British cinema of the 1950s: a celebration

Abstract

Tthis book is an event which took place on Saturday, 5 December 1998 at the British Library in London. It was a study day consisting of lectures about British cinema in the 1950s: most of these are printed here, with an equal number of new essays which have been written since. In the evenings of the week preceding the study day, seven films were screened. They appeared under the headings of ‘Festive Fifties’ (The Impor- tance of Being Earnest, in a sparkling new print), ‘Community Fifties’ (John and Julie and The Browning Version), ‘Tough Fifties’ (Women of Twilight and Hell Drivers) and ‘Women’s Fifties’ (My Teenage Daughter and Yield to the Night).