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  • Posts: 1,181
    RIP Lewis Gilbert. Seemed to be a truly great guy. Loved all of his interviews on the extras.
  • MrcogginsMrcoggins Following in the footsteps of Quentin Quigley.
    Posts: 3,144
    Lewis Gilbert gone but never forgotten RIP .
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 12,914
    RIP Mr. Gilbert.

    Looking forward to the eventual 2027 remake of his Bond films--OO7 in uniform, "nellie" craft, and the rest of it.

    Lewis Gilbert Obituary.
    Gilbert was what he described as an unfashionable director and considered this to have been why he survived for so long in the film industry. “I’ve never been known for any one kind of film. So, I’m really somebody like a doctor who you call in when you want the patient to live, as it were.”
    Lewis Gilbert obituary
    https://theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/27/lewis-gilbert-obituary
    Film director whose long and varied career produced hits including Alfie and Educating Rita
    Sheila Whitaker
    Tue 27 Feb 2018 13.05 EST
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    Julie Walters and Michael Caine in a scene from Educating Rita, 1983, directed by Lewis Gilbert. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

    The film director Lewis Gilbert, who has died aged 97, never sought the limelight: he always said he wanted his films to speak for him, and several of them, including Alfie (1966) and Educating Rita (1983), have become part of cinema history.

    Alfie is the story of an amoral young man who philosophises to camera on sex, love and women as he pursues sexual encounters with one girl after another. Paramount wanted the setting moved to New York and Tony Curtis to play Alfie, but Gilbert held out for Michael Caine. Caine’s performance assured his career, and the film was nominated for five Oscars.

    Alfie’s success brought Gilbert his first Bond film, You Only Live Twice (1967), to be followed a decade later by The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and in 1979 by Moonraker. Lewis wryly commented that in earlier years he used to make a feature film for less than the Moonraker telephone bill.

    It was Gilbert’s wife, Hylda, who brought Educating Rita to his attention and, having resisted studio pressure, this time again to move the setting to the US and to cast Dolly Parton as Rita, he finally raised the finance, despite not having any distribution deals in place, and cast Julie Walters and Caine. The film received three Oscar nominations and Hollywood studios vied to distribute it. He followed this with Shirley Valentine in 1989 with Pauline Collins as a housewife striking out for freedom in Greece.

    Gilbert was what he described as an unfashionable director and considered this to have been why he survived for so long in the film industry. “I’ve never been known for any one kind of film. So, I’m really somebody like a doctor who you call in when you want the patient to live, as it were.”
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    Lewis Gilbert described himself as an unfashionable director. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

    Born in London into a vaudeville family, Gilbert began touring in an act, the Four Kemptons, with his parents when he was four. His love of theatre and film began there – he watched films, shown as part of the vaudeville programmes, from behind the screen. He went to a theatrical school when he was 12 and he also entered cinema as an actor, appearing in quota quickies, including The Price of a Song (1935) directed by Michael Powell, and Over the Moon (1939).

    It was while he was appearing with Laurence Olivier in The Divorce of Lady X (1938) that Alexander Korda, the producer, offered to send him to Rada. Gilbert replied that he would rather direct and so was sent to Korda’s Denham studios in Buckinghamshire as a third assistant director. He graduated up the scale, working with Alfred Hitchcock on Jamaica Inn (1939) – “He was the man I learned the most from” – and with a variety of studios, eventually becoming a first assistant.

    At the beginning of the second world war, Gilbert volunteered for the RAF and from there he went to the US Army Air Forces film unit, where he worked on documentaries with Hollywood veterans such as William Wyler, Frank Capra and William Keighley. This gave Gilbert his directing break, as Keighley, hating the British winter cold, preferred his Mayfair hotel to going out filming. During this time he met Arthur Elton, and on being invalided out in 1944 took up his offer of a job at Gaumont-British Instructional directing documentaries.

