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Kevin Brownlow
 | short profile |
"I tried hard to meet [Garbo], but when I saw her in the street,
I turned into a pillar of salt." — Kevin Brownlow
B I O
h e r e
Kevin Brownlow entry at Wikipedia
![won shared Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series for "Unknown Chaplin" [1983]](images/EmmyAward_sm.jpg) | Kevin Brownlow won an Honorary Oscar in November 2010
and three shared Emmy Awards – one for "Unknown Chaplin" [1983] and two for "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act To Follow" [1987] – and 4 other Emmy nominations |
He also received
BAFTA's Michael Balcon Award (1981) and 4 BAFTA nominations (1967-84)
three Special Awards for the "Napoléon" re-release [(1981)
the American Society of Cinematographers Special Achievement Award (2004)
and the 2007 Mel Novikoff Award [est. 1988] from San Francisco Intl. Film Festival [est. 1954]
Films of Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow credits [1962-2016] at Internet Movie Database
browse DVDs of Kevin Brownlow at Amazon
"It Happened Here" [Lopert Pictures May 1966]
| In 1940, the Nazis invade Britain and transform it into a fascist state where some Britons collaborate and others resist; filmed over six years in Wales and in Dorset, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire & London in England • Co-produced, co-written & co-directed by Kevin Brownlow & Andrew Mollo; starring Pauline Murray & Sebastian Shaw
Milestone Cinematheque b&w DVD [2/2000] for $20.46 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia "How It Happened Here" book [1968] |
"Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite" documentary [1968] by Kevin Brownlow
video/DVD not available;
full credits from IMDb
"Winstanley" [1975] /tt0073911/
"It Happened Here Again" [1976] /tt0074696/
"Hollywood: A Celebration of The American Silent Film" [HBO-TV 1980]
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Episode 1 "The Pioneers" - interviews include Lillian Gish, Jackie Coogan, King Vidor;
Episode 2 "In The Beginning" - interviews include Henry King, Agnes de Mille, Lillian Gish;
Episode 3 "Single Beds and Double Standards" - interviews include King Vidor, Gloria Swanson;
Episode 4 "Hollywood Goes To War" - interviews include Douglas Fairbanks Jr., King Vidor, Blanche Sweet, Lillian Gish;
Episode 5 "Hazard of The Game" - interviews include stuntmen Yakima Canutt, Harvey Parry, Bob Rose, Paul Malvern;
Episode 6 "Swanson and Valentino" - interviews include Rudolph Valentino's brother Alberto, Gloria Swanson;
Episode 7 "Autocrats" - interviews include Agnes DeMille, Gloria Swanson, Allen Dwan, Henry King;
Episode 8 "Comedy" - interviews include Hal Roach Sr., Jackie Coogan, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd;
Episode 9 "Out West" - inter-views include Yakima Canutt, Colonel Tim McCoy, Harvey Parry, John Wayne;
Episode 10 "The Man With The Megaphone" - interviews include Bessie Love, Janet Gaynor, King Vidor.
Episode 11 "Trick of The Light" - interviews include William Wyler, Lillian Gish;
Episode 12 "Star Treat-ment" - interviews include Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Louise Brooks, King Vidor;
Episode 13 "End of An Era" - interviews include Lillian Gish, Mary Astor, Janet Gaynor, George Cukor, Frank Capra •
series credits at IMDb
Written & directed by David Gill & Kevin Brownlow, narration by James Mason DVD/Blu-ray not available • complete box set on VHS: HBO b&w/color VHS [10/2001] 13 tapes - out of prodn/scarce |
Nine of the 13 episodes are available for streaming at Amazon Prime (2019)
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"Millay At Steepletop" (1983) /tt0271064/
http://www.amazon.com/Millay-at-Steepletop-Norma/dp/B00008H2GY/
"Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius" [1989] episode of "American Masters" /tt0208197/
 | "Unknown Chaplin: The Master At Work" [BBC-TV documentary Jan 1983; P.B.S. July 1986] Never-before-seen out-takes & other rare footage, from the Chaplin vaults. Written, produced & directed by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; won Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series A&E/Thames color DVD [11/2005] for $19.99 full credits from IMDb • see also Magic Lantern's Charlie Chaplin [1889-1977] Page |
 | "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act To Follow" [H.B.O. mini-series 1987] Written & directed by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Informational Series & for Outstanding Writing H.B.O. b&w VHS box set [8/89] 3 tapes for $34.99 "From Vaudeville to Movies" b&w [8/89] for $19.99 "Star Without a Studio" b&w [8/89] for $19.99 "Genius Recognized" b&w [8/89] for $19.99 full credits from IMDb • see also Magic Lantern's Buster Keaton [1895-1966] Pages |
