Joseph Losey at the bfi
Dirk Bogarde, James Fox in The Servant (top); The Damned (bottom)
"Among the greatest things that happened to British cinema were the arrival on our shores of the Korda brothers in the 30s, Losey in the 50s and Kubrick in the 60s," reads the introduction to an upcoming Joseph Losey series, which runs June 1-July 23 at the bfi Southbank in London.
The Wisconsin-born (on Jan. 14, 1909) Ivy Leage-educated Losey became a political refugee following the post-World War II anti-Red hysteria. He fled to Britain where he would remain for the next three decades until his death in 1984.
The most curious thing about the bfi series is an omission: The Go-Between (1971), a scathing attack on social mores and class division that is one of the best movies of the ’70s.
Among the titles listed below, of the few I’ve seen the best are The Servant (1963, above, top photo), starring Dirk Bogarde in the title role and James Fox as his nominal master, and Time Without Pity (1957), which tackles the issue of capital punishment. Though not a great film, Time Without Pity is dramatically cohesive and boasts a top-notch cast, including Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, Peter Cushing, Alec McCowen, and, best of all, Leo McKern.
The series also includes The Boy with Green Hair (1948), with Dean Stockwell; The Prowler (1951), with Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes; Stranger on the Prowl (1952), with Paul Muni and Joan Lorring; The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958), with Melina Mercouri and Keith Michell; Eve (1962), with Jeanne Moreau and Stanley Baker; The Damned (1963, above, lower photo), with Macdonald Carey and Viveca Lindfors; and the Dirk Bogarde vehicles The Sleeping Tiger (1954) and Accident (1967).
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Tags: bfi, British Film Institute, Classic Movies, Dirk Bogarde, Joseph Losey, London Screenings, The Damned, The Servant
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