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Screenwriter

Donald Clarke

Whingeing about cinema and real life since 2009

Deaths

Farewell Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)
  • Deaths
  • March 23, 2011, 13:55

It does not involve hyperbole to state that Elizabeth Taylor was an institution. A star for over 60 years, she represented an ideal of Hollywood glamour that died with the 1960s, but, somehow, despite relegation to TV and glorified B-movies, …

Farewell then John Barry
  • Deaths
  • January 31, 2011, 22:08

The urge to hum “The James Bond Theme” is almost irresistible. Dum dee dum dum, dum dum dum. Dum dee dum dum, dum dum dum. DAH DAH! DAH DOO DAH! But, of course, John Barry did not actually write that …

Peter Yates’s great vehicle chase.
  • Deaths
  • January 11, 2011, 00:07

The versatile English director Peter Yates has died at the age of 81. Quite a number of the obituaries pointed out that he directed one of the great sequences of cinematic automotive mayhem. They are quite right. It featured cracking …

“That’s right, the Mascara Snake. Fast and bulbous.”

“Bulbous also tapered.” “Yeah, but you’ve got to wait till I say: ‘Also a tinned teardrop’”. “Oh, Christ!” “Alright, again. Beginning.” “Fast and bulbous.” “That’s right, the Mascara Snake. Fast and bulbous. Also a tinned teardrop.” “Bulbous also tapered.” “That’s …

Memories of Ingrid Pitt.
  • Deaths
  • November 25, 2010, 20:53

I offer apologies for so often turning this “blog” into a class of obituary page, but mention should be made of the great Ingrid Pitt. The lively Polish-born actor, who has died at the age of 73, was best known …

Jill Clayburgh and moments in the sun
  • Deaths
  • November 15, 2010, 21:05

We forgot to mention that Jill Clayburgh died last week. Who? Well, exactly. Clayburgh’s career arc demonstrates how insecure movie fame can be. For a very brief period — 1978 to 1980 or so — the New Yorker was one …

Tony Curtis and Arthur Penn Leave us.
  • Deaths
  • September 30, 2010, 22:26

We’ve been buzzing around a lot this week, so I haven’t had time to ring the morose bell and mourn the loss of Arthur Penn and Tony Curtis. It would, however, be a shame not to post a sentence. Farewell, …

Claude Chabrol 1930 – 2010
  • Deaths
  • September 12, 2010, 13:02

With the death of Claude Chabrol, the thrilling conflagration that was the French New Wave seems even more distant. On paper Chabrol looks like an archetypal member of the movement. Like Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, he was a critic …