Why people fell for #BriefEncounter? This piece in today's Guardian doesn't really offer an answer. But nor could its producer Tony Havelock-Allan, although he spoke more perceptively about the film than anyone else I know: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/brief-e... www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...

It was rather novel for me a few months ago to be asked to talk about a novel – "The French Lieutenant's Woman" by John Fowles, which Anthony Burgess chose as one of the best novels in English since 1939. Here is a link to the podcast. www.anthonyburgess.org/blog-posts/n...

After having some time ago pointed out the resemblance of the “Bond for Bond” book cover to Film Finances’ boardroom cushions, I was sent this picture of a Dr No frock. Really looking forward to the day when the owner turns up at the Film Finances office.

We were very pleased at Film Finances to be able to provide Justin Doherty with a few old documents for his book on "Don't Look Now" – a great example of independent book-making, which was obviously a labour of love. www.theguardian.com/film/gallery...

Chris Sarandon in today's Guardian: “Michael Winner,” he groans. “Don’t get me started." I know what he means! www.theguardian.com/film/2025/se... www.charlesdrazin.com/post/remembe...

It was a pleasure to be able to introduce Zoltàn Korda's "Cry, the Beloved Country" last Saturday during the Budapest Classics Film Marathon. One of the highlights was experiencing a brief moment of infinity in the lobby of the Urania cinema. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/zolt%C3...

I can't believe it's taken me ten years to notice, but Film Finances' boardroom cushions – by some pleasing serendipity – are colour-coded to match the cover of my book on the company's role in the making of "Dr No". Accident beats the algorithm!

#JohnFowles on #TerenceStamp in #TheCollector: "Most girls would give their all to get in a cellar with him."

Horribile dictu! The Grim Reaper is now swinging his scythe through the Swinging Sixties. RIP #TerenceStamp #filmsky

Tales from the slush pile. #Penguin #HamishHamilton www.charlesdrazin.com/post/when-ac...

Nobel prizewinner on the future of AI in today's Guardian: “Assuming we steward it safely and responsibly into the world, ... then we should be in a world of what I sometimes call radical abundance.” Time for some monster laughter.

#Casablanca: where Europe and Hollywood meet. The oldest café in Paris was a good place to talk about it. #filmsky www.charlesdrazin.com/post/casabla...

Working hard to keep the skies blue!

A marvellous sight: swallows at #VauxleVicomte on the longest day. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/vaux-le...

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." What a difference four years makes even in #RichmondPark. The inscription is almost gone and the only thing that hasn't changed is the dead tree (although it has lost a few twigs)!

Today in #London: a muggy afternoon in which a hazy, lethargic sun was only too glad to sink beneath the clouds. Raining now.

Forty-three years ago today, #LindsayAnderson’s #BritanniaHospital received a warm reception at the Cannes Film Festival. But it was a different story when it then opened a few days later in a Britain at war. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/britann... #filmsky

Here is the amazing story of the man who produced #CaryGrant's only British movie, the greatest unsung hero of independent film-making. #filmsky www.charlesdrazin.com/post/cary-gr...

The Netflix documentary #BritainandtheBlitz suffers from comparison with the great wartime documentaries about the Blitz, which it plunders but does not credit. #NetflixUK #filmsky www.charlesdrazin.com/post/faking-...

David Sherwin's book "Going Mad in Hollywood" ends with a quote from Lindsay Anderson: “Only three things are real: God, human folly, and laughter…” I thought of that line early this morning when I discovered who President Trump’s Hollywood adviser was. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/going-m...

A good day to watch #ADiaryforTimothy: "Are you going to have greed for money or power outsting decency from the world, as they have in the past? Or are you going to make the world a different place?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uua... #filmsky

True grit and false grit: why it is best to leave alone a masterpiece. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/brief-e... #filmsky #BriefEncounter

It required a certain kind of courage to re-make #BriefEncounter in 1974. The Sophia Loren/Richard Burton version had very little chance of living up to the original, but none the less it has its own strange fascination. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/brief-e...

The story of how a short film about London burning tried to make the world free. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/london-...

BOTD Lindsay Anderson! (This Sporting Life, If, +) His essay, Stand Up! Stand Up! lauded as "the single most influential piece of British film criticism" More: Malcolm McDowell: www.theguardian.com/film/2004/se... @charlesdrazin.bsky.social: www.theguardian.com/film/2023/ap...

