I’ve been making video documentaries to illustrate film studies lectures for a few years now. So far I’ve edited together… Read more A Journey by Tube: How to Make A Documentary
That’s Not The Ticket: Sid Field’s Phantom First Film
Comedian Sid Field (1904-1950) was the king of the West End in the mid-1940s. An entire generation of comics –… Read more That’s Not The Ticket: Sid Field’s Phantom First Film
Hancock’s Lost Hours: Rediscovering the ATV Series
Millions of words have been typed on the life and talent of Tony Hancock, but even in 2022 there are… Read more Hancock’s Lost Hours: Rediscovering the ATV Series
The Pleasure Garden: Hitchcock’s Daring Debut
Alfred Hitchcock was already a film veteran when at just 25 he was offered the chance to direct his first… Read more The Pleasure Garden: Hitchcock’s Daring Debut
Keaton: Comedian of the Future
Buster Keaton was always one of the greatest innovators of screen comedy. From his very first co-directing jobs with Roscoe… Read more Keaton: Comedian of the Future
Chaplin vs Keaton?
The heavyweight battle of the cinematic ages, between two titans of comedy. This rather tiresome debate has been raging for… Read more Chaplin vs Keaton?
Flesh and Blood: The Footprints of the Hound of the Baskervilles
“The more outré and grotesque an incident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined.” Sherlock Holmes “The Hound… Read more Flesh and Blood: The Footprints of the Hound of the Baskervilles
Buster Keaton and the Collapsing Lavatory
Joseph “Buster” Keaton (above, centre as a teenage vaudeville star) is today renowned as a comic actor and director of… Read more Buster Keaton and the Collapsing Lavatory
A Very Fine Exhibition of Clog-Wallopping or How Charlie Chaplin Found His Feet
“The boys roamed the streets for diversion, Syd wearing a pair of shoes as “holey as Gruyere cheese” and a… Read more A Very Fine Exhibition of Clog-Wallopping or How Charlie Chaplin Found His Feet
The Wrong Trousers: Making Laurel and Hardy’s “Liberty”
“Liberty” was released in January 1929 and was the 28th short comedy Laurel and Hardy had made together. It stands… Read more The Wrong Trousers: Making Laurel and Hardy’s “Liberty”
