British screenwriter and playwright Charles Wood, known for such productions as “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Tumbledown” and “Iris,” has died at the age of 87.
His death, on Saturday, was confirmed to Variety by his agent Sue Rodgers at Independent Talent.
Born into a theater family, he began working in his local theater when he was a teen. After studying theatrical design at art college, he spent several years in the British army. After an assortment of jobs, he began to write professionally from 1959, with the completion of his play “Prisoner and Escort,” drawing on his army experience.
His first screenplay was 1965 comedy “The Knack … and How to Get It,” based on Anne Jellicoe’s play. Directed by Richard Lester, and starring Rita Tushingham and Michael Crawford, it won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Wood was nominated for the BAFTA for British screenplay.
Among many films with Lester,...
His death, on Saturday, was confirmed to Variety by his agent Sue Rodgers at Independent Talent.
Born into a theater family, he began working in his local theater when he was a teen. After studying theatrical design at art college, he spent several years in the British army. After an assortment of jobs, he began to write professionally from 1959, with the completion of his play “Prisoner and Escort,” drawing on his army experience.
His first screenplay was 1965 comedy “The Knack … and How to Get It,” based on Anne Jellicoe’s play. Directed by Richard Lester, and starring Rita Tushingham and Michael Crawford, it won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Wood was nominated for the BAFTA for British screenplay.
Among many films with Lester,...
- 2/5/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Meet Rita Tushingham, the cutest comic (and dramatic) actress of swinging London. This '60s masterpiece applies director Richard Lester's talent for comedy to a new kind of quirky, youthful sex farce. Shy boy Michael Crawford takes lessons on how to dominate women from Ray Brooks, when all he has to do to win cute Rita Tushingham is be himself. With a glorious music score by John Barry. The style is everything; the movie was extremely influential. The Knack... and how to get it Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1965 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date January 12, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Rita Tushingham, Ray Brooks, Michael Crawford, Donal Donnelly, Jane Birkin, Jacqueline Bisset, Charlotte Rampling. Cinematography David Watkin Production Designer Assheton Gorton Film Editor Antony Gibbs Original Music John Barry Written by Charles Wood from the play by Ann Jellicoe Produced by Oscar Lewenstein Directed by Richard Lester
Reviewed...
Reviewed...
- 12/22/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
From BAFTA to DGA, the Latest Winners this Awards Season
With the Oscars upon us, the awards season is almost over! But the last trek to the Academy Awards include many guild awards and of course, BAFTA! So here.s the latest congratulatory awards list of the winners from BAFTA to DGA, from Annie to Ace and everything in between!
Your full BAFTA winners (winners are highlighted):
Best Film
Birdman Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland
The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
The Imitation Game Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman
The Theory Of Everything Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten
Director
Birdman Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Boyhood Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson
The Theory Of Everything James Marsh
Whiplash Damien Chazelle
Leading Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch The Imitation Game
Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything...
With the Oscars upon us, the awards season is almost over! But the last trek to the Academy Awards include many guild awards and of course, BAFTA! So here.s the latest congratulatory awards list of the winners from BAFTA to DGA, from Annie to Ace and everything in between!
Your full BAFTA winners (winners are highlighted):
Best Film
Birdman Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland
The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
The Imitation Game Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman
The Theory Of Everything Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten
Director
Birdman Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Boyhood Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson
The Theory Of Everything James Marsh
Whiplash Damien Chazelle
Leading Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch The Imitation Game
Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything...
- 2/9/2015
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
But the Adg included some surprises as well. Also nominated in the contemporary category are popular hits "Nightcrawler" and "American Sniper." (Oscar frontrunner "Boyhood," which may not pick up many nominations in technical categories, was not eligible.) The Adg Awards ceremony will take place on January 31, 2015 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Nominees For Excellence In Production Design For A Feature Film In 2014: Period Film Inherent VICEProduction Designer: David Crank The Grand Budapest HOTELProduction Designer: Adam Stockhausen The Imitation GAMEProduction Designer: Maria Djurkovic The Theory Of EVERYTHINGProduction Designer: John Paul Kelly UNBROKENProduction Designer: Jon Hutman Fantasy Film Captain America: The Winter Soldier Production Designer: Peter Wenham Dawn Of The Planet Of The APESProduction Designer: James Chinlund Guardians Of The GALAXYProduction Designer: Charles Wood Interstellar Production Designer: Nathan...
