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Jane Arden (director)
Encyclopedia
Jane Arden was a Welsh
-born film director
, actor
, screenwriter
, playwright
, songwriter
, and poet
.
, Wales. She studied acting at RADA
and began her career in the late 1940s on television and in the cinema. Arden appeared in a TV production of Romeo and Juliet
in the late 1940s, and then starred in two British crime movies: Black Memory
(1947) directed by Oswald Mitchell
— which provided South African-born actor Sid James
with his first screen credit (billed as Sydney James) — and Richard M. Grey's A Gunman Has Escaped (1948). There are copies of both films in The National Film Archive but the copy of A Gunman Has Escaped is incomplete.
and following marriage (to the director Philip Saville
) and children, Arden concentrated on writing for the stage and for television. Her stage play Conscience and Desire, and Dear Liz (1954) attracted interest, and her comedy TV drama Curtains For Harry (1955), starthe ring Bobby Howes
and Sydney Tafler
, was transmitted on 20 October 1955 by the newly-established ITV
network. The latter featured the Carry On actress Joan Sims
. Arden's co-writer on this piece was the American Richard Lester
, who was then working as a television director.
Arden worked with some leading figures of British theatre and cinema in the late 1950s. In 1958 her play The Party
, an intense family drama set in Kilburn, was directed at London
's New Theatre
by Charles Laughton
. It turned out to be Laughton's last appearance on the London stage, while it provided Albert Finney
with his first theatre role. Her 1959 television drama The Thug provided a powerful early role for actor Alan Bates
. In 1964, Arden appeared with Harold Pinter
in a TV production of Jean-Paul Sartre
's Huis Clos
, directed by her husband Phillip Saville.
and the anti-psychiatry
movement of the 1960s. This is particularly evident from 1965 onwards, starting with the TV drama The Logic Game, which she wrote and starred in. The Logic Game, which was directed by Saville, also starred the British actor David de Keyser
who worked alongside Arden again in the film Separation
(1967). Arden, again, wrote the screenplay and the film was directed by her creative partner Jack Bond
(born 1937). Separation
, which was photographed in atmospheric black and white by Aubrey Dewar, also featured music by the chart-topping British group Procol Harum
.
Arden and Bond had previously worked on a 1966 documentary
Dali in New York, which mainly consists of the renowned surrealist artist Salvador Dali
and Arden walking the streets of New York
discussing Dali's work. This film was resurrected and shown at the 2007 Tate Gallery
Dali exhibition.
Arden's television work in the mid-sixties included appearances in Saville's Exit 19
, The Interior Decorator by Jack Russell
and the popular satirical programme That Was The Week That Was
hosted by David Frost
.
Arden's work in experimental theatre
in the late 1960s and the 1970s coincided with her return to cinema as an actor, writer and director (or co-director). The play Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven (1969), starring Victor Spinetti
, and Sheila Allen
, played to packed houses for six weeks at London's Arts Lab
. It was described by Arthur Marwick
, in his book The Sixties as "perhaps the most important single production" at the venue during that period. Also around this time Arden penned the drama The Illusionist
.
In 1970, Arden formed the radical feminist theatre group Holocaust and then wrote a play called The Holocaust
. This would later be adapted for the screen as The Other Side of the Underneath
(1972). Arden directed the film and appeared in it uncredited; screenings at film festivals, including the 1972 London Film Festival
, caused a considerable stir. The film depicts a woman's mental breakdown and rebirth in scenes at times violent and highly shocking; the writer and critic George Melly
described it as "a most illuminating season in Hell", while the BBC Radio
journalist David Will declared the film to be "a major breakthrough for the British cinema". Throughout her life Arden's interest in other cultures and belief systems increasingly took the form of a personal spiritual quest.
Following The Other Side of the Underneath
, there were two further collaborations with Jack Bond in the 1970s: Vibration
(1974), described by Geoff Brown
and Robert Murphy
in their book Film Directors in Britain and Ireland (BFI
2006) as "an exercise in meditation utilising experimental film and video techniques", and the futuristic Anti-Clock
(1979), which featured Arden's songs on the soundtrack and starred Sebastian Saville. The latter opened the 1979 London Film Festival
.