A brief look at the roots of "Brief Encounter", which with its pair of unfashionable, middled-aged lovers continues to defy fashion eighty years on. #filmsky www.charlesdrazin.com/post/brief-e...

All the recent drama about tariffs reminds me of the UK's post-war 75% tax on Hollywood films. When Hollywood boycotted Britain in retaliation, the UK industry then launched a totally unsustainable campaign to promote British films, which only antagonized Hollywood even more. #filmsky

"This is England" was the US title for "The Heart of Britain", a short film about the Nazi Blitz on Britain's provincial cities. Widely shown in the US, it won some much appreciated solidarity in a fight that had to be fought. #filmsky www.charlesdrazin.com/post/only-co...

This is an excellent, fascinating piece. Too good for Wikipedia!

In the heart of Britain last week, at Warwick University, I saw a beautiful film about India, which serendipitously led me to rediscover Humphrey Jennings' wonderful old film "The Heart of Britain". www.charlesdrazin.com/post/only-co...

Colonel Blimp was a symbol of foolishness whom the famous Powell and Pressburger film turned into a Quixotic romantic hero. He reminds me of Major Sassoon, M.C., O.B.E., whom the Archers would no doubt have met at some film premiere. Here is his story. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-lif...

A fascinating interview with the adopted son of George Orwell, who is charmingly modest and self-deprecating, but obviously learned some good lessons from his dad. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

It has been a pleasure to re-read "The French Lieutenant’s Woman". It is a fantastic novel, which has taken me back to the time when I was lucky enough to be able to sit at the desk of its writer – le grand John Fowles! www.charlesdrazin.com/post/john-fo...

I’ve seen Myra Hess in Humphrey Jennings’ films but didn’t know a lot of the story of her life and the concerts. This is a very interesting piece by her biographer @jessicaduchen.bsky.social.

Happy birthday to Film Finances, 75 years old today!

I have Michael Winner to thank for where I am today! He introduced me to the British film industry. Forty years on, it has been fun to look back. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/remembe...

Yesterday I posted a statuette of Lindsay Anderson. Today I thought I should post the whole picture – in honour of Paul Ryan, who got a sculptor friend of his to make the maquette. I imagine him and Lindsay in the afterworld lamenting – and laughing together – at the ever-growing folly of mankind.

The chart of the rocketing post-war crime figures that can be seen on the wall of the inspector's office in "October Man" offer a good context for post-war British "noirs", but I don't think the quoted subtext is actually what most of these films show.

Did you know that Lindsay Anderson once became an Oscar himself?

Can't help but wonder what the film's two producers would have thought: Selznick would probably have applauded the effort to make a few more bucks out of a very old movie, while Korda would have been appalled, but probably amused too, by the lack of taste. Studiocanal, you can do better!!

75th anniversary today of the US opening of "The Third Man" at the Victoria in New York. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-thi...

When their autobiographies were published within weeks of each other in 1994, Marianne Faithfull and her friend, Soho legend Henrietta Moraes, reminisced together about Soho, addiction and excess at the ICA in London. It was a memorable evening. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/mariann...

It's no surprise that Michael Powell's “The Queen's Guards" is little known. A poor film, it was a big misstep in his career, which offers a much more plausible reason than “Peeping Tom” for why he fell out of favour. Contains some excellent marching, though! www.charlesdrazin.com/post/michael...

The Prince Charles - a West End institution - is under threat. Support them, unless you want to see another fucking M&M superstore where this beautiful cinema is. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

@mrjamesob.bsky.social They’re coming for the Prince Charles again you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

Brilliant satirical cover from Private Eye, mocking spineless media organisations and journalists who submit and cower in the face of power 👏

At the National Portrait Gallery, now that the latest Francis Bacon show is over, I imagine they will soon be taking this picture down. A few thoughts on why the portrait it offers of Henrietta Moraes does not do her justice. www.charlesdrazin.com/post/henriet...

Very pleased that Sarah Bloomfield, one of the great characters from the past of the Everyman Cinema in #Hampstead, is now on the website devoted to its history. Back where she belongs! everymancinemahistory.co.uk/sarah-bloomf...