- 1/5/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Richard Lester’s directing career has had a rather tortured epilogue. His last completed film was the dreadful, unloved Return of The Musketeers (1989), during the making of which his long-time friend and troupe-member Roy Kinnear died after a freak accident. To add insult to injury, the Comic-Con crowd has been burning Lester in effigy ever since Richard Donner’s cut of Superman II was released in 2006. Donner had been fired as director of the 1980 sequel half way through filming and Lester was hired to finish the job. Since the release of the Donner cut, expressing a preference for the original, jokier version is rather like suggesting that Cesar Romero was a better Joker than Heath Ledger.
I do wonder sometimes whether the fanboys realise what an important, highly influential and iconoclastic director they’re dismissing when they’re kicking sand into Lester’s face. Martin Scorsese would certainly correct them (sternly,...
I do wonder sometimes whether the fanboys realise what an important, highly influential and iconoclastic director they’re dismissing when they’re kicking sand into Lester’s face. Martin Scorsese would certainly correct them (sternly,...
- 7/8/2014
- by Cai Ross
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
How did director Richard Lester, writers Charles Wood and Marc Behm, and the Beatles themselves find inspiration for Help!, the Fab Four’s second feature film? Hint: They had a little help from their pal Mary Jane. More specifically, says one member of the movie’s team: “I never really alluded to this until now — when I think it doesn’t matter at all — but an awful lot of pot smoking was being done.”
Get a load of that pot smoking’s legacy in this exclusive clip from “The Beatles in Help!,” a 30-minute doc that accompanies the newly remastered...
Get a load of that pot smoking’s legacy in this exclusive clip from “The Beatles in Help!,” a 30-minute doc that accompanies the newly remastered...
- 7/2/2013
- by Hillary Busis
- EW - Inside Movies
Calling all Beatles fans… the group’s second feature film, 1965’s Help!, will be released on Blu-ray on Tuesday, June 25 and Wamg is giving away copies to 2 lucky readers.
Directed by Richard Lester, who also directed the band’s debut feature film, 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night, Help! follows The Beatles as they become passive recipients of an outside plot that revolves around Ringo’s possession of a sacrificial ring, which he cannot remove from his finger. As a result, he and his bandmates John, Paul and George are chased from London to the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas by religious cult members, a mad scientist and the London police.
In addition to starring The Beatles, Help! boasts a witty script, a great cast of British character actors, and classic Beatles songs “Help!,” “You’re Going To Lose That Girl,” “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” “Ticket To Ride,...
Directed by Richard Lester, who also directed the band’s debut feature film, 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night, Help! follows The Beatles as they become passive recipients of an outside plot that revolves around Ringo’s possession of a sacrificial ring, which he cannot remove from his finger. As a result, he and his bandmates John, Paul and George are chased from London to the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas by religious cult members, a mad scientist and the London police.
In addition to starring The Beatles, Help! boasts a witty script, a great cast of British character actors, and classic Beatles songs “Help!,” “You’re Going To Lose That Girl,” “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” “Ticket To Ride,...
- 6/24/2013
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Beatles’ second feature film, 1965’s Help!, is on the way on Blu-ray. On June 24 (June 25 in North America), Help! makes its eagerly awaited Blu-ray debut in a single-disc package pairing the digitally restored film and 5.1 soundtrack with an hour of extra features, including a 30-minute documentary about the making of the film, memories of the cast and crew, an in-depth look at the restoration process, an outtake scene, and original theatrical trailers and radio spots. An introduction by the film’s director, Richard Lester, and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese are included in the Blu-ray’s booklet.
Help!’s Blu-ray edition follows the 2012 release of The Beatles’ digitally restored Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour feature films on Blu-ray, DVD and iTunes with extensive extras. Help!’s restoration for its 2007 DVD debut wowed viewers, earning five-times platinum sales in the U.S. and praise from a broad range of...