    His first feature, The Little Ballerina (1947), a children’s film with Margot Fonteyn, was successful to the point where, after its Saturday morning children’s run, it was put out on a circuit release. His first major success was Emergency Call (1952, known in the US as The Hundred Hour Hunt), in which Jack Warner has a race against time to find three people with the right blood type to save a child’s life.

    He co-wrote the film with Vernon Harris, who became a collaborator for more than 40 years. Gilbert followed this with Cosh Boy (1953, also known as The Slasher), featuring Joan Collins, an X film which was widely banned – “Today, you’d show it to 10-year-olds” – and Johnny on the Run (1953), the first film which he also produced.

    Gilbert’s long and varied career included thrillers and a number of war movies – “The war was the single biggest influence in my life, a very traumatic time. I think it was natural in the years after the war had ended to make films that were part propaganda and part portraits of heroism.” These included Albert RN (1953), which the producers had originally wanted shot in 3D, The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954) and Reach for the Sky (1955), Gilbert’s personal favourite, in which Kenneth More played the war hero Douglas Bader.
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    Michael Caine in a scene from Alfie, 1966; Gilbert resisted the studio’s idea of casting Tony Curtis in the role. Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/Paramount

    Then followed Carve Her Name With Pride (1958) the true story of the secret agent Violette Szabo, Sink the Bismarck! (1960), HMS Defiant (1962) and Operation: Daybreak (1975). This last Gilbert felt could never be commercial because “it was very realistic and very downbeat but it was a true picture, whilst the earlier films may almost have glamorised wartime”.

    In 1959 he had an unhappy experience working with Orson Welles on Ferry to Hong Kong. Gilbert had wanted Peter Finch to play the tramp and Curt Jurgens to play the officer. Instead he got Welles as the captain. Aside from the poor script, Gilbert said, Welles hated Jurgens and every scene that involved both of them had to be shot separately. The film and the overall strategy failed.

    The Greengage Summer (1961, also known as Loss of Innocence), starring More (the producers had wanted Richard Burton, but he decided on Alexander the Great instead), was a happier affair, although, during the shooting, a blight on greengage trees forced them to buy in supplies of the fruit from Harrods and stick them on to the trees.

    He continued working well into his 80s, and directed Walters again on his last feature film, Before You Go (2002). Always highly professional in his work, Gilbert was also a charming, unaffected and kind man with a friendly welcome for everyone. He and Hylda loved attending festivals (especially the annual festival in Cannes, where they had a flat) and going to screenings to look at the widest possible range of new films from directors of all ages and, most importantly, happily discussing them afterwards.

    In 1990, he was awarded the Michael Balcon lifetime achievement award from Bafta, and he was appointed CBE in 1997. In 2010, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, Bafta held an evening of celebration at which he was interviewed on stage by Walters. He published his autobiography, All My Flashbacks, and appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in the same year.

    Hylda (nee Tafler), whom he married in 1951, died in 2005. They had two sons, John and Stephen.

    • Lewis Gilbert, film director, producer and writer, born 6 March 1920; died 23 February 2018
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,332
    RIP Lewis Gilbert, one of my personal favorite directors of the series. A legend and master of the OTT Bond. Time to watch Moonraker.
  • edited February 2018 Posts: 11,425
    Nobody did OTT Bond better than L Gilbert!

    And he made some decent non Bond films as well. He was great at comedy (don’t let MR convince you otherwise) - Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine are well worth a watch for anyone who hasn’t seen them.

    MR is the ‘difficult’ Gilbert film. All those jarring bits with Jaws. But there is a lot of good stuff in it as well. Okay so the third act is total fantasy nonsense but that was presumably what Cubby wanted and Gilbert handled it as well as anyone could have if you ask me.
  • Posts: 11,425
    That’s a great little piece. I love the final quote. He wrote his own epitaph right there.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,758
    Rest in peace Mr Gilbert. The man definitely got an eye for widescreen epicness and excelled at that aspect like no other Bond director managed to do. In a way, he was 007’s David Lean.

