F. Maurice Speed (1911–1998) was an English

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...

who created two innovative and long-lasting publications: the listings magazine ''What's On in London'', which ran from 1935 until 2007, and later the ''Film Review'' annual, which began in 1944 and ended in 2015.

Life and career

Born in London on 18 October 1911, Frederick Maurice Speed began a lifelong devotion to filmgoing in the small cinemas around Hammersmith. According to a potted biography published in 1991, he began his working life as an apprentice on the ''

Harrow Observer The ''Harrow Observer'' was a paid-for local weekly tabloid newspaper covering stories from the London Borough of Harrow. It had separate editions for Pinner, Harrow, Stanmore and Wembley & Willesden. The former newspaper titles were retained by ...

''.Speed, F. Maurice ''Film Review 1991-92'', Virgin Books 1991

''What's On''

Having been an assistant to Edward Martell, proprietor of ''The Sunday Referee'', it was to Martell that Speed turned when he had the idea to set up the listings magazine ''What's On in London''. First published in September 1935, ''What's On'' was edited (and almost entirely written) by Speed, who titled his editorials 'Round and About'. According to

Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

in his Speed obituary for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'', "During Coronation Year of 1937 Speed realised the vast appeal that George VI's coronation would have for visitors from abroad. 'Indispensable to Visitors' became the front-page subtitle from then on, replacing the original and less catchy 'Complete Arrangements for the London Week'." Among Speed's earliest ''What's On'' pseudonyms were J. Lilywhite Haffner (for book reviews) and Frederick Deeps; he was still using the latter for shorter critiques in his ''Film Review'' annuals in the 1990s. He made his last contribution to the magazine in 1996, while ''What’s On'' itself outlived its creator by nine years, eventually folding in 2007.

''Film Review''

Speed's second innovative concept was based on his conviction that "What the ordinary moviegoer lacks is a more or less complete annual record, in picture and story, of his year's filmgoing. Ironically enough, it wasn't until the war came along, and I had been discharged from the Army, that I decided, as nobody else seemed so inclined, I might as well attempt to fill the void myself." The idea came to fruition in 1944 as ''Film Review''. As Speed recalled in the annual's 50th edition, "That initial 1944-45 book sold some 80,000 copies to a book-starved public and the second annual reached a dizzy 250,000 print order."Speed, F. Maurice ''Film Review 1994-95'', Virgin Books 1994 The book rapidly developed into an annual illustrated digest of all the films screened in the UK. As time went on, Speed gathered together more and more outside contributors, among them Peter Noble,

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Peter Cowie Peter Cowie (born 24 December 1939) is a film historian and author of more than thirty books on film. In 1963 he was the founder/publisher and general editor of the annual ''International Film Guide'', a survey of worldwide film production, whi ...

Anthony Slide Anthony Slide (born 7 November 1944) is an English writer who has produced more than seventy books and edited a further 150 on the history of popular entertainment. He wrote a "letter from Hollywood" for the British ''Film Review'' magazine from ...

, Ivan Butler and Gordon Gow, as well as soliciting special articles by such film industry figures as

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

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and

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. He also showed a keen interest in technical advances such as stereo sound and

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

. In 1963, for the 20th edition, Speed's publishers, Macdonald & Co, altered the annual's format, reducing it in size and doubling the price. This new look only lasted for three years, after which Macdonald dropped the title. After a 12-month hiatus, Speed returned, now under the aegis of W.H. Allen, with a catch-up edition (published at the end of 1967) that covered a two-year period. In 1987 Speed, by then in his seventies, took on co-editor James Cameron-Wilson, who would eventually graduate to editing the book on his own before handing over to Michael Darvell and Mansel Stimpson in 2007. The annual was published in latter years by Columbus Books,

Virgin Books Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing ar ...

, Reynolds & Hearn and, starting in 2011, Signum Books. After the 70th edition appeared on 2 November 2015, the annual made the move to digital the following month, relaunching as the websit
Film Review Daily
Edited by Cameron-Wilson, the digital edition features regular contributions from Stimpson, Darvell, George Savvides and Chad Kennerk.

Other work

Speed's work was by no means confined to ''What's On'' and ''Film Review''. His first book, ''Movie Cavalcade: The Story of the Cinema – Its Stars, Studios and Producers'', was published in 1943 and boasted a foreword by

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

. Three years later he published ''The Londoner Annual'' as a spin-off from ''What's On'', but this venture failed to initiate a series as ''Film Review'' had done. He edited ''The Western Film Annual'' from 1950 to 1956, then the retitled ''Western Film and TV Annual'' until 1962. With Cameron-Wilson, he also devised ''The Moviegoer’s Quiz Book'' in 1985.

Recognition

In March 1991 Speed was honoured by the

London Film Critics' Circle The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally. The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of th ...

. "I was considerably moved," he wrote in that year’s ''Film Review'' annual, "when, at a little ceremony at the Ritz Hotel in London, my fellow critics saw fit to present me with a special award for long service to the film industry. That award, now facing me as I write this, is something I shall always treasure." Twice married, F. Maurice Speed died in London on 29 August 1998.

References

... {{DEFAULTSORT:Speed, Fmaurice English film critics 1911 births 1998 deaths