Charles Drazin
@charlesdrazin.bsky.social
Writer and editor. Coming soon: The Faber Book of British Cinema.
It’s a great passage but Odysseus doesn’t say he’ll “absolutely” sleep with Circe. He does so only once he has made her swear not to do him any “evil harm” (πῆμα κακὸν).
By far the funniest moment in Homer’s Odyssey is when Circe says, “Shall we have sex?” and Odysseus says, “You just turned all my men into pigs. You have the GALL to think I would sleep with you? Of course I will. Absolutely. But don’t do any weird spells”
October 2, 2026 at 3:37 AM
It’s a great passage but Odysseus doesn’t say he’ll “absolutely” sleep with Circe. He does so only once he has made her swear not to do him any “evil harm” (πῆμα κακὸν).
God only knows what would have happened if George Martin had been his producer.
Love this clip of Brian Wilson and George Martin discussing ‘God Only Knows’ and Brian’s enthusiasm when he thinks George is making the song better — “I can’t believe this is happening!”
October 2, 2026 at 2:37 AM
God only knows what would have happened if George Martin had been his producer.
What makes the compliment all the more valuable is that Agee is such a perceptive critic. The “lovingly planned” nature of “Odd Man Out” is why this nonetheless wonderful film falls far short of that masterpiece of seeming spontaneity, “The Third Man”.
Robert Krasker, BSC in ‘TIME’ magazine review of ‘Odd Man Out’ by James Agee in ‘Cinema: New Picture, Mar. 3, 1947’: “Robert Krasker … is one of the best cameramen alive”:
robertkraskerproject.wordpress.com/2024/05/30/t...
robertkraskerproject.wordpress.com/2024/05/30/t...
October 2, 2026 at 2:29 AM
What makes the compliment all the more valuable is that Agee is such a perceptive critic. The “lovingly planned” nature of “Odd Man Out” is why this nonetheless wonderful film falls far short of that masterpiece of seeming spontaneity, “The Third Man”.
The Cirque du Soleil at the Saville
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-cir...
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-cir...
September 30, 2026 at 4:44 PM
The Cirque du Soleil at the Saville
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-cir...
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-cir...
September 29, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Wham! and the Singing Lesson: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/wham-an...
Wham! and the Singing Lesson
I first heard about the Wham! in China debacle as it was happening through my friends the Bloomfields. A prolific writer of postcards, which were often as forthright as they were often funny, Lindsay ...
www.charlesdrazin.com
September 28, 2026 at 11:17 AM
Wham! and the Singing Lesson: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/wham-an...
The Rose has yet to rise from the waters but this piece captures some of its flavour (“The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem /
For that sweet odour which doth in it live…”)
For that sweet odour which doth in it live…”)
Some thoughts on acting (after a fashion) at what survives of London's Elizabethan theatre @roseplayhouse.bsky.social lukemckernan.com/2026/09/25/p...
September 26, 2026 at 2:35 AM
The Rose has yet to rise from the waters but this piece captures some of its flavour (“The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem /
For that sweet odour which doth in it live…”)
For that sweet odour which doth in it live…”)
Film-makers Andrew and Kevin Macdonald chatting to me about their grandfather Emeric Pressburger at the Cinefest Film Festival, Miskolc: bbj.hu/budapest/fes...
Emeric Pressburger: the Englishman From Miskolc - Budapest Business Journal
The Hungarian-born filmmaker Emeric Pressburger is being celebrated in his birthplace as cinematic aficionados worldwide reassess his joint productions with Michael Powell.
bbj.hu
September 24, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Film-makers Andrew and Kevin Macdonald chatting to me about their grandfather Emeric Pressburger at the Cinefest Film Festival, Miskolc: bbj.hu/budapest/fes...
Fact-checking in the Post-Truth Age:
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/chatgpt...
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/chatgpt...
ChatGPT versus the New York Times
When I started out as a copy-editor at Penguin Books in the late 1980s, the chief executive of the company was Peter Mayer. London born but New York-raised, Mayer extended the Penguin convention of i...
www.charlesdrazin.com
September 22, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Fact-checking in the Post-Truth Age:
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/chatgpt...
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/chatgpt...
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/powell-... Miskolc: Emeric Pressburger’s birthplace.
Powell & Pressburger: Lost Worlds
I had been invited to talk about the contribution of Hungarians to world cinema, focusing in particular on the work of Sir Alexander Korda and Emeric Pressburger The setting for the interview was the...
www.charlesdrazin.com
September 16, 2026 at 11:26 AM
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/powell-... Miskolc: Emeric Pressburger’s birthplace.
And don't forget the parrot.
September 3, 2026 at 7:35 AM
And don't forget the parrot.
Great to hear Ernest R. Dickerson speak so lovingly about “The Third Man”.
Robert Krasker, BSC in Ernest R. Dickerson on ‘The Third Man’ and Its influential Cinematography at TCMFF 2022:
robertkraskerproject.wordpress.com/2026/08/23/r...
robertkraskerproject.wordpress.com/2026/08/23/r...
September 3, 2026 at 6:28 AM
Great to hear Ernest R. Dickerson speak so lovingly about “The Third Man”.
Guy Hamilton: "I was the cat director. There were four moggies, two Viennese... I was living in digs at Shepperton at the time. The landlady, who went on holiday, adored her cat and took it with her. So another moggie takes its place... At the end of rushes every day, on came the cat shots..."
2/2. THE THIRD MAN cat arguably gives the greatest performance by a cat in any film. However, cats being cats, at least 3 different cats were used for filming - just look at the markings on his/her face and legs.