In 1978, Arden published the book You Don't Know What You Want, Do You?, and supported its publication with public readings and discussions, such as that at The King's Head Theatre
in London on 1 October 1978. Although loosely defined as poetry the book is also a radical social and psychological manifesto which has been compared with R.D. Laing's Knots. By this time Arden had moved on from feminism
to a view that all people needed to be set free from the tyranny of rationality.
West Cemetery, but on 14 February 2011, her remains were exhumed and moved by her family to Highgate Cemetery
in London. She had two sons, Sebastian and Dominic. Sebastian runs Release the UK centre of expertise on drugs, the law and human rights. Dominic is the CEO of 3DD Entertainment a UK film distribution and production company. In July 2008, Arden was one of the topics discussed in the Conference of 1970s British Culture and Society held at the University of Portsmouth
.
In 2009, the British Film Institute restored the three major feature films Arden made with her creative associate Jack Bond
: Separation
(1967), The Other Side of the Underneath
(1972) and Anti-Clock
(1979). The films became available on DVD
and Blu-ray
in July 2009. Jack Bond was involved in the restoration and reissue processes, and the release of the films was accompanied by exhibition of the restored features at the National Film Theatre and The Cube Microplex in Bristol
. Her books — poetry and plays — remain out of print.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
-born film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
Early career
Jane Arden (née Norah Patricia Morris) was born at 47 Twmpath Road, PontypoolPontypool
Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....
, Wales. She studied acting at RADA
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
and began her career in the late 1940s on television and in the cinema. Arden appeared in a TV production of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
in the late 1940s, and then starred in two British crime movies: Black Memory
Black Memory
Black Memory is a 1947 British crime film starring Michael Atkinson, Myra O'Connell and Michael Medwin and directed by Oswald Mitchell. It is most notable for the first screen appearance of Sid James, who would later go on to find fame in Ealing Comedies and the Carry on films...
(1947) directed by Oswald Mitchell
Oswald Mitchell
Oswald Albert Mitchell was a British film director who directed several of the Old Mother Riley series of films.-Selected filmography:* Such Is the Law * Danny Boy * Old Mother Riley...
— which provided South African-born actor Sid James
Sid James
Sid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
with his first screen credit (billed as Sydney James) — and Richard M. Grey's A Gunman Has Escaped (1948). There are copies of both films in The National Film Archive but the copy of A Gunman Has Escaped is incomplete.
Writing and theatre
In the 1950s, after her first spell in AmericaUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and following marriage (to the director Philip Saville
Philip Saville
Philip Saville is a British television direction and screenwriting from the late 1950s...
) and children, Arden concentrated on writing for the stage and for television. Her stage play Conscience and Desire, and Dear Liz (1954) attracted interest, and her comedy TV drama Curtains For Harry (1955), starthe ring Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes, born as Charles Robert William Howes on 4 August 1895 in Battersea, England. His parents were Robert William Howes and Rose Marie Butler.- Biography :...
and Sydney Tafler
Sydney Tafler
Sydney Tafler , was a British film and television actor, first appearing in London's West End in 1936, after two years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, with Sir Seymour Hicks in The Man in Dress Clothes....
, was transmitted on 20 October 1955 by the newly-established ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network. The latter featured the Carry On actress Joan Sims
Joan Sims
Joan Sims was an English actress best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, and latterly for playing Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By.-Early life:...
. Arden's co-writer on this piece was the American Richard Lester
Richard Lester
Richard Lester is an American film director based in Britain. Lester is notable for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman film series in the 1980s.-Early years and television:...
, who was then working as a television director.
Arden worked with some leading figures of British theatre and cinema in the late 1950s. In 1958 her play The Party
The Party (1958 play)
The Party is a play by the British dramatist, actor and director Jane Arden which was first staged at the New Theatre, London on 28 May 1958. The play was directed by Charles Laughton and starred, in addition to Laughton himself, Albert Finney, Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester, Ann Lynn, Joyce...
, an intense family drama set in Kilburn, was directed at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's New Theatre
Noël Coward Theatre
The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre on St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by...
by Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
. It turned out to be Laughton's last appearance on the London stage, while it provided Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
with his first theatre role. Her 1959 television drama The Thug provided a powerful early role for actor Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
. In 1964, Arden appeared with Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
in a TV production of Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
's Huis Clos
No Exit
No Exit is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The original French title is Huis Clos, the French equivalent of the legal term in camera, referring to a private discussion behind closed doors; English translations have also been performed under the titles In Camera, No Way Out...
