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. During the 1920s, 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 industry’s commercial forces.
Using the experiences of Adrian Brunel, Josephine Botting 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.
Tracing the ups and downs of Brunel’s biography with detailed reference to his personal papers,
Adrian Brunel and British Cinema of the 1920s
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.