Film Review (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Film Review magazine first appeared in 1950, initially for a 3-issue trial run. At the time it was titled "ABC Film Review" due to being tied in with ABC
cinemas. At the time it was just 20 pages and cost 3 Old Pence. It was published by Associated British in association with Pathé
and produced by Axtell Publications Ltd. of London, and the only credited contributor was James McCrossan. After the trial's success it became a full monthly magazine from January 1951 costing 4d until Dec 1951.
Price was increased in Jan 1952 to 6d and stayed at 6d until August 1968. Price from Sept 1968 was 9d until Sept 1970, when decimalisation came in and price changed to 5p (1/-) in Oct 1970. Price changed again in May 1972, when it increased to 10p. At this time, the name changed to just Film Review; the ABC was dropped from then on. It continued to appear as a monthly magazine until 2008. The next to last edition, a double-issue, number 699/700, for August/ September 2008, edited by Nikki Baughan, had 220 pages and was priced at £4.99. The last edition was issue number 701 issued in November and dated December 2008, had 148 pages and was priced at £3.99.
Contributors have included Peter S Haigh, Vincent Firth, Norman Taylor, David Richardson, Tony Crawley, Marianne Gray, Judy Sloane, Alan Jones, Tom Hutchinson, Nigel Robinson, Jason Caro, Roald Rynning, Howard Maxford, James Cameron-Wilson, Michael Darvell, Stephen Applebaum, Anwar Brett, Lorien Haynes and James Mottram. There was a readers' Q&A page with questions answered originally by Peter Noble and later on David McGillivray. James Cameron-Wilson, a commissioning editor of the magazine, also eventually took over this section.
Having started out as a promotional magazine for the ABC circuit, Film Review became a very good popular film monthly, packed with news and information, literate reviews and an emphasis on the pictorial as well as the written word. For nearly sixty years it never lost its initial and essential aim of appealing to film fanatics. Sadly, its position was taken over by other more successful film publications which forced it off the shelves.
Film Review ceased printed publication by Visual Imagination Ltd in 2009 but continues to appear under their name as an online magazine. It has no connection with the Film Review annual which has appeared every year since 1944 and was last published in 2009 by Reynolds & Hearn. There was no volume published in 2010 but Film Review annual should return, as a double edition covering 2009 and 2010 during 2011.
Associated British Cinemas
ABC Cinemas was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. A wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation , it operated between the 1930s and the late 1960s...
cinemas. At the time it was just 20 pages and cost 3 Old Pence. It was published by Associated British in association with Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
and produced by Axtell Publications Ltd. of London, and the only credited contributor was James McCrossan. After the trial's success it became a full monthly magazine from January 1951 costing 4d until Dec 1951.
Price was increased in Jan 1952 to 6d and stayed at 6d until August 1968. Price from Sept 1968 was 9d until Sept 1970, when decimalisation came in and price changed to 5p (1/-) in Oct 1970. Price changed again in May 1972, when it increased to 10p. At this time, the name changed to just Film Review; the ABC was dropped from then on. It continued to appear as a monthly magazine until 2008. The next to last edition, a double-issue, number 699/700, for August/ September 2008, edited by Nikki Baughan, had 220 pages and was priced at £4.99. The last edition was issue number 701 issued in November and dated December 2008, had 148 pages and was priced at £3.99.
Contributors have included Peter S Haigh, Vincent Firth, Norman Taylor, David Richardson, Tony Crawley, Marianne Gray, Judy Sloane, Alan Jones, Tom Hutchinson, Nigel Robinson, Jason Caro, Roald Rynning, Howard Maxford, James Cameron-Wilson, Michael Darvell, Stephen Applebaum, Anwar Brett, Lorien Haynes and James Mottram. There was a readers' Q&A page with questions answered originally by Peter Noble and later on David McGillivray. James Cameron-Wilson, a commissioning editor of the magazine, also eventually took over this section.
Having started out as a promotional magazine for the ABC circuit, Film Review became a very good popular film monthly, packed with news and information, literate reviews and an emphasis on the pictorial as well as the written word. For nearly sixty years it never lost its initial and essential aim of appealing to film fanatics. Sadly, its position was taken over by other more successful film publications which forced it off the shelves.
Film Review ceased printed publication by Visual Imagination Ltd in 2009 but continues to appear under their name as an online magazine. It has no connection with the Film Review annual which has appeared every year since 1944 and was last published in 2009 by Reynolds & Hearn. There was no volume published in 2010 but Film Review annual should return, as a double edition covering 2009 and 2010 during 2011.