C. A. Lejeune
Encyclopedia
Caroline Alice Lejeune (1897–1973) was a British
writer, best known as the film
critic of The Observer
from 1928 to 1960.
, youngest of a large Victorian
family. Her father was a Swiss cotton
merchant who had come to England
from Frankfurt
, and her mother Louisa was the daughter of the non-conformist minister Dr Alexander Maclaren
. The family home was at 10, Wilmslow Road, Withington; Caroline Herford, headmistress of Lady Barn House School was her godmother. She was educated at Lady Barn House School
and Withington Girls' School
, she turned down the opportunity to go to Oxford University
and instead went to Manchester University
to study English language and literature. Her mother was a friend of C. P. Scott
and of Caroline Herford; they were three of the four founders of Withington Girls' School at which Caroline and four of her sisters (Franziska, Marion, Juliet and Hélène) were educated.
, she soon began writing for the Manchester Guardian (now The Guardian
) as a music critic. Her main interests at first were Gilbert and Sullivan
, Verdi and Puccini, but she was increasingly excited by the new medium of the cinema, and began writing a weekly column for the paper called "The Week on the Screen" from 1922. She moved to London in 1921 and after marrying Edward Rolfe Thompson, who at one point was editor of John Bull
, in 1925, she moved to Pinner Hill, Middlesex. She left the Manchester Guardian for The Observer in 1928, where she was to remain for the next 32 years, although she also contributed to journals as diverse as The New York Times
and Farmers' Weekly. In the post-war years, she was also a television
critic for a time, and she adapted books such as the Sherlock Holmes
stories, Clementina and The Three Hostages
as television serials.
Long compared to Dilys Powell
, who wrote for The Sunday Times
for much of the time that Lejeune wrote for The Observer, Lejeune's work has perhaps worn less well than Powell's. The writer and critic Brian McFarlane has gone so far as to say that "read now, [Lejeune] seems to have had no feeling for cinema at all" and that she "simply never seemed to take the cinema seriously, as if it was not an art form to compare with others". This is understandable for the time — it is very much in tune with the zeitgeist of an age when "les films d'art et d'essai" were very much a minority intellectual interest and "la politique des auteurs" was not as influential as it was to become.
In the post-war years, Lejeune certainly became disillusioned by various trends in the cinema. Shortly after expressing her disgust at Michael Powell
's Peeping Tom
, she resigned from The Observer following the release of Alfred Hitchcock
's Psycho
in 1960. Subsequently, she completed Angela Thirkell
's unfinished last novel, Three Score Years and Ten (1961) and wrote her autobiography Thank You For Having Me (1964). She also wrote an early book on the subject of Cinema (1931), and her film reviews are anthologised in Chestnuts in her Lap (1947) and posthumously in The C. A. Lejeune Film Reader, edited by her son Anthony Lejeune (1991).
, Middlesex for over forty years. Peter Sellers
said of her that "her kindness, her complete integrity and her qualities as an observer and a commentator have gained her the unqualified admiration of my profession. She respects integrity in others and has no harsh word for anyone whose honest efforts end in failure. Everything she has written, I am sure, has come as much from her heart as her head, and the high quality of her writing, and the standard of film-making she encourages, have made her work a part of cinema history".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
writer, best known as the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
critic of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
from 1928 to 1960.
Family
She was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, youngest of a large Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
family. Her father was a Swiss cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
merchant who had come to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, and her mother Louisa was the daughter of the non-conformist minister Dr Alexander Maclaren
Alexander Maclaren
Alexander Maclaren was an English non-conformist minister of Scottish origin.-Biography:Maclaren was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of David Maclaren, a merchant and Baptist lay preacher. In 1836, his father went to Australia where from 1837 to 1841 he served as Resident Manager of the South...
. The family home was at 10, Wilmslow Road, Withington; Caroline Herford, headmistress of Lady Barn House School was her godmother. She was educated at Lady Barn House School
Lady Barn House School
Lady Barn House School is an independent primary school on Schools Hill in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, . It was originally in Fallowfield, Manchester, but moved to its present location in the 1950s. It was founded in 1873 by W. H...
and Withington Girls' School
Withington Girls' School
Withington Girls' School is an independent day school in Fallowfield, Manchester, United Kingdom, providing education for girls between the ages of seven and eighteen. Withington Girls' School is a member of the Girls' Schools Association and a MyDaughter school. Withington is consistently ranked...
