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 (1938 – 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 remained, and others such as David McGillivray and Paul Taylor took exploitation movies more seriously than had previously been considered acceptable, while Steve Jenkins 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 byContributors
''Monthly Film Bulletin''s contributors included:References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monthly Film Bulletin, The 1934 establishments in the United Kingdom 1991 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Film magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines disestablished in 1991 Magazines established in 1934 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom