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Philip Neville French OBE (28 August 1933 – 27 October 2015) was a British film critic and former radio producer. French began his career in journalism in the late 1950s, before eventually becoming a BBC Radio producer, and later a film critic,perhaps most famous for his panning films which later went on to become classics such as A Fistful of Dollars. He began writing for ''The Observer'' in 1963, and continued to write criticism regularly there until his retirement in 2013. French was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in December 2012, and upon his death on 27 October 2015, was referred to by his ''Observer'' successor Mark Kermode as "an inspiration to an entire generation of film critics".〔 ==Biography== French was born in Liverpool in 1933. The son of an insurance salesman, he was educated at the direct grant Bristol Grammar School〔Philip French, ("My own cinema paradiso", ) ''The Observer'', 13 April 2008.〕 and then at Exeter College, Oxford〔Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 255.〕 where he read Law.〔("Honorary degrees for film critic and scientist" ), ''Lancaster University News'', January 2007.〕 He undertook post-graduate study in Journalism at Indiana University Bloomington,〔Philip French, ("We saw the light, but too late for some", ) ''The Observer'', 24 June 2007.〕 on a scholarship.〔 French entered journalism as a reporter at the ''Bristol Evening Post'' in 1957.〔 He was theatre critic of the ''New Statesman'' between 1967 and 1968〔 and deputy film critic to David Robinson at ''The Times'' for some years. French was the film critic of ''The Observer'' from 1978, but had begun writing for the paper in 1963.〔Philip French, ("Philip French OBE, Observer writer of 50 years and film critic extraordinaire", ) ''The Observer'', 29 December 2012.〕 He also wrote for ''Sight and Sound''. French's books include ''The Movie Moguls: An Informal History of the Hollywood Tycoons'' (1969) and ''Westerns'', which reappeared in a revised version in 2005. He also wrote the book ''Cult Movies'' (1999) together with Karl French, one of his sons. Between 1959 to 1990, when he took early retirement, French was a BBC Radio producer. At first he was a producer on the North American service, but the bulk of his BBC career was for domestic radio. He was a BBC talks producer (1961–67) and then a senior producer for the corporation from 1968.〔 In the 1960s he produced ''The Critics'' on the BBC Home Service and from 1974 to 1990 he produced its successor programme ''Critics' Forum'' on BBC Radio 3. His appointment as film critic of ''The Observer'' was opposed by the then Controller of Radio 3, Stephen Hearst, who felt that it would be impossible for French to be an impartial producer while also working as a regular film critic, but he was overruled by his superior, Howard Newby.〔Humphrey Carpenter ''The Envy of the World: Fifty years of the BBC Third Programme and Radio 3'', 1996, Weidenfeld and Nicolson (Phoenix paperback, ISBN 0-7538-0250-3), p. 324.〕 French was named the British Press Awards ''Critic of the Year'' in 2009.〔''Press Gazette'', (Roll of Honour ), accessed 24 July 2011.〕 He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to film. French was known for his exceptional memory. Michael Billington, ''The Guardian''s theatre critic, was awarded an OBE at the same time as French. Billington recalled: "I ended a congratulatory telephone call with the jokey line, 'See you at the palace.' Quick as a flash, he replied, 'As Dirk Bogarde said to Bill Kerr in ''Appointment in London'' in 1953'." At the beginning of May 2013 it was announced that French would retire as film critic for ''The Observer'' in August to coincide with his 80th birthday.〔Vanessa Thorpe, ("That's a wrap: Philip French, Observer film critic, steps down after 50 years" ), ''The Observer'', 5 May 2013.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Philip French」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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