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cinema historian
Kevin Brownlow

British cinema historian Kevin Brownlow won an Honorary Oscar in November 2010          short profile

films of Kevin Brownlow

other works

links


"I tried hard to meet [Garbo], but when I saw her in the street,
I turned into a pillar of salt." — Kevin Brownlow


     B I O

     h e r e

Kevin Brownlow credits [1962-2009] at Internet Movie Database
Kevin Brownlow entry at Wikipedia


won Honorary Oscar in 2011     won shared Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series for "Unknown Chaplin" [1983]  won shared Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series for "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act To Follow" [1987]  won shared Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Writing for "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act To Follow" [1987]   Kevin Brownlow won an Honorary Oscar in November 2010
and three shared Emmy Awards –
one for "Unknown Chaplin" [1983]
and two for "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act To Follow" [1987]
– and 4 other Emmy nominations

He also received
BAFTA's Michael Balcon Award (1981) and 4 BAFTA nominations (1967-84)
three Special Awards for the "Napoléon" re-release [(1981)
the American Society of Cinematographers Special Achievement Award (2004)
and the 2007 Mel Novikoff Award [est. 1988] from San Francisco Intl. Film Festival [est. 1954]



Films  of  Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow credits [1962-2009] at Internet Movie Database
browse DVDs of Kevin Brownlow at Amazon

"It Happened Here" [1965] /tt0055024/

"Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite" documentary [1968] by Kevin Brownlow
video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Winstanley" [1975] /tt0073911/

"It Happened Here Again" [1976] /tt0074696/

"Millay At Steepletop (1983) /tt0271064/
http://www.amazon.com/Millay-at-Steepletop-Norma/dp/B00008H2GY/

"Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius" [1989] episode of "American Masters" /tt0208197/

Hollywood, Celebration of Silent Film movie directed by David Gill & Kevin Brownlow  "Hollywood: A Celebration of The American Silent Film" [HBO-TV 1980]
Written & directed by David Gill & Kevin Brownlow, narration by James Mason
complete box set: HBO b&w/color VHS [10/2001] 13 tapes - out of prodn/scarce
series credits from IMDb
Unknown Chaplin documentary  "Unknown Chaplin: The Master At Work"
[BBC-TV documentary Jan 1983; P.B.S. July 1986]

Never-before-seen out-takes & other rare footage, from the Chaplin vaults. Written, produced & directed by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; won Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series
A&E/Thames color DVD [11/2005] for $19.99
full credits from IMDb • see also Magic Lantern's Charlie Chaplin [1889-1977] Page
Buster Keaton Hard Act To Follow series  "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act To Follow" [H.B.O. mini-series 1987]
Written & directed by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Informational Series & for Outstanding Writing
H.B.O. b&w VHS box set [8/89] 3 tapes for $34.99
"From Vaudeville to Movies" b&w [8/89] for $19.99
"Star Without a Studio" b&w [8/89] for $19.99
"Genius Recognized" b&w [8/89] for $19.99
full credits from IMDb • see also Magic Lantern's Buster Keaton [1895-1966] Pages
D.W. Griffith: Father of Film TV documentary  
"D.W. Griffith: Father of Film" [PBS-TV broadcast March 1993]
Produced, written & directed by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; narrated by director Lindsay Anderson
Kino Intl. color/b&w DVD [11/2008] for $26.99
H.B.O. Home Video color VHS [3/94] 3 tapes - out of prodn/rare
full credits from IMDb
see also Magic Lantern's D.W. Griffith [1875-1948] Page
Cinema Europe   "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood" [Photoplay 1995 mini-series]
Produced by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; narrated by Kenneth Branagh & Jean-Louis Trintignant
Image Ent b&w/color DVD [5/2000] for $44.99
Cinema Guild VHS [3/98] 3 tapes - out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia

"Universal Horror" documentary [1998] for TV

"Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces" (2000) (TV)

True Story of Marion Davies  "Captured On Film: The True Story of Marion Davies"
[2001 Turner/Milestone TV documentary]

Co-written & directed by Hugh Munro Neely; narrated by Charlize Theron;
featuring Cari Beauchamp, Kevin Brownlow, Charles Champlin, Virginia
Madsen, Constance Moore & Ruth Warrick
Image Ent. color/b&w DVD [12/2002] for $26.99
Milestone color/b&w VHS [1/2002] out of prodn/used
documentary's credits at IMDb
the CD includes the 1-hour documentary, a stills gallery, and the silent period
comedy feature "Quality Street" [1927]

"Against The Dying of The Light" (2001) /tt0268897/

"The Tramp and The Dictator" (2002) (V)

"Sherlock Holmes" silent feature [Goldwyn Pictures Corp. March 1922]
Sherlock Holmes 1922 silent feature atarring John Barrymore  Long considered a lost film, print elements discovered in 1970, restoration by Kevin Brownlow & Eastman House completed in 2003. Awkward storyline, with events when Holmes & Watson were students at Cambridge leading many years later to a confrontation with evil Prof. Moriarty.
Co-produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by Albert Parker; based on the 1899 Broadway stageplay by William Gillette; starring John Barrymore {as Holmes}, Roland Young {as Watson}, Carol Dempster, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Hedda Hopper & Reginald Denny
Kino Intl. b&w silent Blu-ray [12/2011] for $31.49  
Kino Intl. b&w silent DVD [12/2011] for $16.99  
full credits at IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia
  still photo of John Barrymore from the Sherlock Holmes 1922 silent feature

Kevin Brownlow's documentary "Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic"  "Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic" TV documentary
[Photoplay Productions/TMC 2004]

