On the margins: Anthony Simmons, 'The Optimists of Nine Elms' and 'Black Joy'

Dolan, Josie; Spicer, Andrew H.

Abstract

This co-authored chapter in an edited collection on British Cinema in the 1970s recuperates from critical oblivion the BAFTA award winning film and TV director, Anthony Simmons. The article locates Simmons in the decline of the British industry that characterised the 1970s, whilst also exploring specific events related to the regulation of exhibition and copyright infringements that contributed to Simmons marginality in critical legacies. The article also suggests that Simmons’ films and TV are characterised by a sometimes problematic concern with marginal figures – black immigrants, thalidomide victims, the socially displaced that can be aligned with his own London East End Jewish roots.

• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 8, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 79-91
• Series Title: Film Studies
• Book Title: Don't Look Now: British Cinema in the 1970s
• ISBN: 9781841503202
• Keywords: Simmons, marginality, race, 1970's
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/978483
• Publisher URL: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/books/view-Book,id=4699/