'A rule of mine is this', said William Goldman in 1983, 'there are
always three hot directors and one of them is always David Lean.' One of
the best known and most admired of British film makers, David Lean had a
directorial career that spanned five decades and encompassed everything
from the intimate black-and-white romance of Brief Encounter (1945) to
the spectacular Technicolor epic of Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
This book offers comprehensive coverage of every feature film directed
by Lean, yielding new insights on the established classics of his career
as well as its lesser-known treasures. Its analysis prioritises
questions of gender and emphasises the often-overlooked but highly
significant recurrence of female-centred narratives throughout Lean's
career. Drawing extensively on archival historical materials while also
presenting nuanced close readings of individual films, David Lean offers
a fascinating and original account of the work of a remarkable British
film maker.