Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

1. From Silents to Sound: The Early Years as a Film Editor

Getting฀Started 12 The฀Early฀Years David฀Lean฀was฀born฀in฀Croydon,฀a฀suburb฀south฀of฀London,฀on฀March฀25,฀ 1908,฀the฀son฀of฀Francis฀and฀Helena฀Tangye฀Lean.฀The฀Leans฀lived฀at฀38฀ Blenheim฀Crescent.฀Frank฀Lean฀was฀a฀chartered฀accountant฀in฀the฀firm฀of฀ Viney,฀Price,฀and฀Goodyear฀in฀the฀City฀of฀London฀(i.e.,฀the฀financial฀district).฀ Lean’s฀parents฀were฀Quakers,฀a฀religious฀influence฀most฀noticeable฀in฀his฀father ’s฀side฀of฀the฀family.฀Lean฀confessed฀to฀being฀slightly฀intimidated฀by฀the฀ Leans,฀a฀very฀austere฀set฀of฀relatives.฀By฀contrast,฀his฀mother’s฀people,฀the฀ Tangyes,฀were฀more฀pleasant฀types฀with฀an฀artistic฀flair,฀and,฀consequently,฀ they฀appealed฀to฀young฀David฀more฀than฀his฀father’s฀relatives฀did.฀By฀the฀ same฀token,฀David฀never฀had฀the฀personal฀relationship฀with฀his฀father—a฀ remote,฀cold฀type—that฀he฀experienced฀with฀his฀more฀affectionate฀mother. David฀had฀little฀affinity฀to฀the฀Quaker฀sect฀to฀which฀his฀family฀belonged;฀ the฀strain฀of฀Puritanism฀in฀the฀Quakers฀was฀the฀basis฀of฀their฀rejection฀of฀the฀ arts,฀especially฀the฀movies,฀which฀were฀considered฀to฀be฀a฀corrupting฀influence ฀on฀the฀young.฀Nevertheless,฀Lean฀always฀acknowledged฀the฀influence฀ of฀his฀Quaker฀upbringing฀on฀his฀moral฀attitudes;฀he฀firmly฀believed,฀for฀example ,฀that฀one฀should฀never฀lie฀or฀cheat,฀and฀he฀acknowledged฀the฀existence ฀of฀God.฀“I฀don’t฀think฀that฀it’s฀a฀Godless฀universe,”฀he฀added,฀“but฀I฀ wouldn’t฀know฀what฀God฀is.”1 When฀it฀came฀time฀for฀David฀to฀start฀school,฀the฀nearby฀elementary฀school฀ would฀not฀accept฀him.฀“It฀was฀Church฀of฀England,฀and฀wouldn’t฀have฀me,”฀ he฀explained.2 ฀So฀he฀attended฀the฀local฀Quaker฀school.฀David฀did฀not฀make฀ much฀of฀a฀mark฀as฀a฀student;฀more฀than฀one฀of฀his฀teachers฀wrote฀him฀off฀as฀an฀ underachiever.฀The฀headmistress฀sent฀home฀a฀report฀to฀his฀parents,฀stating฀that฀ she฀feared฀that฀he฀was฀incorrigibly฀lazy฀and฀might฀never฀learn฀to฀read฀and฀ write.฀She฀stated฀flatly,฀“David฀daydreams.”3 ฀His฀younger฀brother,฀Edward฀ (who฀was฀known฀by฀his฀middle฀name,฀Tangye),฀was฀a฀better฀student,฀and฀ David฀felt,฀with฀some฀reason,฀that฀Tangye฀was฀his฀father’s฀favorite. Because฀David฀believed฀that฀his฀father฀did฀not฀appreciate฀him,฀he฀grew฀ sullen฀and฀silent.฀Indeed,฀throughout฀his฀life฀Lean฀would฀lapse฀into฀prolonged ฀silence฀when฀pondering฀a฀problem,฀and฀his฀silences฀became฀legendary ฀in฀the฀film฀colony.฀As฀one฀friend฀put฀it฀later฀on,฀he฀felt฀comfortable฀with฀ silences฀others฀might฀feel฀compelled฀to฀fill. Good฀Quakers฀that฀they฀were,฀Lean’s฀blinkered฀parents฀would฀not฀permit ฀him฀to฀go฀to฀the฀pictures.฀Films,฀especially฀the฀lurid฀vehicles฀for฀vamps฀ like฀Pola฀Negri฀and฀Theda฀Bara,฀were฀condemned฀as฀wicked.฀Moreover,฀ movies฀were฀despised฀by฀many฀cultured,฀middle-class฀people฀like฀the฀Leans฀ as฀pretty฀common,฀cheap฀entertainment฀for฀the฀uneducated. LeanChap01B.indd 12 9/21/06 2:52:38 PM From฀Silents฀to฀Sound 13 Since฀David฀was฀barred฀from฀going฀to฀the฀movies,฀the฀Leans’฀housekeeper ,฀Mrs.฀Egerton,฀who฀was฀a฀fan฀of฀Charlie฀Chaplin,฀acted฀out฀Chaplin’s฀ raucous฀antics฀for฀the฀boy.฀She฀would฀twirl฀a฀cane฀and฀even฀run฀around฀the฀ kitchen฀table,฀skidding฀around฀corners฀just฀like฀the฀Tramp,฀keeping฀David฀in฀ stitches.฀Lean฀later฀felt฀that฀it฀was฀at฀this฀time฀that฀he฀got฀bitten฀by฀the฀bug฀ that฀made฀him฀a฀confirmed฀movie฀fan.฀In฀fact,฀he฀later฀hung฀a฀photo฀of฀ Chaplin฀in฀The฀Gold฀Rush฀(1925)฀on฀his฀bedroom฀wall. In฀1920,฀when฀he฀was฀thirteen,฀David฀was฀enrolled฀in฀the฀Leighton฀Park฀ ฀ School,฀a฀Quaker฀boarding฀school฀in฀Reading;฀Tangye฀joined฀him฀three฀years฀ later฀and฀continued฀to฀outshine฀him฀academically.฀Sandra฀Lean,฀Lean’s฀widow,฀ would฀later฀remark:฀“David฀was฀not฀good฀at฀school,฀but฀his฀brother฀was;฀and฀ he฀felt฀his฀father฀worshipped฀his฀brother฀and฀neglected฀him.฀He฀channeled฀his฀ frustration฀into฀the฀one฀thing฀that฀fascinated฀him—photography.”4 David฀showed฀genuine฀enthusiasm฀for฀his฀hobby,฀still฀photography.฀His฀ uncle฀Clement฀Tangye฀had฀given฀him฀a฀Kodak฀Brownie฀camera฀when฀he฀was฀ fourteen,฀and฀from฀then฀on฀David฀harbored฀a฀passion฀for฀photography.฀He฀ became฀an฀avid฀shutterbug฀around฀school฀and฀spent฀his฀spare฀time฀in฀the฀ darkroom,฀developing฀his฀own฀pictures.฀Lean฀admitted฀that฀he฀was฀“mad฀ keen”฀for฀taking฀snapshots฀while฀he฀was฀on฀vacation,฀as฀when฀he฀attended...