Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

Chronology

xv 1908฀ David฀Lean฀born฀in฀Croydon,฀England,฀March฀25,฀the฀son฀of฀ Francis฀William฀and฀Helena฀Tangye฀Lean. 1920–1926฀ Educated฀ at฀ Leighton฀ Park฀ School,฀ a฀ Quaker฀ institution฀ in฀ Reading. 1927฀ Employed฀by฀Gaumont-British฀Studios฀in฀Lime฀Grove฀as฀an฀ apprentice฀and฀all-around฀factotum. 1928–1930฀ Works฀as฀a฀cutting฀room฀assistant,฀camera฀assistant,฀and฀assistant ฀director. 1930฀ Becomes฀chief฀editor฀for฀Gaumont-British฀News. 1931–1932฀ Becomes฀editor฀for฀British฀Movietone฀News฀and฀assists฀in฀editing ฀feature฀films. 1934฀ Edits฀“quota฀quickies”฀at฀Elstree฀Studios. 1935฀ Edits฀his฀first฀important฀feature฀film,฀Paul฀Czinner’s฀Escape฀Me฀ Never. 1936฀ Edits฀Czinner’s฀As฀You฀Like฀It. 1938฀ Edits฀and฀assists฀in฀the฀direction฀of฀Pygmalion฀for฀Anthony฀ Asquith฀and฀Leslie฀Howard. 1939฀ Edits฀French฀without฀Tears฀for฀Asquith. 1941฀ Edits฀and฀assists฀in฀the฀direction฀of฀Major฀Barbara฀for฀Gabriel฀ Pascal.฀Edits฀The฀49th฀Parallel฀(U.S.฀title:฀The฀Invaders)฀for฀ Michael฀Powell. 1942฀ Edits฀One฀of฀Our฀Aircraft฀Is฀Missing฀for฀Michael฀Powell. 1943฀ Forms,฀ in฀ association฀ with฀ J.฀ Arthur฀ Rank,฀ an฀ independent฀ production฀ company,฀ Cineguild,฀ with฀ Ronald฀ Neame฀ and฀ Anthony฀Havelock-Allan. 1944฀ Directs฀The฀Happy฀Breed,฀his฀first฀venture฀as฀a฀solo฀director. 1945฀ Directs฀Blithe฀Spirit฀and฀Brief฀Encounter;฀becomes฀first฀British฀ director฀to฀be฀nominated฀for฀an฀American฀Academy฀Award฀for฀ Brief฀Encounter. 1946฀ Directs฀ Great฀ Expectations,฀ which฀ wins฀ three฀ Academy฀ Awards. CHRONOLOGY Lean*FrontMtrB.indd 15 9/21/06 2:27:17 PM Chronology xvi 1948฀ Directs฀Oliver฀Twist;฀the฀release฀of฀this฀film฀in฀the฀United฀States฀ is฀postponed฀because฀of฀charges฀of฀anti-Semitism. 1949฀ Directs฀The฀Passionate฀Friends฀(U.S.฀title:฀One฀Woman’s฀Story). 1950฀ Directs฀ Madeleine;฀ Cineguild฀ dissolved;฀ joins฀ Alexander฀ Korda’s฀London฀Films. 1952฀ Directs฀ The฀ Sound฀ Barrier฀ (U.S.฀ title:฀ Breaking฀ the฀ Sound฀ Barrier). 1953฀ Named฀a฀commander฀of฀the฀British฀Empire฀(CBE)฀by฀Queen฀ Elizabeth฀II฀for฀his฀contribution฀to฀British฀cinema. 1954฀ Directs฀Hobson’s฀Choice. 1955฀ Directs฀Summertime฀(British฀title:฀Summer฀Madness). 1957฀ Directs฀ The฀ Bridge฀ on฀ the฀ River฀ Kwai,฀ which฀ wins฀ seven฀ Academy฀Awards,฀including฀best฀director. 1962฀ Directs฀Lawrence฀of฀Arabia,฀which฀wins฀seven฀Oscars,฀including ฀best฀director. 