, directed by her husband Phillip Saville.
Feminism, film and radical theatre
Arden's work became increasingly radical following her growing interest and involvement in feminismFeminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and the anti-psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry is a configuration of groups and theoretical constructs that emerged in the 1960s, and questioned the fundamental assumptions and practices of psychiatry, such as its claim that it achieves universal, scientific objectivity. Its igniting influences were Michel Foucault, R.D. Laing,...
movement of the 1960s. This is particularly evident from 1965 onwards, starting with the TV drama The Logic Game, which she wrote and starred in. The Logic Game, which was directed by Saville, also starred the British actor David de Keyser
David de Keyser
David de Keyser is a British actor. He is the father of Alexei de Keyser, Pia de Keyser and Thomas de Keyser.In the mid-sixties de Keyser worked twice with the writer, actor and director Jane Arden. Their first collaboration, The Logic Game, was the first BBC drama to be shot on film; it was...
who worked alongside Arden again in the film Separation
Separation (1967 film)
Separation, a film produced in 1967 and released in 1968, was written by and starred Jane Arden and directed by Jack Bond. The film explores the life of a middle-aged woman following the breakdown of her marriage...
(1967). Arden, again, wrote the screenplay and the film was directed by her creative partner Jack Bond
Jack Bond (director)
Jack Bond is a British film producer and director. He is best known for his work for The South Bank Show and his creative partnership with the British writer, actor and director Jane Arden between 1965 and 1979....
(born 1937). Separation
Separation (1967 film)
Separation, a film produced in 1967 and released in 1968, was written by and starred Jane Arden and directed by Jack Bond. The film explores the life of a middle-aged woman following the breakdown of her marriage...
, which was photographed in atmospheric black and white by Aubrey Dewar, also featured music by the chart-topping British group Procol Harum
Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
.
Arden and Bond had previously worked on a 1966 documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Dali in New York, which mainly consists of the renowned surrealist artist Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
and Arden walking the streets of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
discussing Dali's work. This film was resurrected and shown at the 2007 Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
Dali exhibition.
Arden's television work in the mid-sixties included appearances in Saville's Exit 19
Exit 19
The Protector is an American drama television series created by Michael Nankin and Jeffrey Bell. The series stars Ally Walker as Gloria Sheppard, a single mother who struggles to maintain the balance between her personal and professional life as an LAPD homicide detective.The series is broadcast in...
, The Interior Decorator by Jack Russell
Jack Russell
Jack Russell is the name of:* Jack Russell , a fictional Marvel Comics character* Jack Russell Terrier, a type of dog- People :* Jack "Russer" Russell , traveler* Jack Russell , American baseball player...
and the popular satirical programme That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
hosted by David Frost
David Frost
Sir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
.
Arden's work in experimental theatre
Experimental theatre
Experimental theatre is a general term for various movements in Western theatre that began in the late 19th century as a retraction against the dominant vent governing the writing and production of dramatical menstrophy, and age in particular. The term has shifted over time as the mainstream...
in the late 1960s and the 1970s coincided with her return to cinema as an actor, writer and director (or co-director). The play Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven (1969), starring Victor Spinetti
Victor Spinetti
Victor Spinetti is a Welsh comic actor.-Early life:Spinetti was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales of Welsh and Italian heritage from a grandfather who was said to have walked from Italy to Wales to work as a coal miner...
, and Sheila Allen
Sheila Allen (English actress)
Sheila Allen was an English actress, who was best known to the wider public for her role on television as Cassie Manson in Bouquet Of Barbed Wire and its sequel Another Bouquet...
, played to packed houses for six weeks at London's Arts Lab
Arts Lab
The Arts Lab was an alternative arts centre, founded in 1967 by Jim Haynes at 182 Drury Lane. Although only active for two years, it was influential in inspiring many similar centres in the UK and continental Europe, including the expanded I.C.A...
. It was described by Arthur Marwick
Arthur Marwick
Arthur John Brereton Marwick was a professor in history. Born in Edinburgh, he was a graduate of Edinburgh University and Balliol College, Oxford. - Career :...
