Thorold Dickinson
| Thorold Dickinson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Thorold Barron Dickinson 16 November 1903 Bristol, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 14 April 1984 (aged 80) Oxford, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter, producer, educator |
| Years active | 1930–1958 |
Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. In recent years Dickinson's work has received much praise, with fellow director Martin Scorsese describing him as "a uniquely intelligent, passionate artist... They're not in endless supply."
Of Norwegian descent,his father was the Archdeacon of Bristol from 1921 to 1927, Dickinson was educated at Clifton College and Keble College, Oxford where he read theology, history and French. He was sent down from Oxford in his last year because his interest in theatre and film caused him to neglect his studies; he was inspired by lectures given by Edward Gordon Craig. During his time at Oxford he interrupted his studies to observe the film industry in France where he worked with George Pearson, the father of an Oxford friend. For Pearson he wrote the scenario of The Little People (1926). Following this he observed the American industry's transition to sound in New York in 1929. In the 1920s and 1930s he was active in the London Film Society, being responsible for the technical presentation of films. At the LFS, he helped introduce the work of the Soviet directors Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov to British audiences.
Dickinson worked as a film editor on such features as Love's Option (1928), Auld Lang Syne (1929), Loyalties (1933) and Sing As We Go! (1934). His first directorial experience was on Java Head (1934), when he took over after J. Walter Ruben became ill and was unable to continue. He became Vice-President of the Association of Cine-Technicians in 1936, observing the Soviet film industry for the craft union the following year, remaining in the post until 1953.
Dickinson's first feature film, starring Lionel Atwill and Lucie Mannheim, was The High Command (1937), for which he formed the short-lived Fanfare Pictures with Gordon Wellesley. He visited Spain during the Civil War and made two documentary shorts, one of which Spanish ABC (1938) "is a sober advocacy of the educational policy of Republican Spain". At short notice, Dickinson took over direction of Gaslight (1940). Based on the Patrick Hamilton play, it was later suppressed for some years when MGM bought the rights for its own version, but led to an invitation to work in Hollywood from David O. Selznick which was rejected by Dickinson.
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