In addition to published work on cinema, this article also includes Denis Gifford's film credits.
Denis Gifford provided one of the earliest researched archives of early cinema, with
The British Film Catalogue, 1895–1970, and produced numerous authoritative works on previously uncatalogued films from the UK and the US. Gifford had a particular interest in early horror and science fiction, and early comedy including
Laurel and Hardy.
Books on cinema
Gifford's Karloff: the Man, the Monster, the Movies, a biography of iconic Frankenstein actor Boris Karloff.
Gifford's work on cinema included both original research on cinema, such as The British Film Catalogue, 1895–1970 and British Animated Films, 1895–1985: a Filmography, which has considerable academic credibility, and more popular, heavily illustrated books, often on genre films, such as Movie Monsters.
Space Patrol Official Handbook[1] (1952); self-published.
British Cinema: an Illustrated Guide to the Leading Players and Directors (1968); Zwemmer.
ISBN0-302-00484-X
The Illustrated Who's Who of British Films (1979); Batsford.
ISBN0-7134-1434-0
British Film Animation, 1920–80: Exhibition Catalogue (1980) (ed. Denis Gifford and David R. Williams).
ISBN0-9501926-2-7
The British Film Catalogue (2nd edition: 1895–1985) (1986); David & Charles.
ISBN0-7153-8835-5
The Great British Picture Show (1987); Facts on File.
British Animated Films, 1895–1985: a Filmography (1988), McFarland & Co.
ISBN0-89950-241-5
The Comic Art of Charlie Chaplin: a Graphic Celebration of Chaplin's Centenary (1989), Hawk Books (co-written with
Mike Higgs).
ISBN0-948248-21-1
American Animated Films: The Silent Era, 1897–1929 (1990); McFarland & Co.
ISBN0-89950-460-4
Books and Plays in Films, 1896–1915: Literary, Theatrical and Artistic Sources of the First Twenty Years of Motion Pictures (1991); McFarland & Co.
ISBN0-89950-650-X
Things, Its and Aliens! Lobby Card Posters from Sci-Fi Shockers! (1991); H.C. Blossom.
ISBN1-872532-58-6
Mad Doctors, Monsters and Mummies! : Lobby Card Postcards from Hollywood Horrors! (1991); H.C. Blossom.
ISBN1-872532-71-3
The British Film Catalogue (3rd edition: 1895–1994) (1994); Routledge.
ISBN1-57958-200-1
Entertainers in British Films: A Century of Showbiz in the Cinema (1998); Greenwood Press.
ISBN0-313-30720-2
King Kong and Co!: The Films of Edgar Wallace (1998); Flick Books.
ISBN0-948911-14-X
Contributions on cinema
The Edgar Allan Poe Scrapbook, to which Gifford contributed the chapter Pictures of Poe: A Survey of the Silent Film Era 1909–1929.
Pictures of Poe: A Survey of the Silent Film Era 1909–1929; in The Edgar Allan Poe Scrapbook (ed. Peter Haining, chapter Pictures of Poe: A Survey of the Silent Film Era 1909–1929 by Denis Gifford) (1977); London: David & Charles; p. 131.
ISBN0-8052-0583-7
My Funny Frankenstein; in The Frankenstein File (ed. Peter Haining) (1977); Los Angeles: New English Library.
ISBN0-450-03305-8
The Man Who Did Work Miracles-in the Movies; in The H.G. Wells Scrapbook (ed. Peter Haining) (1978); Los Angeles: New English Library.
ISBN0-450-03778-9
The Octopus Encyclopaedia of Horror (ed. Richard Davis, The Catalogue chapter co-written by Denis Gifford and Richard Davis) (1981); New York: Crown Publishing Group.
ISBN99975-473-2-2
Félix le Chat: 1923–24 (by Pat Sullivan, preface by Denis Gifford) (1982, English translation 2004); Pierre Horay.
ISBN2-7058-0114-6
The Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction Movies (co-author Phil Hardy) (1986); Woodbury Press.
ISBN0-8300-0436-X
Fitz: The Old Man of the Screen; in All Our Yesterdays: 90 Years of British Cinema (ed. Charles Barr) (1986); London: British Film Institute.
ISBN0-85170-179-5
Filmography: Gainsborough and Related Films 1924–1950,[2] in Gainsborough Pictures - Rethinking British Cinema (ed. Pam Cook)(1997); London: Cassell.
ISBN0-304-33707-2[3]
King Kong Cometh! : the Evolution of the Great Ape (ed. Paul A. Woods, Chapter 5: The Lost World, reprinted from A Pictorial History of Horror Movies, and Chapter 10: The King of Kongs, reprinted from A Pictorial History of Horror Movies by Denis Gifford) (2005); London: Plexus.
ISBN0-85965-362-5
Articles and interviews on cinema
Gifford's involvement in cinema fanzines dates back to the early 1950s, and he continued to write for the fan press well into the 1980s, long after he was well established, in large-circulation magazines such as House of Hammer. Gifford also conducted a large number of recorded interviews with vintage showbusiness figures, including actors and filmmakers, intended for personal reference. Many of these are now kept as an archive by the BFI.