    Thank you Mr Gilbert, rest in peace.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    RIP Lewis Gilbert. As the first Bond film I saw, YOLT has a special place in my heart that no other Bond film has.
  • Posts: 19,339
    Lewis Gilbert: Quiet man determined to be integral part of film world .

    Lewis Gilbert was one of the film industry’s special people.

    His great talent as a film director was enjoyed by millions worldwide while he was admired and respected both as a person and for his work by his professional peers.

    A quiet man by nature, he avoided the limelight, content to see the almost unremitting success of his films, which read like a catalogue of landmarks in British film history.

    In a career that spanned more than half a century he received numerous awards, the most recent in 1990 when he won a special Bafta award for Shirley Valentine and, in 1992, a special award for services to entertainment from the Variety Club of Great Britain.

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    Born in Hackney, London in 1920, Lewis Gilbert was determined from childhood that he would become an integral part of the film world.


    A child actor, he made his debut in films at the age of 13 in a Victor McLaglen epic, Dick Turpin.

    McLaglen wanted to take him to Hollywood but his father and mother refused to let him go.

    It was another four years before he got another chance to get into films.

    The war had started and when he joined the RAF he became friends with American director William Keighley, who made him his assistant director.

    Together they made Target For Today and other documentaries.

    Keighley was also keen to take Gilbert back to Hollywood, but this time Gilbert himself refused as it was still wartime.

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    In 1944 he was back on civvy street and he joined the GB Instructional film unit, for which he wrote and directed.


    He made a series of documentary films for GBI such as Sailors Do Care and Arctic Harvest and became a producer and director for International Realist, work which brought him numerous awards.

    Meanwhile, as a complete contrast he directed The Little Ballerina between 1947 and 1948. It was the first of many box office winners.

    From then until 1967 he was directing at least one film a year, sometimes two or three.

    Among them were some of the best Second World War films, such as The Sea Shall Not Have Them in 1954, Reach For The Sky in 1956, Carve Her Name With Pride in 1957 and Sink the Bismarck! in 1960.

    There were also British classics, including The Admirable Crichton, A Cry From The Streets and The Greengage Summer.

    In 1966 he made Alfie, for which he won a nomination for Best Film of 1966 and which turned Michael Caine overnight into an international star.

    The following year he directed the Bond film You Only Live Twice.

    Gilbert continued to be in demand as a director but by the early 70s the film industry was beginning to move a little slower under financial constraints and not so many films were being made.

    In 1976 Gilbert made the film Seven Nights in Japan which brought some raised eyebrows, as it based its hero Prince George, played by Michael York, on the then young and unmarried Prince of Wales and put the hypothesis of what might happen if the Queen’s eldest son fell in love with a Japanese girl and went absent without leave.

    At the time Gilbert said: “There must be terrific temptations for Charles and temptations too for people to use him.”

    However, although the film was the first fictionalised plot about a living member of the royal family presented in that way, it was considered a good love story made with Gilbert’s flair for balance.

    There followed two more Bond movies, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, and then in 1983 he made the highly acclaimed Educating Rita.

    Once again Gilbert was working with Michael Caine but on that occasion it was Julie Walters he brought to international stardom.

    He said that in the same way that Caine was the quintessential Alfie, Julie Walters was a true-to-character Rita, and both had retained a street-wise charm.

    He brought home rave reviews again just six years later with Shirley Valentine as well as a Bafta award.
    His private life remained well guarded from the public throughout his life, but he gave no air of aloofness and was regarded as engaging, energetic and extremely gifted by friends and colleagues.

    He was awarded a CBE in 1997 before becoming a BFI fellow in 2001 for his outstanding contribution to British film.

    Just a year later he reunited with Walters for his final film, Before You Go
    .

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    RIP Lewis.


  • edited September 2018 Posts: 5,772
    I remember watching Sink the Bismark ! on a sunday afternoon when I was, oh so much younger than today, and enjoying it. Other movie by him I enjoyed, Stepping Out, but then, I like Liza Minnelli and tap dance. And it really was close to reality. He'll be missed.
  • CatchingBulletsCatchingBullets facebook.com/catchingbullets
    Posts: 292
    CATCHING BULLETS remembers the great British director, Lewis Gilbert.

