Websites and Bibliography

This is just a very brief list of books and websites, but it would be a good place to start.

Useful Weblinks:

www.imdb.com – invaluable help to track down all films and directors.
www.wikiedia.org – useful site for general knowledge and history of British film
www.wjec.co.uk/film – find out what the exam board says!
www.bfi.co.uk – a fantastic site for British Film
www.britishfilm.org.uk – a great site for the history of British Cinema
www.britfilms.com – practical help for British filmmakers
www.bbfc.co.uk – The British Board of Film Classification
www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk – the Government agency for film in the UK
www.bafta.org – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
www.britmovie.co.uk – dedicated to classic British cinema
www.britishpathe.com – archive of British news reels – news, entertainment, social history and sport.

Bibliography

General:

The Cinema Book (BFI Film Classics) edited by Cook & Bernink. This has some excellent information on Ealing and Hammer studios and British auteurs.
The British Cinema Book (BFI Film Classics) – by Robert Murphy
The Graham Greene Film Reader – Ed. David Parkinson

Issues:

Typical Men: The Representation of Masculinity in Popular British Cinema (Cinema and Society) – Andrew Spicer
Women in British cinema: mad, bad, and dangerous to know – Sue Harper
The British Working Class in Postwar Films – Philip Gillett
British Horror Cinema – Steve Chibnall
This Is England: British Film and the People’s War, 1939-1945 – Neil Rattigan

Biography/Autobiography

There are so many biographies and autobiographies to look at. These can be very useful to see the history, themes and production of British films from a particular perspective. Some ones I have found enjoyable and interesting:

Charmed Lives – Michael Korda (the brother of Producer Alexander Korda)
Olivier – Anthony Holden
Vivien Leigh – Anne Edwards
The Moon’s A Balloon – David Niven
In Search of The Third Man- Charles Drazin
More or Less – Kenneth More

Miss Hurdley