Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone!  I was thinking of writing a list of New year's resolutions but decided against this when I realised I hadn't done half the ones I set out last year.  2010 was a very busy year with lots of happy times, and some sad too.  Here's to a year of new and happy experiences in 2011.

I don't have the TCM television channel but if I did I'd be tuning in on Sunday 11th January (it said Sunday 11th on their website but have just checked an online TV Guide and it is actually on Saturday 15th January at 1.10pm and again at 5am) as they will be screening Lindsay Anderson's The Whales of August (1987).  This film is available on DVD but has never had a UK release so it can be difficult and pricey to get hold of.   It is one of my favourite Lindsay Anderson films so this is as much of an excuse as I need to post a lovely photo of Lindsay Anderson with the wonderful Lillian Gish.

Lindsay Anderson and Lillian Gish on set of The Whales of August, LA/1/11/4/2
© Lindsay Anderson Collection, University of Stirling Archives

Lillian Gish photographs from the Lindsay Anderson Archive

I missed the anniversary of the death of Lillian Gish on the 27th February - she was born in October 1893 and died on 27 February 1993. In honour of Lillian Gish I thought I would post some photographs from the Lindsay Anderson Archive. Anderson worked with Gish on 'The Whales of August', indeed Lillian Gish was the catalyst for the movie being made as Mike Kaplan, the film's producer, was determined to find a film he could make with Gish. I love 'The Whales of August', not because I'm being loyal to my work, but because it is a beautiful, graceful and all too rare portrait of growing old and of paying respect to the older characters in the film. I wasn't surprised when I was cataloguing the material for this film to find that it did very well in Japan, a culture well known for its respect for the elderly.

Lindsay Anderson and Lillian Gish on set of The Whales of August, LA/1/11/4/2
© Lindsay Anderson Collection, University of Stirling Archives

Lindsay Anderson and Lillian Gish on set of The Whales of August, LA/1/11/4/2
© Lindsay Anderson Collection, University of Stirling Archives

Lindsay Anderson and Lillian Gish on set of The Whales of August, LA/1/11/4/2
© Lindsay Anderson Collection, University of Stirling Archives

I think these first two photos maker a good pair - one where Lillian Gish looks to be directing Anderson and the other in which he is directed her.

I was alerted to this important date through the blog of Dan North - the editor of 'Sights Unseen: unfinished British Films' containing a chapter, Hooray for Hollywood? The Unmade Films of Lindsay Anderson, by by Karl Magee (University Archivist here at Stirling University). An extract of this chapter is available to read here.