… my favourite Director, Sir David Lean

Although I greatly admire the work of such visual directors John Boorman and Ridley Scott, and more recently discovered the stunning films of Akira Kurosawa (see earlier post), my favourite director remains, by far, Sir David Lean. Lean began his career as an film editor in Britain in the 30s and 40s, which is perhaps where he developed such a keen visual eye. In 1942 he began a collaboration with Noel Coward; the first four films he directed were derived from Coward’s work (In which We Serve, This Happy Breed, Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter) and the next two superb, beloved adaptations of Dickens (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist).

Amazingly, Lean directed only 16 movies in his career (1942-1985), but each of them is exquisite. Like Kurosawa (another gifted but stern task-master) Lean suffered later in his career, as studios became less willing to invest in large-scale – hence costly - productions. Many actors owe career-making roles to Lean, including Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Sir John Mills and perhaps notably, Sir Alec Guinness, with whom Lean maintained a life-long, if cranky, relationship. Lean was nominated and won countless awards for such the large-scale epics as Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, Ryan’s Daughter and A Passage to India, but below are my four favourites.

This Happy Breed (1944)
Based on Noel Coward’s play, the story deals with the working class English Gibbons family as they move into a new house just after WW1, and the events of their lives – both political and familial. Frank (Robert Newton), a Great War veteran, and Ethel (Celia Johnson) have three children. Sam (John Blythe) and Vi (Eileen Erskine), have an encounter with Socialism. Queenie (Kay Walsh), the youngest, is loved by boy-next-door Sailor Billy (John Mills) but she seeks a more glamorous life and eventually runs away from home. Events unfold until finally Frank and Ethel find themselves empty-nesters, and decide to sell the house, poignantly on the eve of WW2.

Great Expectations (1946)
Young Pip (John Mills) is apprenticed as a blacksmith to his sister’s gentle-giant husband, Joe (Bernard Miles). But Pip yearns to be a gentleman after becoming a paid companion to the reclusive Miss Haversham (Valerie Hobson), and her young ward, Estelle (Jeans Simmons). When lawyer Jaggers (Francis L. Sullivan) arrives to say that Pip has been given a legacy and now has ‘great expectations’, he is shipped off to a new life in London and given into the care of Herbert Pocket (Alec Guinness) who is to teach him the 'genteel' way of living. Yet nothing is as simple is as it seems, and the film, ever faithful to Dicken’s beloved novel, leads Pip through disappointments and a dangerous adventure with his mysterious benefactor.

Hobson’s Choice (1954)
Successful 19th century Boozy English Bootmaker, Henry Horatio Hobson (Charles Laughton at his best) ruthlessly rules the roost, his shop and bullies his daughters. But the eldest Maggie (Brenda de Banzie) has her own plans of rebellion. She pursues her father’s apprentice, the reluctant Willy Mossop (John Mills) and together they gradually knock her father off his perch and helps her sisters escape his tyranny.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
This is the film I believe the best ever made, for a multitude of reasons. It remains #1 on my list as no other film has its sheer impact, visual beauty, and balance of subject matter. Based on the WW1 experiences of the short-lived T.E. Lawrence (played by Peter O’Toole), it covers the unlikely meteoric military career of a man most had written-off. As an Oxford-trained archeologist and historian, Lawrence was always been captivated by the desert and the Arabs, and this becomes his downfall as he is torn apart by conflicting loyalties. Superb performances from the likes of Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness and (my beloved) Claude Rains, in one of his last roles. See it – but ensure you have the longer director’s cut restored version – and judge for yourselves.