaches. Three minutes early, the phone rang, and we started talking to the man that so many of us grew up watching, thanks to his near two-decades of work on the Film programme on BBC One.
Barry Norman was talking to us about his new book, See You In The Morning, where he relates the story...
With his new book See You In The Morning out now, Simon chats to Barry Norman about his writing, his BBC Film programme, writing and more...
There's a bit in his new book, See You In The Morning, where Barry Norman relates his frustration with movie stars being late for interviews, to the point where George Clooney was once kept waiting because Norman had gone off to the loo, so convinced was he that Clooney wouldn't be on time.
Let us tell you: the man practices what he preaches. Three minutes early, the phone rang, and we started talking to the man that so many of us grew up watching, thanks to his near two-decades of work on the Film programme on BBC One.
Barry Norman was talking to us about his new book, See You In The Morning, where he relates the story...
- 9/27/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Cast your mind back to the pre-internet age (admittedly, a tough task) where film-related content was sparse, and finding out about the latest releases and industry news was an altogether frugal and challenging task. Luckily, there was one perennial TV figure who provided a regular means of getting your cinematic fix (providing your parents remembered to hit record on the video, or you caught the repeats on a Saturday morning).
For the better part of three decades, cinema lovers tuned in to watch Barry Norman report on forthcoming features, chat with the Hollywood elite and cast his critical eye over the weekly big-screen releases via the BBC’s revered Film programme. Norman was popular enough to spawn a famous, oft-quoted catchphrase (“and why not?”) and his reviews informed a whole generation of film fans.
We had the enviable opportunity to chat to the legendary figure recently over the phone and...
For the better part of three decades, cinema lovers tuned in to watch Barry Norman report on forthcoming features, chat with the Hollywood elite and cast his critical eye over the weekly big-screen releases via the BBC’s revered Film programme. Norman was popular enough to spawn a famous, oft-quoted catchphrase (“and why not?”) and his reviews informed a whole generation of film fans.
We had the enviable opportunity to chat to the legendary figure recently over the phone and...
- 11/14/2012
- by Adam Lowes
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
We know the greats; movies like Metropolis (1927), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Star Wars (1977).
And there are those films which maybe didn’t achieve cinematic greatness, but through their inexhaustible watchability became genre touchstones, lesser classics but classics nonetheless, like The War of the Worlds (1953), Godzilla (1954), Them! (1954), The Time Machine (1960).
In the realm of science fiction cinema, those are the cream (and below that, maybe the half and half). But sci fi is one of those genres which has often too readily leant itself to – not to torture an analogy — producing nonfat dairy substitute.
During the first, great wave of sci fi movies in the 1950s, the target audience was kids and teens. There wasn’t a lot in the way of “serious” sci fi. Most of it was churned out quick and cheap; drive-in fodder, grist for the Saturday matinee mill.
By the early 1960s,...
And there are those films which maybe didn’t achieve cinematic greatness, but through their inexhaustible watchability became genre touchstones, lesser classics but classics nonetheless, like The War of the Worlds (1953), Godzilla (1954), Them! (1954), The Time Machine (1960).
In the realm of science fiction cinema, those are the cream (and below that, maybe the half and half). But sci fi is one of those genres which has often too readily leant itself to – not to torture an analogy — producing nonfat dairy substitute.
During the first, great wave of sci fi movies in the 1950s, the target audience was kids and teens. There wasn’t a lot in the way of “serious” sci fi. Most of it was churned out quick and cheap; drive-in fodder, grist for the Saturday matinee mill.
By the early 1960s,...
- 3/17/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
John Mills in Richard Attenborough‘s Gandhi John Mills on TCM: I Was Monty’S Double, Ryan’S Daughter, Hobson’S Choice Schedule (Pt) and synopses from the TCM website: 3:00 Am Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) A cold-hearted teacher becomes the school favorite when he’s thawed by a beautiful young woman. Cast: Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Paul Henreid. Dir: Sam Wood. Bw-114 mins. 5:00 Am Hobson’s Choice (1954) A widower father fights to control the lives of his three strong-willed daughters. Cast: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda De Banzie. Dir: David Lean. Bw-108 mins. 7:00 Am Dunkirk (1958) True story of the Allied evacuation of occupied France at the start of World War II. Cast: John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee. Dir: Leslie Norman. Bw-135 mins. 9:30 Am Way to the Stars, The (1945) A young flyer deals with the strains of wartime service and survivors’ guilt during World War II. Cast: Michael Redgrave,...
- 8/22/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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