, in his book The Sixties as "perhaps the most important single production" at the venue during that period. Also around this time Arden penned the drama The Illusionist
The Illusionist
The Illusionist is a 2006 period drama written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", The Illusionist tells the story of Eisenheim, a magician in turn-of-the-20th-century...
.
In 1970, Arden formed the radical feminist theatre group Holocaust and then wrote a play called The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. This would later be adapted for the screen as The Other Side of the Underneath
The Other Side of the Underneath
The Other Side of the Underneath is a 1972 British feature film written and directed by Jane Arden and starring Sheila Allen, Liz Danciger, Penny Slinger, Ann Lynn, and Suzanka Fraey . Other members of the Holocaust Theatre Company appear in the film. It is the only British feature film in the...
(1972). Arden directed the film and appeared in it uncredited; screenings at film festivals, including the 1972 London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
, caused a considerable stir. The film depicts a woman's mental breakdown and rebirth in scenes at times violent and highly shocking; the writer and critic George Melly
George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for The Observer and lectured on art history, with an emphasis on surrealism.-Early life and career:He was born in Liverpool and was educated at Stowe...
described it as "a most illuminating season in Hell", while the BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
journalist David Will declared the film to be "a major breakthrough for the British cinema". Throughout her life Arden's interest in other cultures and belief systems increasingly took the form of a personal spiritual quest.
Following The Other Side of the Underneath
The Other Side of the Underneath
The Other Side of the Underneath is a 1972 British feature film written and directed by Jane Arden and starring Sheila Allen, Liz Danciger, Penny Slinger, Ann Lynn, and Suzanka Fraey . Other members of the Holocaust Theatre Company appear in the film. It is the only British feature film in the...
, there were two further collaborations with Jack Bond in the 1970s: Vibration
Vibration
Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...
(1974), described by Geoff Brown
Geoff Brown
Geoffrey "Geoff" Brown is a Scottish businessman. He was chairman of St. Johnstone from 1986 until November 2011....
and Robert Murphy
Robert Murphy
Robert Murphy or Bob Murphy is the name of:In sports:*Irish Bob Murphy , American light heavyweight boxer*Bob Murphy , American sports announcer...
in their book Film Directors in Britain and Ireland (BFI
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
2006) as "an exercise in meditation utilising experimental film and video techniques", and the futuristic Anti-Clock
Anti-Clock
Anti-Clock is a 1979 film written and directed by Jane Arden, and co-directed by Jack Bond. The film, which stars Arden's son Sebastian Saville, was shot on film and video in colour and black and white sequences...
(1979), which featured Arden's songs on the soundtrack and starred Sebastian Saville. The latter opened the 1979 London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
.
In 1978, Arden published the book You Don't Know What You Want, Do You?, and supported its publication with public readings and discussions, such as that at The King's Head Theatre
The King's Head Theatre
The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an Off-West End venue in London. It was the first pub theatre in the UK. Adam Spreadbury-Maher became Artistic Director in March 2010 .-Background:...
in London on 1 October 1978. Although loosely defined as poetry the book is also a radical social and psychological manifesto which has been compared with R.D. Laing's Knots. By this time Arden had moved on from feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
to a view that all people needed to be set free from the tyranny of rationality.
Death and legacy
Arden took her own life on 20 December 1982. She was initially buried in DarlingtonDarlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
West Cemetery, but on 14 February 2011, her remains were exhumed and moved by her family to Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a cemetery located in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery....
in London. She had two sons, Sebastian and Dominic. Sebastian runs Release the UK centre of expertise on drugs, the law and human rights. Dominic is the CEO of 3DD Entertainment a UK film distribution and production company. In July 2008, Arden was one of the topics discussed in the Conference of 1970s British Culture and Society held at the University of Portsmouth
University of Portsmouth
The University of Portsmouth is a university in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The University was ranked 60th out of 122 in The Sunday Times University Guide...
.
In 2009, the British Film Institute restored the three major feature films Arden made with her creative associate Jack Bond
Jack Bond (director)
Jack Bond is a British film producer and director. He is best known for his work for The South Bank Show and his creative partnership with the British writer, actor and director Jane Arden between 1965 and 1979....
: Separation
Separation
Separation may refer to:* Separation , the process by which a service member leaves active duty* Separation , rules to minimise the risk of collision between aircraft in flight...
