Film-preservation legend Kevin Brownlow will be the recipient of a Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this Saturday. The British preservationist, author, documentarian and film historian is a major hero in the silent film community, and the story of how he came to know these movies really charms me:
"I was at a very unpleasant boarding school and the headmaster used to tempt us back from visits by our parents by showing us films — he didn't have a sound projector."
Not long after, Brownlow was living with his parents in London when they got him his own hand projector and two films. "I went out into the streets of London to look for more films and immediately found one that was missing the beginning but looked quite promising."
Brownlow, 72, was fortunate to meet and know several greats from the silent era; thanks to his efforts, those of us in the younger generations can better appreciate what those men and women, now all gone, worked so hard to produce.
The LA Times article is here.
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