    YOU ONLY DIRECT THRICE - Remembering the director who made Bond big

    Gilbert-4.jpg
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,727
    Twitter has just reminded me that it was 20 years ago today [28 February 1998] that we lost Dermot Morgan of Father Ted fame.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 23,102
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Twitter has just reminded me that it was 20 years ago today [28 February 1998] that we lost Dermot Morgan of Father Ted fame.

    Wow not sure where time has gone, Father Ted is one of the best sitcoms of that time.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    Farewell Toys 'R' Us.
  • Posts: 12,242
    RIP David Ogden Stiers. Appeared in many great Disney films.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    FoxRox wrote: »
    RIP David Ogden Stiers. Appeared in many great Disney films.

    Major Winchester has passed? Damn... My MASH marathons will never be the same now...
  • Posts: 533
    I remember David Ogden Stiers not only from "M.A.S.H.", but also from the "North and South" trilogy and the TV movie, "The Innocents Abroad".

    RIP Mr. Stiers.
  • Posts: 5,772
    Actor Marcel Philippot, well known in France for the part of a grumpy client in the series Palace, as well as a catchphrase ("I'll get him, someday. I'll get him !"), part and catchphrase he reprised in a series of ads for an insurance company, killed himself, aged 64 :

    jeanmarcmorandini.com/article-378680-le-comedien-marcel-philippot-connu-pour-son-role-dans-la-serie-palace-au-milieu-des-annees-80-et-pour-les-pubs-maaf-s-est-suicide-a-l-age-de-64-ans.html

    One for the road :

  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,686
    Fiorentina captain and Italy international Davide Astori has died at the age of 31.

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  • BennyBenny In the shadowsAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 14,811
    Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes has sadly passed away aged 88
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited March 2018 Posts: 17,727
    Benny wrote: »
    Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes has sadly passed away aged 88

    Sad news. He was a great British record-breaker back in 1954. Sir Roger did his nation proud.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,758
    Fiorentina captain and Italy international Davide Astori has died at the age of 31.

    astori.fiorentina.2017.18.passaggio.1080x648.jpg

    Tragic loss, no words for this.
    RIP, Davide.
  • re: David Ogden Stiers. Here's a blog post by Ken Levine, who wrote episodes of MASH, with some insights about the actor. Good read.

    http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2018/03/rip-david-ogden-stiers.html
  • TokolosheTokoloshe Under your bed
    Posts: 2,667
    Benny wrote: »
    Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes has sadly passed away aged 88

    He set his record on my secondary school's running track at Iffley Rd, in Oxford. I was back there recently and pleased to see it has been renamed the Sir Roger Bannister Track in his honour.

    He gave frequent talks in Oxford and I had the pleasure of seeing one in my teenage years. A lovely, humble man and a fascinating speaker.
  • Posts: 1,637
    Winchester : "You can put me in a tent with two moronic cell mates but you cannot break the spirit of a Winchester , my voice shall be heard !"

    RIP DOS :(

    I will never forget that quote , pure gold !

    He often refused to sign autographs except for charity , beware of fakes.
  • Posts: 19,339
    A UK comedy legend has died :

    RIP Doddy,and thanks for all the fun,happy times and memories you gave me as a kid.

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  • Posts: 6,727
    RIP Ken Dodd, comedy legend!
    "Why are we here?......cos we're not all there!"
  • Posts: 5,772
    And in France, fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, famous for the dresses he designed for, among oathers, Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy, has died, aged 91.

    daily-sun.com/post/294805/French-fashion-designer-Hubert-de-Givenchy-dies-aged-91
  • Posts: 12,506
    RIP Ken Dodd! What a genuinely funny man who I went to see as a kid.
  • Posts: 5,772
    RIP Kate Wilhelm :

    https://boingboing.net/2018/03/11/the-sweet-birds-sang.html

    I must admit I've read only one thing from her : the short story "The Village" . But boy, was it effective.
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