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Parting the iron curtain: Michael Klinger’s attempt to make 'A Man and a Half'

Spicer, Andrew

Parting the iron curtain: Michael Klinger’s attempt to make 'A Man and a Half' Thumbnail


Authors

Andrew Spicer Andrew2.Spicer@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Cultural Production



Contributors

James Fenwick
Editor

Kieran Foster
Editor

David Eldridge
Editor

Abstract

Between 1967 and 1984, British independent producer Michael Klinger attempted to make a war film initially called Parachute that was renamed A Man and a Half. It was an international production through which as Klinger hoped to establish himself as an important independent producer after he had left the company, Compton-Tekli, through which he has made his earlier films. Although the film was unrealised, its failure is instructive, revealing a great deal about the difficulties Klinger experienced as a British producer during a period of crisis and retrenchment in the UK film industry. His pioneering, if unsuccessful, attempt to co-produce with Eastern European studios sheds light on the little understood history of UK co-productions, especially ones that involved not the obvious western European partners but the state-controlled industries of the Eastern bloc. This account is based on extensive documentation in the Michael Klinger Papers housed at the University of the West of England which enables the production process to be reconstituted in detail.

Citation

Spicer, A. (2020). Parting the iron curtain: Michael Klinger’s attempt to make 'A Man and a Half'. In J. Fenwick, K. Foster, & D. Eldridge (Eds.), Shadow Cinema: The Historical and Production Context of Unmade Films (57-70). (1). Bloomsbury Publishing

Acceptance Date Jul 1, 2020
Online Publication Date Nov 12, 2020
Publication Date Nov 12, 2020
Deposit Date Sep 11, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing
Pages 57-70
Edition 1
Book Title Shadow Cinema: The Historical and Production Context of Unmade Films
Chapter Number 3
ISBN 9781501351594
Keywords Producer; British cinema; European co-productions
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6674849
Publisher URL https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/shadow-cinema-9781501351594/
Additional Information Publication date 17 November 2020

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