 | "D.W. Griffith: Father of Film" [PBS-TV broadcast March 1993] Produced, written & directed by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; narrated by director Lindsay Anderson Kino Intl. color/b&w DVD [11/2008] for $26.99 H.B.O. Home Video color VHS [3/94] 3 tapes - out of prodn/rare full credits from IMDb see also Magic Lantern's D.W. Griffith [1875-1948] Page |
 | "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood" [Photoplay 1995 mini-series] Produced by Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; narrated by Kenneth Branagh & Jean-Louis Trintignant Image Ent b&w/color DVD [5/2000] for $44.99 Cinema Guild VHS [3/98] 3 tapes - out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | "Universal Horror" documentary TV movie [Photoplay Oct 1998] examines the early days of horror films, particularly those crafted at Universal Studios during the 1930s • Directed by Kevin Brownlow; narrated by Kenneth Branagh; featuring interviewees Ray Bradbury, Nina Foch, James Karen, Carla Laemmle, daughter Sara Karloff, Forrest J. Ackerman, Gloria Stuart, Fay Wray, Anne Carré, Gavin Lambert, Nicholas Webster, Lupita Tovar Kohner, George E. Turner, Gloria Jean, Curtis Harrington, Philip Jenkinson, Turhan Bey, Rose Hobart, Arianne Ulmer Cipes, Curt Siodmak; actors & others: Christopher Adamson, John Augur, David J. Skal, biographer Jim Curtis; with archive footage of Leon Ames, Richard Arlen, Robert Armstrong, Lionel Atwill, King Baggot, John Barrymore, Julie Bishop, Kathleen Burke, Howard Carter, Lon Chaney Jr., Lon Chaney Sr., Mae Clarke, Colin Clive, Lou Costello, Joan Crawford, Bramwell Fletcher, Sidney Fox, Dwight Frye, Charles Gemora, Nan Grey, Marilyn Harris, O.P. Heggie, Fay Helm, George Herbert (Lord Carnarvon), Samuel S. Hinds, Adolf Hitler, Valerie Hobson, Gloria Holden, Zita Johann, Boris Karloff, Laura La Plante, Carl Laemmle, Elsa Lanchester, Fritz Lang, Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Rouben Mamoulian, David Manners, Fredric March, Tully Mar-shall, Mary Philbin, Jack P. Pierce, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone, Max Schreck, Ernest Thesiger, Edward Van Sloan, Conrad Veidt, Carlos Villarías full credits at IMDb • watch full movie [11/2016 upload; 1:35:21] online at YouTube |
"Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces" (2000) (TV)
 | "Captured On Film: The True Story of Marion Davies" [2001 Turner/Milestone TV documentary] Co-written & directed by Hugh Munro Neely; narrated by Charlize Theron; featuring Cari Beauchamp, Kevin Brownlow, Charles Champlin, Virginia Madsen, Constance Moore & Ruth Warrick Image Ent. color/b&w DVD [12/2002] for $26.99 Milestone color/b&w VHS [1/2002] out of prodn/used documentary's credits at IMDb the CD includes the 1-hour documentary, a stills gallery, and the silent period comedy feature "Quality Street" [1927] |
"Against The Dying of The Light" (2001) /tt0268897/
"The Tramp and The Dictator" (2002) (V)
"Sherlock Holmes" silent feature [Goldwyn Pictures Corp. March 1922]
 | Long considered a lost film, print elements discovered in 1970, restoration by Kevin Brownlow & Eastman House completed in 2003. Awkward storyline, with events when Holmes & Watson were students at Cambridge leading many years later to a confrontation with evil Prof. Moriarty. Co-produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by Albert Parker; based on the 1899 Broadway stageplay by William Gillette; starring John Barrymore {as Holmes}, Roland Young {as Watson}, Carol Dempster, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Hedda Hopper & Reginald Denny Kino Intl. b&w silent Blu-ray [12/2011] for $31.49 
Kino Intl. b&w silent DVD [12/2011] for $16.99
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |  |
 | "Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic" TV documentary [Photoplay Productions/TMC 2004] Follows DeMille's career from Lasky/Paramount to M.G.M. to independent and back to Paramount. Part 1 looks at DeMille's early life and silent films; Part 2 follows his work on the talkies. Produced by Patrick Stanbury; directed by Kevin Brownlow; narrated by Kenneth Branagh; featuring Martin Scorsese, Angela Lansbury, Steven Spielberg, Cecilia DeMille Presley, Richard de Mille & Charlton Heston, plus archive interviews with niece Agnes de Mille, Charlie Chaplin, Samuel Goldwyn, Henry Hathaway, Gloria Swanson and DeMille himself DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb watch full 2-hour movie online at YouTube: Part 1 [57.51] • Part 2 [58.25] |
