Adrian Brunel and British Cinema of the 1920s

Abstract

British cinema has been in the shadow of Hollywood for over a hundred years, constantly attempting to define itself in an effort to challenge its dominance. In the interwar years, a small group of intellectuals argued that injecting a level of ‘art’ into the medium was the way to do this, a view strongly opposed by the commercial forces of the industry. Using the experiences of Adrian Brunel, this book demonstrates how this clash affected the careers of filmmakers attempting to prove their theory. Brunel was cultured yet financially insecure, caught between the creative Bohemianism of 1920s London and a conventional, conservative film industry. Problems of financing, censorship and distribution beset the British film industry throughout the silent cinema period and, to some degree, still do. By providing detailed evidence of the problems facing the 1920s British film industry, the book provides a better understanding of their nature and causes, as well as the strategies that Brunel and his associates employed to try and obviate them. Tracing the ups and downs of Brunel’s biography during the decade, with detailed reference to his personal papers, the book exposes the various forces controlling the production, distribution and exhibition of films in Britain as Brunel tried to negotiate them and find a niche in the insecure and competitive arena of British film.