, she turned down the opportunity to go to Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and instead went to Manchester University
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
to study English language and literature. Her mother was a friend of C. P. Scott
C. P. Scott
Charles Prestwich Scott was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 until 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death...
and of Caroline Herford; they were three of the four founders of Withington Girls' School at which Caroline and four of her sisters (Franziska, Marion, Juliet and Hélène) were educated.
Journalism and other writing
Due mainly to her mother's friendship with C. P. ScottC. P. Scott
Charles Prestwich Scott was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 until 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death...
, she soon began writing for the Manchester Guardian (now The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
) as a music critic. Her main interests at first were Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
, Verdi and Puccini, but she was increasingly excited by the new medium of the cinema, and began writing a weekly column for the paper called "The Week on the Screen" from 1922. She moved to London in 1921 and after marrying Edward Rolfe Thompson, who at one point was editor of John Bull
John Bull (magazine)
John Bull Magazine was a weekly periodical established in the City, London EC4, by Theodore Hook in 1820.-Publication dates:It was a popular periodical that continued in production through 1824 and at least until 1957...
, in 1925, she moved to Pinner Hill, Middlesex. She left the Manchester Guardian for The Observer in 1928, where she was to remain for the next 32 years, although she also contributed to journals as diverse as The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Farmers' Weekly. In the post-war years, she was also a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
critic for a time, and she adapted books such as the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stories, Clementina and The Three Hostages
The Three Hostages
The Three Hostages is the fourth of five Richard Hannay novels by Scottish author John Buchan, first published in 1924 by Hodder & Stoughton, London....
as television serials.
Long compared to Dilys Powell
Dilys Powell
Elizabeth Dilys Powell was a British journalist, author and film critic.She was born into a middle class family in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. Her mother was Mary Jane Lloyd; her father, Thomas Powell, a bank manager...
, who wrote for The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
for much of the time that Lejeune wrote for The Observer, Lejeune's work has perhaps worn less well than Powell's. The writer and critic Brian McFarlane has gone so far as to say that "read now, [Lejeune] seems to have had no feeling for cinema at all" and that she "simply never seemed to take the cinema seriously, as if it was not an art form to compare with others". This is understandable for the time — it is very much in tune with the zeitgeist of an age when "les films d'art et d'essai" were very much a minority intellectual interest and "la politique des auteurs" was not as influential as it was to become.
In the post-war years, Lejeune certainly became disillusioned by various trends in the cinema. Shortly after expressing her disgust at Michael Powell
Michael Powell (director)
Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
's Peeping Tom
Peeping Tom (film)
Peeping Tom is a 1960 British psychological thriller directed by Michael Powell and written by the World War II cryptographer and polymath Leo Marks. The title derives from the slang expression 'peeping Tom' describing a voyeur...
, she resigned from The Observer following the release of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
in 1960. Subsequently, she completed Angela Thirkell
Angela Thirkell
Angela Margaret Thirkell , was an English and Australian novelist. She also published one novel, Trooper to Southern Cross, under the pseudonym Leslie Parker.-Early life:...
's unfinished last novel, Three Score Years and Ten (1961) and wrote her autobiography Thank You For Having Me (1964). She also wrote an early book on the subject of Cinema (1931), and her film reviews are anthologised in Chestnuts in her Lap (1947) and posthumously in The C. A. Lejeune Film Reader, edited by her son Anthony Lejeune (1991).
Death
C. A. Lejeune died at the age of 76 in 1973: a resident of PinnerPinner
- Climate :Pinner's geographical position on the far western side of North West London makes it the furthest London suburb from any UK coastline. Hence the lower prevalence of moderating maritime influences make Pinner noticeably warmer in the spring and the summer compared to the rest of the capital...
, Middlesex for over forty years. Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
said of her that "her kindness, her complete integrity and her qualities as an observer and a commentator have gained her the unqualified admiration of my profession. She respects integrity in others and has no harsh word for anyone whose honest efforts end in failure. Everything she has written, I am sure, has come as much from her heart as her head, and the high quality of her writing, and the standard of film-making she encourages, have made her work a part of cinema history".