Help!’s Blu-ray edition follows the 2012 release of The Beatles’ digitally restored Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour feature films on Blu-ray, DVD and iTunes with extensive extras. Help!’s restoration for its 2007 DVD debut wowed viewers, earning five-times platinum sales in the U.S. and praise from a broad range of...
- 6/12/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
BBC and ITV enraged the government with early portrayals of the conflict but it is being supplanted by recent conflicts
British TV deployed rapidly – and with frequent controversy – to attack the Falklands war as a subject. The assiduous historical website British Television Drama records, in the decade after the war, 10 dramas based on the conflict.
The BBC screened five plays within five years of the events, which may surprise those who now associate the corporation with editorial caution and at the time clearly astonished the Ministry of Defence, which made numerous objections and obstructed access to actual locations and equipment.
The earliest pieces were oblique, with Don Shaw's The Falklands Factor dramatising an 18th-century dispute over the islands, and Maggie Wadey's The Waiting War focusing on military and naval families. ITV also enraged the MoD and the government with a children's series, Jan Needle's A Game of Soldiers,...
British TV deployed rapidly – and with frequent controversy – to attack the Falklands war as a subject. The assiduous historical website British Television Drama records, in the decade after the war, 10 dramas based on the conflict.
The BBC screened five plays within five years of the events, which may surprise those who now associate the corporation with editorial caution and at the time clearly astonished the Ministry of Defence, which made numerous objections and obstructed access to actual locations and equipment.
The earliest pieces were oblique, with Don Shaw's The Falklands Factor dramatising an 18th-century dispute over the islands, and Maggie Wadey's The Waiting War focusing on military and naval families. ITV also enraged the MoD and the government with a children's series, Jan Needle's A Game of Soldiers,...
- 4/14/2013
- by Mark Lawson
- The Guardian - Film News
Directed by Richard Lester
Written by John Antrobus, Adapted by Charles Wood, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus
Featuring (in order of height) Rita Tushingham, Dudley Moore, Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear, Spick Milligan, Ronald Fraser, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Ralph Richardson
If listing cast members by order of height seems rather absurd, welcome to The Bed Sitting Room. That’s how the film opens and it just gets stranger from there. It’s possibly the oddest post apocalyptic tale ever filmed, short of Six String Samurai, though not as much fun.
After the credits roll, the film opens on a BBC anchorman (Thornton), dressed in a suit from mid-chest up, (Thornton) knocking at a makeshift door in the middle of a field of mud. Invited in by the inhabitant, the anchorman squats behind a hollowed out television and announces the third (or...
Written by John Antrobus, Adapted by Charles Wood, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus
Featuring (in order of height) Rita Tushingham, Dudley Moore, Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear, Spick Milligan, Ronald Fraser, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Ralph Richardson
If listing cast members by order of height seems rather absurd, welcome to The Bed Sitting Room. That’s how the film opens and it just gets stranger from there. It’s possibly the oddest post apocalyptic tale ever filmed, short of Six String Samurai, though not as much fun.
After the credits roll, the film opens on a BBC anchorman (Thornton), dressed in a suit from mid-chest up, (Thornton) knocking at a makeshift door in the middle of a field of mud. Invited in by the inhabitant, the anchorman squats behind a hollowed out television and announces the third (or...
- 4/10/2012
- by Chris McMillan
- Planet Fury
Directed by Richard Lester
Written by John Antrobus, Adapted by Charles Wood, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus
Featuring (in order of height) Rita Tushingham, Dudley Moore, Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear, Spick Milligan, Ronald Fraser, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Ralph Richardson
If listing cast members by order of height seems rather absurd, welcome to The Bed Sitting Room. That’s how the film opens and it just gets stranger from there. It’s possibly the oddest post apocalyptic tale ever filmed, short of Six String Samurai, though not as much fun.
After the credits roll, the film opens on a BBC anchorman (Thornton), dressed in a suit from mid-chest up, (Thornton) knocking at a makeshift door in the middle of a field of mud. Invited in by the inhabitant, the anchorman squats behind a hollowed out television and announces the third (or...
Written by John Antrobus, Adapted by Charles Wood, based on the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus
Featuring (in order of height) Rita Tushingham, Dudley Moore, Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Roy Kinnear, Spick Milligan, Ronald Fraser, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Ralph Richardson
If listing cast members by order of height seems rather absurd, welcome to The Bed Sitting Room. That’s how the film opens and it just gets stranger from there. It’s possibly the oddest post apocalyptic tale ever filmed, short of Six String Samurai, though not as much fun.
