1. Karel Reisz was a Czech-born British filmmaker and film critic, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s.
17 Facts About Karel Reisz
1. 2.
Karel Reisz became a refugee, one of the 669 children rescued and evacuated from the country by Sir Nicholas Winton.
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Karel Reisz was transported to England in 1938, speaking almost no English, and he eradicated his foreign accent as quickly as possible.
4.
Karel Reisz co-founded Sequence in 1947 with Lindsay Anderson and Gavin Lambert.
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Karel Reisz was a founder member of the Free Cinema documentary film movement.
6.
Karel Reisz alone directed We Are the Lambeth Boys, a naturalistic depiction of the members of a South London boys' club, unusual in showing the leisure life of working-class teenagers, with skiffle music and cigarettes, cricket, drawing, and discussion groups.
7.
Karel Reisz produced Anderson's feature directorial debut This Sporting Life, then he and Finney reunited on Night Must Fall.
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Karel Reisz joined the British Film Institute's Board of Governors in 1969 with the aim of bolstering support for independent British directors, but left the role after only a year.
9.
Karel Reisz made Who'll Stop the Rain with Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld.
10.
Karel Reisz was meant to follow it with an adaptation of Brian Moore's novel The Doctor's Wife based on a script by Joe Eszterhas, but the film was never made.
11.
Back in London, Karel Reisz directed The French Lieutenant's Woman, which was perhaps the most successful of his later films.
12.
In 1982, Karel Reisz directed John Guare's Gardenia Dreams on stage in Boston.
13.
Karel Reisz directed Sweet Dreams, based on the life of country singer Patsy Cline, starring Jessica Lange.
14.
From 1991 to 2001, Karel Reisz focused on theatre directing in London, Dublin and Paris.
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Karel Reisz directed an adaptation of The Deep Blue Sea for British TV.
16.
Karel Reisz had three sons by his first wife Julia Coppard, whom he later divorced.
17.
Karel Reisz wed Betsy Blair, the former wife of Gene Kelly, in 1963, and remained married to her until his death.