Author: Pete Johnson
The Blue and The Grey: The American Civil War on film
So many films have been made about this long and tragic civil war that I would not attempt to examine them all in one post. However, it is interesting to see how film-makers have dealt with the subject over the more than one hundred year history of cinema. As long ago as 1915, D.W. Griffith…
Lost Britain: A Nostalgic Look Back Through Seven Films
As someone who has lived all their life in England, one of my pleasures has been to watch old British films. I love to see the streets, the cars, the style of dress, and to reflect on a way of life that changed so rapidly after World War Two. Very often, these films show places…
Six great Prisoner of War films you might not have seen
Ever since there has been war, there have been prisoners of war. In times gone by, they might have been sold into slavery, recruited into the winning side, or just killed out of hand. As societies became more civilised, they began to treat prisoners with more care, putting them in camps under guard, and providing…
Michael Caine: An appreciation
Ask anyone to name some great British actors, and they might say Lawrence Olivier, Alec Guinness, John Mills, Richard Attenborough, or Anthony Hopkins. Pose the same question to younger respondents, and they could well come up with Jude Law, Clive Owen, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Eddie Redmayne. It is unlikely that any of them would think…
The Camera on Film: Seven Films about Photographers
Perhaps because I have long had an interest in photography, and collecting cameras, films about this subject have always attracted my attention. There have been many films about early cinema pioneers, and the ubiquitous ‘film within a film’ theme offers many examples. However, this article is about still photographers, and how they have been represented…