After the credits roll, the film opens on a BBC anchorman (Thornton), dressed in a suit from mid-chest up, (Thornton) knocking at a makeshift door in the middle of a field of mud. Invited in by the inhabitant, the anchorman squats behind a hollowed out television and announces the third (or...
- 4/10/2012
- by Chris McMillan
- Planet Fury
Some films are more interesting for what they aspire to be than for how they turn out. Reuniting with playwright Charles Wood, his collaborator on the great, pointed Swinging London romp The Knack… And How To Get It, Richard Lester brings the same high-spirited energy of that film and his two collaborations with The Beatles—A Hard Day’s Night and Help!—to How I Won The War, a blackly comic World War II movie released in 1967, when Vietnam had begun to dominate the headlines. Lester mixes verbal gags with nonsensical cutaways and surreal elements—one character is inexplicably ...
- 5/4/2011
- avclub.com
The Movie Pool takes in the new release of the John Lennon anti-war film How I Won the War on DVD!
Blu-ray Specs
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 enhanced for widescreen TVs
Running Time: 111 minutes
Rating: Not rated
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English
Special Features: Trailer, commemorative photo book
The DVD is offered as part of MGM's "Limited Edition Collection" on DVD, which are available from select online retailers and are manufactured only when the DVD is ordered. The DVD features a simple menu with no menu for chapters or scenes. Chapters are set every ten minutes. Manufacture-On-Demand (Mod) DVDs will play in DVD playback units only and may not play in DVD recorders or PC drives. This DVD did not play in our laptop DVD drive but did play in our Toshiba DVD recorder.
The Set-up
Michael Crawford and John Lennon (in his only non-Beatles film role) play incompetent British soldiers during World War II.
Blu-ray Specs
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 enhanced for widescreen TVs
Running Time: 111 minutes
Rating: Not rated
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English
Special Features: Trailer, commemorative photo book
The DVD is offered as part of MGM's "Limited Edition Collection" on DVD, which are available from select online retailers and are manufactured only when the DVD is ordered. The DVD features a simple menu with no menu for chapters or scenes. Chapters are set every ten minutes. Manufacture-On-Demand (Mod) DVDs will play in DVD playback units only and may not play in DVD recorders or PC drives. This DVD did not play in our laptop DVD drive but did play in our Toshiba DVD recorder.
The Set-up
Michael Crawford and John Lennon (in his only non-Beatles film role) play incompetent British soldiers during World War II.
- 4/26/2011
- Cinelinx
Arts, London
Film locations often make for surprisingly good drama. Charles Wood's Veterans took us behind the scenes of The Charge of the Light Brigade. Here, Oliver Cotton's witty and perceptive play uses the shooting of a costume epic in rain-drenched Spain to explore British and American attitudes to life, art and the waiting game of making movies.
Cotton, who clearly knows the territory, creates a series of dramatic reversals. Two actors, the American Brad and English Stuart, are cooped up in a trailer waiting to shoot a scene in a film about Cortés's conquest of Mexico. But it is the seemingly brash Brad who can quote reams of Marlowe, while Stuart is momentarily stumped when asked to recite Shakespeare. And while Stuart attacks the status-consciousness of American actors and the imperialist pretensions of Hollywood, it is Brad who turns out to be made of the right stuff.
Film locations often make for surprisingly good drama. Charles Wood's Veterans took us behind the scenes of The Charge of the Light Brigade. Here, Oliver Cotton's witty and perceptive play uses the shooting of a costume epic in rain-drenched Spain to explore British and American attitudes to life, art and the waiting game of making movies.
Cotton, who clearly knows the territory, creates a series of dramatic reversals. Two actors, the American Brad and English Stuart, are cooped up in a trailer waiting to shoot a scene in a film about Cortés's conquest of Mexico. But it is the seemingly brash Brad who can quote reams of Marlowe, while Stuart is momentarily stumped when asked to recite Shakespeare. And while Stuart attacks the status-consciousness of American actors and the imperialist pretensions of Hollywood, it is Brad who turns out to be made of the right stuff.