1965฀ Directs฀Dr.฀Zhivago;฀The฀Greatest฀Story฀Ever฀Told,฀for฀which฀Lean฀ assisted฀George฀Stevens฀by฀filming฀the฀prologue,฀released. 1970฀ Directs฀Ryan’s฀Daughter;฀a฀retrospective฀of฀Lean’s฀films฀held฀at฀ the฀Museum฀of฀Modern฀Art,฀October฀29–November฀3. 1973฀ Presented฀ with฀ the฀ Lifetime฀ Achievement฀ Award฀ from฀ the฀ Directors฀Guild฀of฀America. 1981฀ After฀considering฀a฀series฀of฀possible฀film฀projects,฀including฀ Captain฀Bligh฀and฀Mr.฀Christian฀(a฀new฀version฀of฀Mutiny฀on฀ the฀Bounty),฀finally฀opts฀to฀make฀A฀Passage฀to฀India,฀from฀the฀ E.฀M.฀Forster฀novel. 1983฀ Receives฀ British฀ Film฀ Institute฀ Fellowship฀ for฀ Lifetime฀ Achievement. 1984฀ Directs฀A฀Passage฀to฀India;฀knighted฀by฀Queen฀Elizabeth฀II. 1988฀ Honored฀ with฀ a฀ special฀ tribute฀ at฀ the฀ Cannes฀ International฀ Film฀Festival. 1989฀ Restored฀version฀of฀Lawrence฀of฀Arabia฀given฀a฀successful฀theatrical ฀rerelease. 1990฀ Receives฀the฀American฀Film฀Institute฀Life฀Achievement฀Award. 1991฀ David฀Lean฀dies฀on฀April฀16;฀posthumously฀honored฀by฀the฀ dedication฀of฀the฀David฀Lean฀Building฀at฀Shepperton฀Studios,฀ outside฀London,฀to฀his฀memory฀as฀an฀enduring฀monument฀to฀ his฀incalculable฀contribution฀to฀British฀cinema. 1997฀ The฀National฀Film฀Registry฀of฀the฀Library฀of฀Congress,฀which฀ preserves฀films฀of฀enduring฀quality,฀includes฀Bridge฀on฀the฀River฀ Kwai฀and฀Lawrence฀of฀Arabia฀in฀its฀collection. 1998฀ The฀American฀Film฀Institute฀chooses฀the฀hundred฀best฀films฀in฀ the฀first฀century฀of฀cinema฀in฀a฀television฀special฀broadcast฀on฀ Lean*FrontMtrB.indd 16 9/21/06 2:27:17 PM Chronology xvii July฀16,฀including฀Bridge฀on฀the฀River฀Kwai,฀Lawrence฀of฀Arabia,฀ and฀Dr.฀Zhivago. 1999฀ The฀ British฀ Film฀ Institute฀ honors฀ the฀ hundred฀ outstanding฀ British฀ films฀ of฀ the฀ first฀ hundred฀ years฀ of฀ cinema;฀ Brief฀ Encounter฀and฀Great฀Expectations฀are฀in฀the฀top฀ten. 2002฀ The฀Sight฀and฀Sound฀international฀poll฀of฀film฀directors฀and฀ film฀critics฀chooses฀Lean฀as฀one฀of฀the฀top฀ten฀directors฀of฀all฀ time฀and฀Lawrence฀of฀Arabia฀among฀the฀top฀ten฀films฀of฀all฀ time.฀The฀American฀Film฀Institute฀chooses฀the฀hundred฀outstanding ฀love฀stories฀in฀movie฀history฀in฀a฀television฀special฀on฀ June฀11,฀naming฀Dr.฀Zhivago฀among฀the฀first฀ten฀selections. 2003฀ In฀ a฀ nationwide฀ poll฀ conducted฀ by฀ Premiere฀ magazine,฀ Lawrence฀of฀Arabia฀is฀voted฀one฀of฀the฀hundred฀greatest฀films฀ of฀all฀time.฀The฀American฀Film...