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Tony Richardson is a Director, Scriptwriter and Producer British born on 5 june 1928 at Shipley (United-kingdom)

Tony Richardson

Tony Richardson
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Birth name Cecil Antonio Richardson
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 5 june 1928 at Shipley (United-kingdom)
Death 14 november 1991 (at 63 years) at Los Angeles (USA)
Awards Academy Award for Best Director

Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Tom Jones. He died of AIDS at age 63 in 1991.

Biography

Tony Richardson étudie les lettres au Wadham College de l'université d'Oxford avant de collaborer, comme critique, à la revue cinématographique Sequence , admirative de l'œuvre de Jean Vigo et Jacques Prévert et spécialisée dans le cinéma d'auteur engagé. Il y rencontre Karel Reisz avec lequel il se lie d'amitié et réalise un court métrage en 1955. Il signe une adaptation d'Othello de Shakespeare pour la BBC la même année.

En 1956, il fonde officiellement aux côtés de Karel Reisz et Lindsay Anderson le « Free cinema », se voulant un cinéma hors des sentiers battus, plus « authentique » et reflétant une réalité sociale autre que celle des productions britanniques traditionnelles. Il est l'équivalent anglais de la Nouvelle Vague française qui voit le jour quelques années plus tard.

À la fin des années 1950, Richardson travaille pour le Royal Court Theatre à Londres et y révèle l'œuvre du dramaturge John Osborne dont il adapte deux pièces au cinéma : Les Corps sauvages et Le Cabotin, interprétées respectivement par Richard Burton et Laurence Olivier. Malgré sa méfiance de l'industrie cinématographique américaine, il accepte la proposition de la Twentieth Century Fox de porter à l'écran le classique de William Faulkner Sanctuaire, avec Yves Montand et Lee Remick.

Déçu par les contraintes du système hollywoodien, il revient au Royaume-Uni et s'y impose comme l'une des figures les plus marquantes d'un nouveau cinéma éloigné des pressions commerciales. Ses films traitent sans détour de problèmes sociaux et moraux puis des aléas d'une jeunesse en quête d'émancipation. Un goût de miel, qui évoque le cas d'une jeune fille enceinte d'un marin noir partant vivre avec un homosexuel, est récompensé au Festival de Cannes et au British Film Awards en 1961. En parallèle, il produit le premier long métrage de son ami Karel Reisz : Samedi soir, dimanche matin qui marque l'apogée du Free cinema. La Solitude du coureur de fond, véritable appel à la révolte, raconte l'histoire d'un jeune délinquant qui fait part de ses réflexions lors d'une course d'endurance. En 1963, Richardson réalise l'adaptation du roman d'Henry Fielding Histoire de Tom Jones, enfant trouvé, contant les aventures picaresques d'un bâtard atterri dans le milieu noble anglais du XVIII siècle. Tom Jones : entre l'alcôve et la potence, avec Albert Finney dans le rôle-titre, se veut un film picaresque qui ne recule pas devant les allusions grivoises. Il apporte à son réalisateur la reconnaissance internationale et les Oscars du meilleur film et du meilleur réalisateur.

Revenu aux États-Unis, il réalise pour la M.G.M. une comédie noire : Le Cher Disparu, sur le business des pompes funèbres. Il met ensuite en scène deux films avec Jeanne Moreau : Mademoiselle et Le Marin de Gibraltar. Peu à peu, il abandonne ses exigences conceptuelle et artistique mais signe encore quelques réussites comme La Charge de la brigade légère (un réquisitoire contre les actes d'héroïsme) et Ned Kelly avec Mick Jagger. Cependant, il ne retrouve jamais l'originalité et l'acuité du style des débuts. Sa biographie filmée de Vaslav Nijinski, réalisée en 1969, reste inachevée.

Dans les années 1980, Richardson tourne beaucoup pour la télévision mais revient ponctuellement au cinéma où il dirige des stars telles que Jack Nicholson dans Police frontière ou encore Jodie Foster et Nastassja Kinski dans L'Hôtel New Hampshire, d'après John Irving.

Il meurt le 14 novembre 1991 à Los Angeles des suites du sida. Il était bisexuel. Avant son décès, il avait achevé Blue Sky qui ne sort qu'en 1994 en raison des difficultés financières de la société de production Orion Pictures. Ce film vaut à Jessica Lange l'Oscar de la meilleure actrice.

