Philip French | |
|---|---|
 French in 2013 | |
| Born | Philip Neville French (1933-08-28)28 August 1933 Birkenhead, England |
| Died | 27 October 2015(2015-10-27) (aged 82) London, England |
| Education | Bristol Grammar School |
| Alma mater | Exeter College, Oxford Indiana University Bloomington |
| Occupation | Film critic |
| Years active | 1957–2015 |
| Spouse | Kersti Molin |
| Children | 3 |
Philip Neville FrenchOBE (28 August 1933 – 27 October 2015) was an English film critic and radio producer. French began his career in journalism in the late 1950s, before eventually becoming aBBC Radio producer, and later a film critic. He began writing forThe Observer in 1963 and retired as film critic in 2013, but continued to write until his death.[1]
French was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire in December 2012. Upon his death on 27 October 2015, French was referred to by hisObserver successorMark Kermode as "an inspiration to an entire generation of film critics".[1]
French was born inBirkenhead in 1933.[2][3][4] The son of an insurance salesman, he moved frequently throughout his childhood, and was educated at thedirect grantBristol Grammar School[3][5] then atExeter College, Oxford[6] where he read Law.[7] He undertook post-graduate study in journalism atIndiana University Bloomington,[8] on a scholarship.[7]
French entered journalism as a reporter at theBristol Evening Post in 1957.[6] He was theatre critic of theNew Statesman between 1967 and 1968[6] and deputy film critic toDavid Robinson atThe Times for some years. French was the film critic ofThe Observer from 1978, but had begun writing for the paper in 1963.[9] He also wrote forSight and Sound. French's books includeThe Movie Moguls: An Informal History of the Hollywood Tycoons (1969) andWesterns, which reappeared in a revised version in 2005. He also wrote the bookCult Movies (1999) together with Karl French, one of his sons.
Between 1959 and 1990, when he took early retirement, French was aBBC Radio producer. At first he was a producer on the North American service, but the bulk of his BBC career was for domestic radio. He was a BBC talks producer (1961–67) and then a senior producer for the corporation from 1968.[6] In the 1960s he producedThe Critics on theBBC Home Service and from 1974 to 1990 he produced its successor programmeCritics' Forum onBBC Radio 3. His appointment as film critic ofThe Observer was opposed by the then Controller of Radio 3,Stephen Hearst, who felt that it would be impossible for French to be an impartial producer while also working as a regular film critic, but he was over-ruled by his superior,Howard Newby.[10]
French was named theBritish Press AwardsCritic of the Year in 2009.[11] He was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2013 New Year Honours for services to film.[12] French was known for his exceptional memory.Michael Billington,The Guardian's theatre critic, was appointed an OBE at the same time as French. Billington recalled: "I ended a congratulatory telephone call with the jokey line, 'See you at the palace.' Quick as a flash, he replied, 'As Dirk Bogarde said to Bill Kerr inAppointment in London in 1953'."[13]
At the beginning of May 2013 it was announced that French would retire as film critic forThe Observer in August to coincide with his 80th birthday.[14] However, he started a column reviewing older films on home video and continued it until the end of his life, writing about a Blu-ray release ofThe Ladykillers (1955) in a review published two days before his death.[15]
French was an Honorary Associate ofLondon Film School.
French had a fondness forpuns. In an essay onBritish cinema and thePost Office he began: "I don't know much aboutphilately, but I know what I lick." He was one of the few who saw and wrote humorously about the lost 1969Yoko Ono filmSelf-Portrait that exclusively featured the penis ofJohn Lennon. French was also fond of recalling theB-movie actor who, having exchanged life in Hollywood for a typewriter, called his memoirForgive Us Our Press Passes. It was suggested, in his obituary inThe Daily Telegraph, that this fondness arose from his own experience of having astammer.[16]
French and his Swedish-born wife Kersti Molin had three sons.[1] Their oldest son, Sean French, is one half of theNicci French writing team,[17] and another son, Patrick French, is a doctor. His youngest son, Karl, is an editor and author.[18] French had ten grandchildren.[19] He lived inDartmouth Park.[3]
Prompted by the release of the film,The King's Speech, French wrote about his own stammer.[20]
After years of ill health,[21] French died at his home from a heart attack on 27 October 2015, aged 82, and his ashes were buried on the eastern side ofHighgate Cemetery.[3][1][22]
Speaking after his death,The Observer editorJohn Mulholland said that French was "a giant figure" in the paper's history and "part of its soul for the past 50 years", adding:
He was a brilliant critic whose erudition and judgement were respected by generations of cinema lovers and film-makers alike. He was also a joy to work with, unfailingly warm and generous to colleagues and to the thousands of readers he encountered. He is revered as one of the most astute critics of his generation, whose love of film shone through his lucid and engaging writing. He will be missed sorely, but he will be remembered with affection and respect by his legion of admirers.[23]
French's son Sean said, "If readers felt they knew him it's because he put his personality into the writing. He was a very funny man, with a slightly grim comic view of the world and this obsessive thing about puns."[23]The Daily Telegraph said that French was "the doyen of English film critics" and estimated that he had seen some 14,000 films, many of them during the 50 years that he wrote forThe Observer.[16]