September 2, 2026 at 8:27 PM
Guy Hamilton: "I was the cat director. There were four moggies, two Viennese... I was living in digs at Shepperton at the time. The landlady, who went on holiday, adored her cat and took it with her. So another moggie takes its place... At the end of rushes every day, on came the cat shots..."
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/hello-g...
Hello, goodbye to the Saville Theatre. Yoo says yes, I say no.
Hello, goodbye to the Saville Theatre. Yoo says yes, I say no.
Hello Goodbye to the Saville Theatre
There’s no worse sight on Shaftesbury Avenue than an empty theatre. Outside the old Saville, just across from Seven Dials, the players, depicted on Gilbert Bayes’ marvellous frieze, Drama through the...
www.charlesdrazin.com
September 1, 2026 at 10:51 AM
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/hello-g...
Hello, goodbye to the Saville Theatre. Yoo says yes, I say no.
Hello, goodbye to the Saville Theatre. Yoo says yes, I say no.
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-jol...
"I want to be a bandit, can't you understand it?"
"I want to be a bandit, can't you understand it?"
The Jolly Roger in Whitstable
The lure of the sea – a glimpse of it from Whitstable Harbour. The flag reminded me of the pirate Black Sam Bellamy, who refused, as he put it, to “to be governed by laws which rich men have made for ...
www.charlesdrazin.com
August 30, 2026 at 12:50 PM
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-jol...
"I want to be a bandit, can't you understand it?"
"I want to be a bandit, can't you understand it?"
Celebrating the New Gallery, a wonderful old London cinema, now home to the fashionistas! www.charlesdrazin.com/post/return-...
Return to the New Gallery
A few days ago, at the BFI Southbank, I told the fascinating story behind Cary Grant’s only British-financed picture, The Amazing Story of Ernest Bliss. It had its premiere in November 1936 at the New...
www.charlesdrazin.com
August 13, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Celebrating the New Gallery, a wonderful old London cinema, now home to the fashionistas! www.charlesdrazin.com/post/return-...
Why WHAM! fired Lindsay Anderson. Worse than I thought!
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/from-ca...
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/from-ca...
From Cannes to WHAM! The Trashing of Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Anderson’s documentary about Wham! in China, If You Were There.... , began with a foreword, in which he stated: “When editing was in its final stages I was dismissed by the WHAM! management. M...
www.charlesdrazin.com
August 4, 2026 at 9:20 AM
Why WHAM! fired Lindsay Anderson. Worse than I thought!
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/from-ca...
www.charlesdrazin.com/post/from-ca...
A wonderful opportunity to re-string one's rusty old bow: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-ody...
The Odyssey in Translation
Many year ago I was able to read The Odyssey in the original, having studied ancient Greek at school and then university. I returned to the poem recently when I wanted to refresh my memory of it befo...
www.charlesdrazin.com
August 1, 2026 at 5:16 PM
A wonderful opportunity to re-string one's rusty old bow: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-ody...
Selling out with style: Lindsay Anderson and Wham! www.charlesdrazin.com/post/selling...
Selling Out to Wham!
Whenever Lindsay Anderson took on an assignment that was commercial rather than personal, he did so with considerable ambivalence. An example of this tendency was a postcard that he sent to his friend...
www.charlesdrazin.com
July 27, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Selling out with style: Lindsay Anderson and Wham! www.charlesdrazin.com/post/selling...
The odd trio. Why the man in the middle, Lindsay Anderson, is likely to be absent when a new documentary about WHAM! is released next month: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/wham-an...
WHAM! and Lindsay Anderson
“The artist must always bite the hand that feeds him,” Lindsay Anderson once observed. His spirit of uncompromising independence as a film-maker was so well known that, when the management of WHAM! sa...
www.charlesdrazin.com
June 25, 2026 at 11:11 AM
The odd trio. Why the man in the middle, Lindsay Anderson, is likely to be absent when a new documentary about WHAM! is released next month: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/wham-an...
I was very pleased to see my recent piece on the Everyman up on the Everyman history website: everymancinemahistory.co.uk/from-the-eve...
From the Everyman to the 39 Steps: Charles Drazin - The History of The Everyman Cinema Hampstead
Posted June 2026 Charles Drazin is a film historian, author and editor. These memories evoke the distinctive character of the Everyman in the 1970s when it ‘was more like going to Film Chapel than esc...
everymancinemahistory.co.uk
June 16, 2026 at 2:54 PM
I was very pleased to see my recent piece on the Everyman up on the Everyman history website: everymancinemahistory.co.uk/from-the-eve...
The Young Oliver Sacks in 1950s Oxford: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-you...
The Young Oliver Sacks
This picture is familiar yet strange to me. The reproduction of the Henri Rousseau painting The Snake Charmer, which was bought from Ryman & Co in Oxford High Street only shortly before the photo was...
www.charlesdrazin.com
June 2, 2026 at 2:27 PM
The Young Oliver Sacks in 1950s Oxford: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/the-you...
The Everyman went wrong when the Everyman stopped being the Everyman, a cinema that in those long-ago days put the cinema first: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/from-th...
May 31, 2026 at 10:17 AM
The Everyman went wrong when the Everyman stopped being the Everyman, a cinema that in those long-ago days put the cinema first: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/from-th...
Say it with Flowers: www.charlesdrazin.com/london#cotte...
May 28, 2026 at 8:10 AM
Say it with Flowers: www.charlesdrazin.com/london#cotte...
Let's take The Fallen Idol: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/how-can...
“How can I light them, if they move?”
The Daily Telegraph waxed lyrical yesterday about the post-war years as a supposed “Golden Age” of the British cinema. “The era’s consistent appeal lies in its application of controlled visual showman...
www.charlesdrazin.com
May 27, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Let's take The Fallen Idol: www.charlesdrazin.com/post/how-can...