- 4/14/2010
- by Michael Billington
- The Guardian - Film News
Movies Online sat down recently with Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney to talk about their new film, “The Other Man.” Based on a short story by Bernhard Schlink (“The Reader”), “The Other Man” was written and directed by Richard Eyre (“Notes on a Scandal,” “Iris”) along with co-writer Charles Wood (“Iris”). The film also stars Liam Neeson and Romola Garai. “The Other Man” is an intimate tale of a man (Peter/Liam Neeson) who discovers his wife's (Lisa/Laura Linney) infidelity and sets out to track do...
- 9/8/2009
- MoviesOnline.ca
Jay Russell is attached to direct the fantasy comedy "Duncan" for Ben Kingsley's Sbk Pictures.
Written by Barton Randall, "Duncan" tells the story of a grown woman reconnecting with a stuffed animal from her childhood. Kingsley, who is producing, will provide the voice of the toy.
Kingsley's Sbk partners Simone Sheffield and Valerie Hoffman also are producing.
Sbk has a number of projects in the works, including the period drama "Will," which Charles Wood is adapting from the Christopher Rush novel; "Whispers Like Thunder," about the 65-year legal battle between three Native American sisters and the U.S. government over sacred burial ground; and "Quixote," about the author Miguel Cervantes, with a screenplay by Rusty Lemorande.
Sbk most recently produced "50 Dead Men Walking" and "The Wackness."
Russell directed "Ladder 49," "Tuck Everlasting," "My Dog Skip" and, most recently, "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep." He is repped...
Written by Barton Randall, "Duncan" tells the story of a grown woman reconnecting with a stuffed animal from her childhood. Kingsley, who is producing, will provide the voice of the toy.
Kingsley's Sbk partners Simone Sheffield and Valerie Hoffman also are producing.
Sbk has a number of projects in the works, including the period drama "Will," which Charles Wood is adapting from the Christopher Rush novel; "Whispers Like Thunder," about the 65-year legal battle between three Native American sisters and the U.S. government over sacred burial ground; and "Quixote," about the author Miguel Cervantes, with a screenplay by Rusty Lemorande.
Sbk most recently produced "50 Dead Men Walking" and "The Wackness."
Russell directed "Ladder 49," "Tuck Everlasting," "My Dog Skip" and, most recently, "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep." He is repped...
- 7/29/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Eyre finds 3 others for 'Other Man' cast
LONDON -- Antonio Banderas, Laura Linney and Romola Garai have joined Liam Neeson in the cast of Richard Eyre's The Other Man, the producers said Thursday.
Eyre, who wrote the script with his Iris co-writer Charles Wood, has taken just under a year to get the movie up and running.
The movie is adapted by Eyre and Wood from a short story by German author Bernhard Schlink and centers on a man who discovers that his wife has another mystery man in her life and goes to find out who he is.
The picture, due to shoot on location in and around London, Milan, Italy, and Lake Como and at Ealing Studios begins production in February.
Eyre produces together with Tracey Scoffield and Frank Doelger (The Gathering Storm) and Michael Dreyer (Stardust) for U.K. production banner Rainmark Films.
David Richenthal and Mary Beth O'Connor produce for New York-based Gotham Films.
International sales will be handled by Ealing Studios International beginning at the upcoming European Film Market during the Berlin International Film Festival.
Eyre, who wrote the script with his Iris co-writer Charles Wood, has taken just under a year to get the movie up and running.
The movie is adapted by Eyre and Wood from a short story by German author Bernhard Schlink and centers on a man who discovers that his wife has another mystery man in her life and goes to find out who he is.
The picture, due to shoot on location in and around London, Milan, Italy, and Lake Como and at Ealing Studios begins production in February.
Eyre produces together with Tracey Scoffield and Frank Doelger (The Gathering Storm) and Michael Dreyer (Stardust) for U.K. production banner Rainmark Films.
David Richenthal and Mary Beth O'Connor produce for New York-based Gotham Films.
International sales will be handled by Ealing Studios International beginning at the upcoming European Film Market during the Berlin International Film Festival.
- 1/18/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.