- BFI identifier768148
- Production countryUnited Kingdom
- Work historyFour films using still drawings commissioned from a number of artists to accompany poetry readings. Sponsored by the British Film Institute and produced by Halas & Batchelor for the Festival of Britain in 1951. Parts 1 to 3 are titled PAINTER AND POET, but the credits for the fourth film JOHN GILPIN is subtitled POET AND PAINTER No. 4.
- CategoryFiction
- Subject
Title
Painter and Poet (Original)
Poet and Painter (Alternative)
- Related Materials
- ArticlesarticleEnglishL-5465729articleArticles/Book chaptersArtikelenArticlesArtikelمقالاتArticoliΆρθραMonthly Film Bulletin v18 n209 June 1951 - 195112096284195118[Monthly Film Bulletin - v18 n209 June 1951: no known title]200339814
- Scripts / DocumentsEphemera: publicity - PBS-768148
Document: production - A series of four short experimental art films, applying mobile camera technique to the filming of specially designed still drawings, illustrating well-known poems. The drawings were commissioned from a number of prominent contemporary artists to accompany poetry read by well-known actors. Sponsored by the British Film Institute and produced by Halas & Batchelor for the Festival of Britain in 1951. Music by Matyas Seiber. The films formed part of the festival's telecinema programming. The idea was based upon an experiment successfully carried out in western Europe by Luciano Emmer on the work of Bosch, Carpaccio and Giotto, in which the camera, the cuttings bench and the musical score were used to give the film continuity and dramatic shape. The press were widely appreciative of the innovative technique but the general public were not enthusiastic [see cuttings on the screenings in HAB-1-26-1-4] Papers include scripts [poetry], photographs, news cuttings, budget information and publicity Titles included in the series are : - Painter and Poet No. 1 Drawings illustrate two poems: 'Twa Corbies' (anon) narrated by John Laurie, illustrated by Michael Rothenstein; 'Spring and Winter' (William Shakespeare) sung by Peter Pears to music by Arne and illustrated by Mervyn Peake - Painter and Poet No. 2 'Winter Garden' - David Gascoigne, narrated by Michael Redgrave, paintings by Barbara Jones; 'Sailor's Consolation' - Thomas Dibden, narrated by Stanley Holloway, drawings by John Minton; 'Check To Song' - Owen Meredith, narrated by Eric Portman, drawings by Michael Warre - Painter and Poet No.3 'In Time of Pestilence' - Thomas Nashe, narrated by Robert Harris, drawings by Michael Ayrton; 'The Pythoness' - Kathleen Raine, narrated by Mary Morris, drawings by Henry Moore John Gilpin a.k.a. Painter and Poet No.4 Unlike other films in the Painter and Poet series this film features only one poem, 'John Gilpin' by William Cowper and the main title precedes the series title number. The titles also use the incorrect series name Poet and Painter [Parts 1 to 3 are titled 'Painter and Poet', but the credits for the fourth film 'John Gilpin' by William Cowper read by Cecil Trouncer, is subtitled Poet and Painter No. 4] The credits say that Cecil Trouncer and Ronald Searle 'have generously given their services.' - HAB-1-26
Document: production - Papers relating to Painter and Poet No. 1 Drawings illustrate two poems: 'Twa Corbies' (anon) narrated by John Laurie, illustrated by Michael Rothenstein; 'Spring and Winter' (William Shakespeare) sung by Peter Pears to music by Arne and illustrated by Mervyn Peake. Produced by Halas & Batchelor; script by Joan Maude and Michael Warre. Sponsor: British Film Institute - HAB-1-26-2
Document: production - Papers relating to the series as a whole including, draft ideas for order and content of films; budget; suggested artists and actors; cuttings; photographs of artwork - HAB-1-26-1
Document: pre-production - File containing: - Early draft treatment for a series of nine films instead of the eventual four, with suggestions for poetry and painters which do not appear in the realised films. Artist John Piper was suggested to illustrate the poem 'Preparations' (anon); Lucien Freud to illustrate 'Rose Thou Art Sick' by William Blake; Stanley Spencer to illustrate 'When Daisies Pied' [later became Spring and Winter] by William Shakespeare; Attached are also typewritten copies of the poems 'Check To Song'; 'John Gilpin'; 'Twa Corbies'; 'Sailor's Consolation'; 'Rose Thou Art Sick'; 'In Time of Pestilence' and 'When Daisies Pied', no date c. 1950 - Typewritten outline of the four realised films and their contents, artists and actors, no date c.1950 - HAB-1-26-1-1
Small pressbook held.
view all - StillsPhotograph: print - Landscape - Black and White - bfi-00n-gxy
Photograph: print - Portrait - Black and White - bfi-00m-mxp
Photograph: print - Landscape - Black and White - bfi-00m-jfi
Photograph: print - Landscape - Black and White - bfi-00m-jfh
Photograph: print - Landscape - Black and White - bfi-00m-jfg
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- -Painter and Poet
Series Work - 768148
United Kingdom - Film - Fiction
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