Tony Richardson a été marié à Vanessa Redgrave de 1962 à 1967, actrice qu'il a dirigée à plusieurs reprises et avec laquelle il eut deux filles : Natasha Richardson (1963-2009) et Joely Richardson (née en 1965) également comédiennes. Il a quitté son épouse pour vivre avec Jeanne Moreau, qu'il quitte ensuite pour un jeune marin.

Best films

Tom Jones (1964)
(Director)
Blue Sky (1994)
(Director)
Mahogany (1975)
(Director)

Usually with

John Addison
John Addison
(10 films)
Antony Gibbs
Antony Gibbs
(6 films)
Desmond Davis
Desmond Davis
(4 films)
Ted Marshall
Ted Marshall
(6 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Tony Richardson (26 films)

Display filmography as list

Director

Blue Sky
Blue Sky (1994)
, 1h41
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality
Actors Jessica Lange, Tommy Lee Jones, Powers Boothe, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Locane, Chris O'Donnell
Rating63% 3.196853.196853.196853.196853.19685
In 1962, Hank Marshall (Tommy Lee Jones) and his wife, Carly (Jessica Lange), are having marital problems because of the pressures of his job and her mental illness. He is a nuclear engineer who favors underground nuclear testing and is at odds with his superiors over the wisdom of above-ground, open-air detonations. She is a free spirit who appears to be mentally unbalanced and who is slowly being suffocated by domestic torpor and encroaching age. Her behavior is, to say the least, embarrassing for him, especially in the confines of a military base. His reactions to this behavior are among the most interesting aspects of the film. Their move from Hawaii to an isolated base in Alabama alarms their oldest daughter, Alex (Amy Locane), and sends Carly into an affair with the base commander, Vince Johnson (Powers Boothe).
The Phantom of the Opera (miniseries), 2h48
Directed by Tony Richardson
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Horror, Musical, Romance
Actors Charles Dance, Theresa Polo, Adam Storke, Burt Lancaster, Ian William Richardson, Andréa Ferréol
Rating73% 3.6941753.6941753.6941753.6941753.694175
The Phantom of the Opera (Charles Dance) is a disfigured musician named Erik who lives below the Opéra Garnier in Paris. He has a large part in managing each performance through his friend Gerard Carriere (Burt Lancaster). The Phantom's life changes when Carriere is dismissed and the opera hires a new manager, Choleti. Choleti's wife Carlotta is a spoiled woman with a bad personality and terrible voice to match; it is obvious that Choleti bought his way into the managership to further his wife's career. The Phantom takes an instant dislike to them both. Choleti and Carlotta refuse to listen to warnings about the "ghost" who haunts the opera house, even when Joseph Buquet, Carlotta's wardrobe man, goes down below and does not return (his is later found to have been killed). Christine Daae (Teri Polo) comes to the Paris Opera House in search of voice lessons that Phillipe, the Comte de Chagny promised her, learning that she is not the first pretty face that Phillipe brought there. Carlotta initially dismisses her, but upon learning that Christine "has a patron who is powerful" states that Christine can work in the costume department in Buquet's place. Christine has no home or money, but Jean-Claude, the doorman, lets her stay in a storage room in the Opera House. That night, Christine wanders onto the stage and sings to the empty theater. The Phantom is immediately entranced by her voice. Hiding in the orchestra pit, he tells her that her voice is miraculous but untrained, and with proper technique her singing could reach its full potential. He offers to be her teacher, but must remain anonymous; that is why he wears a mask. They begin lessons, and the Phantom falls deeper in love with her. When she asks of his opinion on the Comte de Chagny, he replies "he is unworthy of you. He comes to the Opera for the wrong reasons ... he comes for the beauty of faces rather than the beauty of music.
The Penalty Phase, 1h36
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller
Actors Peter Strauss, Jonelle Allen, Karen Austin, Jane Badler, John Harkins, Millie Perkins
Rating64% 3.2132753.2132753.2132753.2132753.213275
Doit-on condamner cet homme à la peine capitale ? C'est la question qui hante le juge Kenneth Hoffman. Décision d'autant plus difficile à prendre, à une semaine des élections, sachant que l'accusé est un violeur reconnu...
The Hotel New Hampshire, 1h49
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about families, Films about sexuality, Films about terrorism, Rape in fiction, Bisexuality-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Jodie Foster, Beau Bridges, Nastassja Kinski, Wilford Brimley, Paul McCrane, Wallace Shawn
Rating58% 2.948542.948542.948542.948542.94854
The Hotel New Hampshire is narrated by John Berry and opens in flashback to the time when his parents met and fell in love while working summer jobs at a New England hotel around World War II. They are brought together by Freud, a European refugee who travels with a performing bear.
