Dilys Powell | |
|---|---|
 Dilys Powell in 1984 | |
| Born | Elizabeth Dilys Powell (1901-07-20)20 July 1901 Bridgnorth,Shropshire, England |
| Died | 3 June 1995(1995-06-03) (aged 93) London, England |
| Occupation | Film critic, journalist, author |
| Language | English |
| Education | Somerville College, Oxford (BA) |
| Subject | Film |
| Years active | 1939–1992 |
| Spouse | |
Elizabeth Dilys PowellCBE (20 July 1901 – 3 June 1995) was a Britishfilm critic and travel writer who contributed toThe Sunday Times for more than 50 years. Powell was known for her receptiveness to cultural change in the cinema and coined many classic phrases about films and actors. She was a founding member of theIndependent Television Authority (ITA), which launched commercial television in the UK. She was also the second female president of theClassical Association. Powell wrote several books on films and her travels in Greece.
Dilys Powell was born inBridgnorth, Shropshire, to Thomas Powell (a bank manager) and Mary Jane Lloyd. She attendedTalbot Heath School,Bournemouth before winning anexhibition[1] to read Modern Languages atSomerville College, Oxford.[2]
Powell considered studyingClassics (Literae Humaniores) – "Greats" – at Oxford University, but she was advised against it by her brother: '"Don't" he said; "the Classics are a terrible grind for a girl, and you will be prematurely wrinkled."'[3] Powell took his advice, but later regretted it, feeling that she had been robbed of "deep and solid pleasures", having "small Latin...and, goodness knows, less Greek".[3][a]
At Oxford, Powell met an archaeologist,Humfry Payne (19 February 1902 – 9 May 1936), whom she married in 1926. While studying at Oxford, she made news headlines in theDaily Mail after being "taken out for tea" and climbing over the wall to go out with Payne; she wasrusticated for two terms and theprincipal accused her of "dragging the name of Somerville in the dust".[2][better source needed] She graduated with afirst-class honours degree in Modern Languages in 1923.[2]
After graduation, Powell spent a period as personal assistant toLady Ottoline Morrell before joining the literary department ofThe Sunday Times in 1928.[5]
In 1929, her husband Humfry Payne was appointed director of theBritish School at Athens. From 1931 to 1936, Powell spent part of each year in Greece, frequently attending excavations where her husband was working, including the excavation of theHeraion of Perachora, as well as attending an excavation atAbydos, Egypt.[3][6] Payne died in Athens in 1936 from astaphylococcus infection. They had no children.
Powell continued her periodic visits to Greece after 1936, until theSecond World War made travel difficult. In 1939 Powell was appointed film critic atThe Sunday Times. In 1941, she found war work with a Greek connection in thePolitical Warfare Executive, which oversaw Britain's propaganda in occupied Europe; she remained there until 1945,[7] where she was tasked with making sure that the BBC's broadcasts to Greece accurately represented British policies.[8] In June 1943, she marriedLeonard Russell (1906–1974), the literary editor atThe Sunday Times.[9]
Powell was one of the founding members of theIndependent Television Authority (ITA) from 1954, despite initial concerns about her possible conflicts of interest (she wrote for a newspaper that was backing one of theITV network franchises, but its bid was eventually withdrawn).[10] She resigned her post at the ITA in 1956, in protest at the government's refusal to come up with funding which it had promised to the authority in theTelevision Act 1954.[10] She was a long-time regular panel member of the BBC radio word game,My Word!.
Powell's journalism led a change in the writing of cinema criticism. To quote theBritish Film Institute: "she was open to new directions in cinema and was not constrained by the middle class shibboleths of 'good taste', unlike her rivalC. A. Lejeune, film critic forThe Observer from 1928 to 1960." She remained film critic atThe Sunday Times until 1979 – a compilation of her reviews was published in 1989 asThe Golden Screen – but from 1976 she also began writing about films on television, which she continued to do until the end of her life. Her last piece, a review ofBarry Lyndon, appeared inThe Times on the day of her death. She also served as film critic forPunch until its first closure in 1992.[11][12]
Powell, aphilhellene, made frequent visits to Greece, including attending the British School at Athens excavations at Emporio onChios in 1954 in order to report on the excavations forThe Sunday Times.[8] She was the author of several books about the country, includingRemember Greece (1941);An Affair of the Heart (1958), describing her repeated visits to the village ofPerachora, site of Payne's excavations of theHeraion; andThe Villa Ariadne (1973), a memoir of the archaeologists associated with the house built bySir Arthur Evans near the palace ofKnossos, including several (such asJohn Pendlebury) who were active in theCretan Resistance during World War II. Other works include a biography of Payne,The Traveller's Journey is Done (1943). Powell served as president of theClassical Association from 1966 to 1967, giving her presidential address at the University of Reading on 5 April 1967.[3] She was only the second female President of the Classical Association, following ProfessorDorothy Tarrant (President 1958-1959). Powell was made aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1974,[13][14] awarded aBritish Film Institute Fellowship in 1983,[15] and made an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford University, in 1991.[16] Powell was a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Literature.[14] She served as a Governor of theBritish Film Institute from 1948 to 1952.[9]
In 1991, theCritics' Circle Theatre Award established the annual Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film in her honour. The first recipient of the award wasDirk Bogarde; other recipients have includedChristopher Lee,Richard Attenborough,Judi Dench,Helena Bonham Carter,Kenneth Branagh, andKate Winslet.[17]
