By Thomas Gladysz
San Francisco Silent Film Examiner
If you love silent film, then certainly you must be aware of the work of Kevin Brownlow. The British-born film historian, filmmaker, author, archivist and presenter is legend.
In 2007, in recognition of his many accomplishments, the San Francisco International Film Festival gave Brownlow their Mel Novikoff Award (named after the pioneering San Francisco film exhibitor). The award is bestowed annually on an individual or institution whose work has enhanced the public’s knowledge and appreciation of world cinema.
Someday, Brownlow should be given an honorary Oscar for all that he has done. Do they give them in the field of film history? And if not, why not?
What has Brownlow done? What hasn’t he done?
Besides serving on the advisory committee of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Brownlow is one of the few to have interviewed the Nobel Prize winning and rather reticent dramatist Samuel Beckett (author of Waiting for Godot). Brownlow met with Beckett at the time the film historian was preparing his documentary on the silent film star Buster Keaton, who late in his career appeared in Beckett’s Film.
Brownlow is also the author some ten books, including such groundbreaking works as The Parade's Gone By (1968) and Behind the Mask of Innocence (1990). Both are in print through the University of California Press. Though not an academic, Brownlow is a true scholar.
Brownlow is also a filmmaker. Lately, his early “indie” films It Happened Here (1966) and Winstanley (1975) have enjoyed renewed attention. And each has been issued on DVD by Milestone. But what Brownlow may be best known for are his documentaries. What serious film buff has not seen Hollywood, his 13-part history of the silent era first screened in Britain in 1979. (It was shown in the United States on PBS in 1980.) In the sheer scope of its accomplishment, it is unmatched.
Hollywood was followed by Unknown Chaplin (1983), Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987), Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius (1989), the multi-part Cinema Europe (1995), Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000), and other works. And don’t forget the more recent Garbo (2005), or even the earlier Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite (1968). Of course, it was Brownlow who has labored for decades - and is still laboring - on the restoration of Gance’s Napoleon.
All is prelude in this article to the announcement that Brownlow's production company, Photoplay Productions, has recently launched a website at www.photoplay.co.uk. And what’s more, the company is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Photoplay Productions, which Brownlow now runs with Patrick Stanbury, is the "public face" of his many projects - his books, films, archive, events and continuing work in the field of silent film. It’s a website well worth visiting.
For more info: Learn more about Kevin Brownlow by visiting his Wikipedia page. Or, visit Photoplay Production at http://www.photoplay.co.uk/
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