Follows DeMille's career from Lasky/Paramount to M.G.M. to independent and back to Paramount. Part 1 looks at DeMille's early life and silent films; Part 2 follows his work on the talkies. Produced by Patrick Stanbury; directed by Kevin Brownlow; narrated by Kenneth Branagh; featuring Martin Scorsese, Angela Lansbury, Steven Spielberg, Cecilia DeMille Presley, Richard de Mille & Charlton Heston, plus archive interviews with niece Agnes de Mille, Charlie Chaplin, Samuel Goldwyn, Henry Hathaway, Gloria Swanson and DeMille himself
DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb

"So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & M.G.M." [2004]
Kevin Brownlow & Christopher Bird's documentary /tt0440814/

Garbo documentary by Christopher Bird & Kevin Brownlow  "Garbo" documentary [T.C.M. 2005]
86-minute TV documentary that includes the 1949 'comeback' test footage shot by cinematographer James Wong Howe. Co-produced by Patrick Stanley; co-written & co-directed by Christopher Bird & Kevin Brownlow; narrated by Julie Christie; featuring Cari Beauchamp, Charles Busch, Leatrice Joy Gilbert, James Karen, Barry Paris, Gray Reisfield, Karen Swenson, Gore Vidal & Mark Vieira; with archive footage of George Cukor, Ernst Lubitsch, Mimi Pollak, Louis B. Mayer, Victor Sjöström & Irving Thalberg
T.C.M. Archives color/b&w DVD [2008] out of prodn/many used
full credits at IMDb
see also Magic Lantern's Greta Garbo [1905-90] Page

"King Kong!: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper" (2005)



Other  Works  by & about  Kevin Brownlow

Parade's Gone By book by Kevin Brownlow  "The Parade's Gone By: A Vivid, Nostalgic, Immediate Portrait of An Art Form In The Making" [1968]
by Kevin Brownlow

Univ CA Press 10x7 pb [6/76] for $30.17
Random House/Knopf hardcover [1968] out of print/used
Hollywood Pioneers book by Kevin Brownlow  "Hollywood: The Pioneers" [1979]
by Kevin Brownlow & John Kobal

Knopf hardcover [3/80] out of print/used
HarperCollins hardcover [10/79] out of print/used
Napoleon book by Kevin Brownlow  "Napoleon" [1983] by Kevin Brownlow
Abel Gance's masterpeice would have been lost had then-teenager Brownlow not discovered 9.5mm snippets in a London shop. The book is a record of the 30-plus years of extraordinary work that resulted in the 4-hour 1981 version and the over-five-hour restoration of 2000.
British Film Institute 9x6 pb [1/2008] not available?
Knopf pb [10/83] out of print/used
Jonathan Cape hardcover [5/83] out of print/used
Mary Pickford Rediscovered book by Kevin Brownlow  
"Mary Pickford Rediscovered: Rare Pictures of A Hollywood Legend"
[1999] by Kevin Brownlow, Introduction by Robert Cushman

Harry N. Abrams 12¼x9½ coffeetable hardcover [5/99] out of print/many used
more on Magic Lantern's Mary Pickford [1892-1979] Page
Silent Echoes book by Kevin Brownlow & John Bengtson  "Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton" [1999]
by John Bengtson & Kevin Brownlow

Santa Monica Press 8½x11 pb [12/99] for $17.46
see also Magic Lantern's Buster Keaton [1895-1966] Pages
Cinerama Adventure  "Cinerama Adventure" documentary feature [indep Sept 2003]
Written, directed & narrated by David Strohmaier; featuring experts Rudy Behlmer, John Belton, Kevin Brownlow, Thomas Erffmeyer, Leonard Maltin & Howard Rust
video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDbofficial website
Silent Traces book by Kevin Brownlow & John Bengtson  "Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through The Films of Charlie Chaplin" [2006] by John Bengtson & Kevin Brownlow
Santa Monica Press 8½x11 pb [8/2006] for $16.47
see also Magic Lantern's Charlie Chaplin [1889-1977] Page
The Search for Charlie Chaplin book by Kevin Brownlow  "The Search For Charlie Chaplin" [2010] by Kevin Brownlow
After a long quest to find the many missing Keystone shorts of Charlie Chaplin, which led to film vaults in England, France, and the United States, Brownlow and his Thames Television team compiled "Unknown Chaplin" [1983], three hour-long documentaries. They learned so much about Chaplin during that process that could not be squeezed into the TV series that they decided to preserve it in the form of a book.
U.K.A. Press 9½x6½ pb [4/2010] for $15.51

American Classic Screen Interviews book edited by  John C. Tibbetts & James M. Welsh  "American Classic Screen: Interviews" [2010]
Edited by John C. Tibbetts & James M. Welsh, Foreword by Kevin Brownlow

Scarecrow Press 8¾x6 pb [8/2010] for $36.52
American Classic Screen Magazine [1976-86] was published by The National Film Society; these exclusive interviews have long been difficult or impossible to access, but are now collected by editors Tibbetts & Welsh; the Interviews include: Fred Astaire, Joan Bennett, Bernard Brown, Kevin Brownlow, Frank Capra, William Clothier, Buster Crabbe, Olivia de Havilland, Stanley Donen, Olivia DeHavilland, Irene Dunne, William K. Everson, Joan Fontaine, Friz Freleng, Margaret Hamilton, Winton C. Hoch, Ollie Johnston, Henry King, Mervyn Le Roy, Fred MacMurray, Glen MacWilliams, Rouben Mamoulian, Mike Mazurki, Clarence 'Ducky' Nash, Paul Newman, Hermes Pan, Robert Preston, Esther Ralston, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers & Jane Withers



Links
Kevin Brownlow entry at Wikipedia
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/547695/



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