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The History of British Cinema: 1960

15/3 -

Bryan Forbes’ The Angry Silence is released by Beaver Films.   Starring Richard Attenborough (replacing Kenneth More), the film is made for only £97,000 due to a deferred payment scheme for artists. [ADD]

24/4 -

Newsreels are included in the British film registration requirements. [ADD]

16/5 -

Peeping Tom, Michael Powell’s psychological chiller, is released.   Starring Carl Boehm as a film technician who films women as he murders them, the film is misunderstood upon its release, and Powell’s career never recovers. [ADD]

25/7 -

Tony Richardson’s adaptation of John Osborne’s The Entertainer is released.   The film stars Laurence Olivier as seedy music-hall showman Archie Rice, and prompts the suggestion from Richardson that low-budget films for limited audiences could be the answer to what he calls Britain's ailing film industry. [ADD]

28/9 -

Rouben Mamoulian films the first scenes of Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor who will earn $1 million plus 10% of profits. [ADD]

– The Films Act consolidates legislation regarding cinema licensing, quota of screen time devoted to British films and the banning of ‘blind booking.’ [ADD]

– The ban on supply of movies to TV is broken when ITV buys 55 post-war feature films. [ADD]

– The Associated British Pictures Corporation has 319 cinemas in its ABC chain [ADD]

– The Slade School of Art, University College, London, establishes the first British university lectureship in film studies.   Film director Thorold Dickinson is appointed. [ADD]

– Entertainments Tax is abolished. [ADD]

Other Key British Films of 1960

The Brides of Dracula (Terence Fisher) [ADD]

The Criminal (Joseph Losey) [ADD]

The Millionairess (Anthony Asquith) [ADD]

Sons and Lovers (Jack Cardiff) [ADD]

The Sundowners (Fred Zinnemann) [ADD]

The Trials of Oscar Wilde (Ken Hughes) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1960