''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a narrow arthouse release.

History

''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was edited in the mid-1950s by David Robinson, in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Peter John Dyer, and then by Tom Milne. By the end of the 1960s, when the character and tone of its reviews changed considerably with the arrival of a new generation of critics influenced by the student culture and intellectual tumult of the time (not least the overthrow of old ideas of "taste" and quality), David Wilson was the editor. It was then edited by Jan Dawson (1938Richard Roud (ed) ''Cinema: a Critical Dictionary; The Major Film Makers'', 1980, Secker & Warburg, p. v – 1980), for two years from 1971, and from 1973 until its demise by the New Zealand-born critic Richard Combs. In 1991, ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was merged with '' Sight & Sound'', which had until then been published quarterly - ''Sight & Sound'' then became a monthly publication and took up ''The Monthly Film Bulletins remit to review all films released in the UK. ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was originally published to allow UK cinema managers to decide what films to show, hence the complete cast and production lists, full plot followed by a thorough critique. Only films that had been registered with the UK government trade authority were covered each month. During the years of full supporting programmes, ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' printed long lists of B-features and short films with brief capsule reviews; by the 1970s, the tone and style of its reviews had changed considerably, and was increasingly influenced in some cases by the auteur theory and Marxist-influenced film theory, though some more traditional critics such as

John Gillett John Gillett (1925–1995) was a British film critic and researcher whose career at the British Film Institute spanned over 44 years. He was also a programmer for the National Film Theatre on the works of Buster Keaton, early Russian cinema and J ...

remained, and others such as David McGillivray and Paul Taylor took

exploitation movie An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

s more seriously than had previously been considered acceptable, while

Steve Jenkins Stephen Robert Jenkins (born 16 July 1972) is a former Wales international footballer. A full back, he won 16 Welsh caps between 1995 and 2001. He began his career at Swansea, where he was a part of the team that won the 1994 Football League ...

wrote a lengthy defence in 1981 of '' Glen or Glenda''. Another change was that all reviews had a byline - up to September 1968, only the reviews of films considered more significant by the BFI had a partial byline of initials only (so Tom Milne would be "T.M."). From January 1971, all films were listed in alphabetical order, mainly because a new wave of critics who were influencing the magazine had already overturned the assumptions implicit in the separation of films (for example, several by

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cin ...

and many from the stable of Roger Corman were only included in the "shorter notices" section). From the July 1982 issue, ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' changed again to include more feature articles, interviews, and photographs.

Contributors

''The Monthly Film Bulletin''s many contributors included:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monthly Film Bulletin, The 1934 establishments in the United Kingdom 1991 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Film magazines published in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1934 Magazines disestablished in 1991