"So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & M.G.M." [2004]
Kevin Brownlow & Christopher Bird's documentary /tt0440814/
 | "Garbo" documentary [T.C.M. 2005] 86-minute TV documentary that includes the 1949 'comeback' test footage shot by cinematographer James Wong Howe. Co-produced by Patrick Stanley; co-written & co-directed by Christopher Bird & Kevin Brownlow; narrated by Julie Christie; featuring Cari Beauchamp, Charles Busch, Leatrice Joy Gilbert, James Karen, Barry Paris, Gray Reisfield, Karen Swenson, Gore Vidal, and Mark Vieira; with archive footage of George Cukor, Ernst Lubitsch, Mimi Pollak, Louis B. Mayer, Victor Sjöström & Irving Thalberg T.C.M. Archives color/b&w DVD [2008] out of prodn/many used full credits at IMDb see also Magic Lantern's Greta Garbo [1905-90] Page |
"King Kong!: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper" (2005)
Other Works by & about Kevin Brownlow
 | "The Parade's Gone By: A Vivid, Nostalgic, Immediate Portrait of An Art Form In The Making" [1968] by Kevin Brownlow Univ CA Press 10x7 pb [6/76] for $30.17 Random House/Knopf hardcover [1968] out of print/used |
 | "Hollywood: The Pioneers" [1979] by Kevin Brownlow & John Kobal Knopf hardcover [3/80] out of print/used HarperCollins hardcover [10/79] out of print/used |
 | "Napoleon" [1983] by Kevin Brownlow Abel Gance's masterpeice would have been lost had then-teenager Brownlow not discovered 9.5mm snippets in a London shop. The book is a record of the 30-plus years of extraordinary work that resulted in the 4-hour 1981 version and the over-five-hour restoration of 2000. British Film Institute 9x6 pb [1/2008] not available? Knopf pb [10/83] out of print/used Jonathan Cape hardcover [5/83] out of print/used |
 | "Mary Pickford Rediscovered: Rare Pictures of A Hollywood Legend" [1999] by Kevin Brownlow, Introduction by Robert Cushman Harry N. Abrams 12¼x9½ coffeetable hardcover [5/99] out of print/many used more on Magic Lantern's Mary Pickford [1892-1979] Page |
 | "Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton" [1999] by John Bengtson & Kevin Brownlow Santa Monica Press 8½x11 pb [12/99] for $17.46 see also Magic Lantern's Buster Keaton [1895-1966] Pages |
 | "Cinerama Adventure" documentary feature [indep Sept 2003] Written, directed & narrated by David Strohmaier; featuring experts Rudy Behlmer, John Belton, Kevin Brownlow, Thomas Erffmeyer, Leonard Maltin & Howard Rust video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb • official website |
 | "Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through The Films of Charlie Chaplin" [2006] by John Bengtson & Kevin Brownlow
Santa Monica Press 8½x11 pb [8/2006] for $16.47 see also Magic Lantern's Charlie Chaplin [1889-1977] Page |
 | "The Search For Charlie Chaplin" [2010] by Kevin Brownlow After a long quest to find the many missing Keystone shorts of Charlie Chaplin, which led to film vaults in England, France, and the United States, Brownlow and his Thames Television team compiled "Unknown Chaplin" [1983], three hour-long documentaries. They learned so much about Chaplin during that process that could not be squeezed into the TV series that they decided to preserve it in the form of a book. U.K.A. Press 9½x6½ pb [4/2010] for $15.51 |
 | "American Classic Screen: Interviews" [2010] Edited by John C. Tibbetts & James M. Welsh, Foreword by Kevin Brownlow Scarecrow Press 8¾x6 pb [8/2010] for $36.52 American Classic Screen Magazine [1976-86] was published by The National Film Society; these exclusive interviews have long been difficult or impossible to access, but are now collected by editors Tibbetts & Welsh; the Interviews include: Fred Astaire, Joan Bennett, Bernard Brown, Kevin Brownlow, Frank Capra, William Clothier, Buster Crabbe, Olivia de Havilland, Stanley Donen, Irene Dunne, William K. Everson, Joan Fontaine, Friz Freleng, Margaret Hamilton, Winton C. Hoch, Ollie Johnston, Henry King, Mervyn Le Roy, Fred MacMurray, Glen MacWill-iams, Rouben Mamoulian, Mike Mazurki, Clarence 'Ducky' Nash, Paul Newman, Hermes Pan, Robert Preston, Esther Ralston, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, and Jane Withers |
L i n k s
Kevin Brownlow entry at Wikipedia
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/547695/
here on the cinema historian Kevin Brownlow Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
top of page • short profile • films of Kevin Brownlow • other works • links
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