''Sequence'' was a short-lived but influential British film journal founded in 1947 by

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered f ...

, Peter Ericsson,

Gavin Lambert Gavin Lambert (23 July 1924 – 17 July 2005) was a British-born screenwriter, novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood. His writing was mainly fiction and nonfiction about the film indust ...

and

Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Saturday Night and S ...

. Anderson had returned to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

after his time with the army Intelligence Corps in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

. Ericsson was at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

and had been a senior codebreaker in the Testery section at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

during World War II.Eavesdropping on Adolph Hitler: Deciphering the daily messages in the Tunny cipher, 2013 by Ian Mayo-Smith He was International Secretary of the British Labour Party 1955–1958.The CIA, the British Left and the Cold War: Calling the Tune? 2013 By Hugh WilfordLindsay Anderson Foundation website
/ref> Lambert was a schoolfriend of Anderson from

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent SchoolDay and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

who had dropped out of English at

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

on discovering that he would have to study

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

under C. S. Lewis, while Reisz was a chemistry graduate from Emmanuel College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

who later said "I met Lindsay Anderson on a

Green Line Green Line may refer to: Places Military and political * Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II * Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours ** City Line ( ...

bus. I was going to 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, ...

to look at some film for my editing book, and he was going to see Ford's '' The Iron Horse''."Tom Vallanc
Obituary: Karel Reisz
''

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 ...

'', 28 November 2002 Founded as the ''Film Society Magazine'', the organ of the Oxford Film Society, in 1947, with

Penelope Houston Penelope Houston (born December 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter best known as the singer for the San Francisco-based punk rock band the Avengers. She was raised in Seattle. In the mid-1970s she attended Fairhaven College in Bellin ...

as its first editor, the journal quickly changed its name to ''Sequence'', and produced fourteen issues between 1947 and 1952, the last few being edited by Reisz and Anderson. The British Free Cinema movement, co-founded in 1956 by

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film '' Tom Jones''. Earl ...

and

Lorenza Mazzetti Lorenza Mazzetti (26 July 1927 – 4 January 2020) was an Italian film director, novelist, photographer and painter. Early life Mazzetti was born in Florence. Her mother, Olga Liberati, died shortly after giving birth to Lorenza and her twi ...

, drew on the principles first expressed by the journal. Articles from ''Sequence'' by Anderson were published in ''Lindsay Anderson: The Collected Writings'' edited by Paul Ryan (London: Plexus, 2004).

References

External links

*
Interactive video talk by Malcolm McDowell on Free Cinema, made for BFI Screenonline
1947 establishments in the United Kingdom 1952 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Film magazines published in the United Kingdom Cinema of the United Kingdom Film studies journals Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1947 Magazines disestablished in 1952 Sequence {{film-journal-stub