(1967), The Other Side of the Underneath
The Other Side of the Underneath
The Other Side of the Underneath is a 1972 British feature film written and directed by Jane Arden and starring Sheila Allen, Liz Danciger, Penny Slinger, Ann Lynn, and Suzanka Fraey . Other members of the Holocaust Theatre Company appear in the film. It is the only British feature film in the...
(1972) and Anti-Clock
Anti-Clock
Anti-Clock is a 1979 film written and directed by Jane Arden, and co-directed by Jack Bond. The film, which stars Arden's son Sebastian Saville, was shot on film and video in colour and black and white sequences...
(1979). The films became available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
in July 2009. Jack Bond was involved in the restoration and reissue processes, and the release of the films was accompanied by exhibition of the restored features at the National Film Theatre and The Cube Microplex in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. Her books — poetry and plays — remain out of print.
Selected works
- 1940s Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(BBC TV) (actor) - 1947 Black MemoryBlack MemoryBlack Memory is a 1947 British crime film starring Michael Atkinson, Myra O'Connell and Michael Medwin and directed by Oswald Mitchell. It is most notable for the first screen appearance of Sid James, who would later go on to find fame in Ealing Comedies and the Carry on films...
(film) (actor) - 1948 A Gunman Has Escaped (film) (actor)
- 1954 Conscience and Desire, and Dear Liz (theatre) (playwright)
- 1955 Curtains For Harry (ITV) (co-writer)
- 1958 The PartyThe Party (1958 play)The Party is a play by the British dramatist, actor and director Jane Arden which was first staged at the New Theatre, London on 28 May 1958. The play was directed by Charles Laughton and starred, in addition to Laughton himself, Albert Finney, Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester, Ann Lynn, Joyce...
(theatre) (playwright) - 1959 The Thug (ITV) (writer)
- 1964 Huis Clos (BBC TV) (actor)
- 1965 The Logic Game (BBC TV) (writer, actor)
- 1965 The Interior Decorator (actor)
- 1966 Exit 19Exit 19The Protector is an American drama television series created by Michael Nankin and Jeffrey Bell. The series stars Ally Walker as Gloria Sheppard, a single mother who struggles to maintain the balance between her personal and professional life as an LAPD homicide detective.The series is broadcast in...
(a commentator) - 1966 Dali in New York (BBC TV) (interviewer)
- 1968 SeparationSeparation (1967 film)Separation, a film produced in 1967 and released in 1968, was written by and starred Jane Arden and directed by Jack Bond. The film explores the life of a middle-aged woman following the breakdown of her marriage...
(film) (writer, actor) - 1968 The IllusionistThe IllusionistThe Illusionist is a 2006 period drama written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", The Illusionist tells the story of Eisenheim, a magician in turn-of-the-20th-century...
(writer) - 1969 Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven (theatre) (writer)
- 1971 A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches (aka Holocaust) (theatre) (playwright)
- 1972 The Other Side of the UnderneathThe Other Side of the UnderneathThe Other Side of the Underneath is a 1972 British feature film written and directed by Jane Arden and starring Sheila Allen, Liz Danciger, Penny Slinger, Ann Lynn, and Suzanka Fraey . Other members of the Holocaust Theatre Company appear in the film. It is the only British feature film in the...
(1972 film) (writer, uncredited actor, director) - 1974 VibrationVibrationVibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...
(film) (writer, co-director) - 1978 You Don't Know What You Want, Do You? (poetry) (writer)
- 1979 Anti-ClockAnti-ClockAnti-Clock is a 1979 film written and directed by Jane Arden, and co-directed by Jack Bond. The film, which stars Arden's son Sebastian Saville, was shot on film and video in colour and black and white sequences...
(film) (writer, composer, co-director)
Sources
- Film Directors in Britain and Ireland (BFI 2006) edited by Robert Murphy
- Unknown Pleasures: Vertigo Magazine online August 2007 http://www.vertigomagazine.co.uk/showarticle.php?sel=bac&siz=1&id=836
- Arden and Dali Loiter in the Streets: Vertigo Magazine online http://www.vertigomagazine.co.uk/showarticle.php?sel=bac&siz=1&id=925
- Jane Arden, Jethro Tull and 1973: Vertigo Magazine online August 2008 http://www.vertigomagazine.co.uk/showarticle.php?sel=bac&siz=1&id=1064