The Border
The Border (1982)
, 1h48
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes La corruption policière, Films about immigration
Actors Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Valerie Perrine, Warren Oates, Elpidia Carrillo, Dirk Blocker
Rating63% 3.1965653.1965653.1965653.1965653.196565
Immigration enforcement agent Smith (Jack Nicholson) lives in California with his wife (Valerie Perrine) in a trailer. She persuades him to move to a duplex in El Paso shared by her friend and border agent Cat (Harvey Keitel). She opens a charge account and starts to purchase expensive items like a water bed as she tries to build a dream home.
Joseph Andrews, 1h44
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Action, Adventure, Romance
Actors Ann-Margret, Peter Firth, Michael Hordern, Beryl Reid, Jim Dale, Peter C. Bull
Rating56% 2.800992.800992.800992.800992.80099
Lady Booby alias "Belle", the lively wife of the fat landed squire Sir Thomas Booby, has a lusty eye on the attractive, intelligent villager Joseph Andrews, a Latin pupil and protégé of parson Adams, and makes him their footman. Joseph's heart belongs to a country girl, foundling Fanny Goodwill, but his masters take him on a fashionable trip to Bath, where the spoiled society comes mainly to see and be seen, yet Sir Thomas really seeks relief for his sick foot, but drowns in the famous Roman baths. When the all but grieving lady finds Joseph's Christian virtue and true love resist her lusting passes just as well as the many ladies who fancy her footman, she fires the boy. On his way back on foot, he falls prey to highwaymen who rob him of everything, even the clothes on his back. He is found and nursed by an innkeeper's maid, which stirs lusts there, again besides his honorable conduct, but is found by the good parson. Meanwhile the lady consents to her cousin marrying below their station when learning the fiancée is Joseph's sister, Pamela. The parson barely escapes a wicked gentleman's totally unjust, all but gentle justice after being accused of the attempted rape committed by a squire he actually prevented and comes to learn ever more about a relevant child-theft by gypsies, but meanwhile he, Joseph and Fanny fall prey again to the rapist's utter debauchery.
Mahogany
Mahogany (1975)
, 1h49
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes La mode, Films about music and musicians, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Musical films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Anthony Perkins, Beah Richards, Nina Foch
Rating60% 3.049283.049283.049283.049283.04928
Tracy Chambers is a sassy industrious young woman living in the projects of Chicago who dreams of becoming a fashion designer. She has worked her way up from salesgirl to secretary and assistant to the head buyer at a luxury department store (modeled after, and filmed at, Marshall Field's on State Street, Chicago).
Dead Cert
Dead Cert (1974)
, 1h39
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller
Actors John Bindon, Judi Dench, Bill Fraser, Julian Glover, Ian Hogg, Michael Williams
Rating49% 2.4793152.4793152.4793152.4793152.479315
A young jockey investigates on strange deadly accidents that involve his race horse.
A Delicate Balance, 2h13
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Films about families, Films based on plays
Actors Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Lee Remick, Kate Reid, Joseph Cotten, Betsy Blair
Rating65% 3.2942153.2942153.2942153.2942153.294215
The film spans three days in the life of Agnes and Tobias, an upper middle class couple who share their comfortable suburban Connecticut home with her acerbic alcoholic sister Claire. It is matriarch Agnes who helps the trio maintain a delicate balance in their lives, held together by habit, shared memories, and considerable consumption of dry martinis.
Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly (1970)
, 1h39
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Biography, Action, Western
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Mick Jagger, Mark McManus, Serge Lazareff, Clarissa Kaye, Diane Craig, Bill Hunter
Rating51% 2.5540252.5540252.5540252.5540252.554025
Ned Kelly is forced by police persecution to become a bushranger. He robs several banks and is eventually captured after the Siege of Glenrowan. He is hanged in Melbourne.
The Charge of the Light Brigade, 2h19
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War, Action, Adventure, Historical
Themes Political films
Actors Trevor Howard, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Harry Andrews, Jill Bennett, Mark Burns
Rating65% 3.29493.29493.29493.29493.2949
The film is about the folly of war, and the poor state of the British Army and its leadership during the Crimean War (1853–56). Britain had not fought in a European theatre since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and the army had become sclerotic and bound by bureaucracy. Tactical and logistical methodology had not advanced in forty years, and the whole ethos of the army was bound in outmoded social values.