House of Hammer #2 from December 1976, the start of Gifford's long-running columns on vintage horror, Golden Age of Horror and History of Hammer.
Film Review: Flight to Mars; in Straight Up; issue #3 (May 1952). - British fanzine.
Convention Projections; in Straight Up; issue #4 (July 1952). - British fanzine.
Denis Gifford's Projections; in Straight Up; issue #5 (October 1952). - British fanzine.[4]
Who do You Think You are Fooling Mr Hitler?; in The Movie (no available date).
The Sherlock Holmes Series of 1954; in Amateur Cine World[5] (1966) (repr. In The Armchair Odeon (1974)) - reviews in British fanzine of The Case of the Unlucky Gambler, The Case of the Christmas Pudding, The Case of the Haunted Gainsborough.
On Screen: Mr Laurel Meets Mr Hardy; in Amateur Cine World; Vol. 11, issue #6 (1966). - Review in British fanzine.
Nolan's Edgar Wallace; in Films in Review; Vol. 18, issue #5 (1967), p. 313–16. - Review in US magazine.
Laurel & Hardy; in Classic Film Collector; issue #21 (Summer 1968).
The Latter Days of Laurel & Hardy; in Classic Film Collector; issue #22 (Fall/Winter 1968).[6]
B-Movies; in Rex; issue #26 (October 1971). - British magazine.[9]
The Reel Image; in Movie Maker (November 1971). - review of Nyoka in the Caves of Death, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy and the Wolfman.
Lunar-tics; in Rex; issue #28 (December 1971). - British magazine, Laurel & Hardy article.
Woody Woodpecker shoots to the top of the cartoon tree; in The Guardian (4 July 1972, reprinted 4 July 2014). - interview with Walter Lantz, Woody Woodpecker creator at Zagreb Film Festival.[10]
Diary of the first World Festival of Animated Films at Zagreb; in Film Fan Monthly; issue #133–134 (July/August 1972). - US fanzine.[11]
The Reel Image; in Movie Maker; Vol. 6, issue #11 (November 1972). - review of 8mm print of It's a Grand Life.[12]
(Unknown article); in Movie Maker (March 1973) Vol. 7, issue #9, p. 600–601 (September 1973).
(Unknown article title); Films Illustrated; Vol. 5 issue #49 p. 24–25 (September 1975). - Report on the Annecy Festival of 1975.
Things aren't what they used to be!; in Ghoul; issue #1 (1976). - British horror magazine, article on horror films of the 1940s.[13]
Terry Wakefield: Film Funster; Ally Sloper comic magazine; Vol. 1, issue #2 (1976).
(Unknown article title); The Laurel and Hardy Magazine; (unknown issue) (1970s, no date).
The Golden Age of Horror (column) and History of Hammer (column); in House of Hammer; issue #2 - #22 (December 1976 – July 1978). - British film horror magazine.
"Ten Days of Terror" (article on the
Sitges Film Festival); in Hammer's Halls of Horror (formerly House of Hammer); issue #23 (August 1978).[14]
Article on the
Crazy Gang in Radio Times issue #3136 (17–30 December 1983). - Ties in with broadcast of The Crazy Gang: a Celebration.
Flavour of the Month (column); in Films and Filming; various issues (1984). - British fanzine.
Buster Keaton; in Films and Filming; issue #338 (?) (February 1984).
Abbott and Costello; in Films and Filming; issue #342 (June 1984).[15]
Laurel and Hardy; in Films and Filming; issue #346(?) (October 1984).[16]
(unknown article title); in Films & Filming; issue #366 (March 1985). - on British animation artist Charles Harrison 'Joe' Noble.
Hi, Gang!; in Film Season Publicity Programme - Made in London - 15th Season (1988); The Museum of London/ National Film Archive. - includes NFT note on radio programme 'Hi, Gang' by Denis Gifford.[17]
The Early Memories of Maurice Elvey; in Griffithiania; issue #60–61; p. 117–119 (October 1997).[18]
Biographic details may have been fully or partially published earlier in Gifford's The Illustrated Who's Who in British Films (1978).
Film credits
In addition to writing extensively on cinema history, Gifford also scripted, directed and photographed a number of newsreel, information and commercial short films.
Inserting a Damp-proof Course (1963) - photography.[19]
The Handy Manns (1963) - script (with Bob Monkhouse).[20]
^"Gainsborough Pictures entry". EVE (Everyone's Virtual Exhibition), The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema & Popular Culture. University of Exeter. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^"The Silent Picture #6". EVE (Everyone's Virtual Exhibition), The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema & Popular Culture. University of Exeter. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
^Gehring, Wes (1990). Laurel & Hardy: A Bio-bibliography. Greenwood. p. 192.
ISBN0-313-25172-X.
^"Film Season Publicity Programme". EVE (Everyone's Visual Exhibition), The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema & Popular Culture. University of Exeter. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
In addition to published work on cinema, this article also includes Denis Gifford's film credits.
Denis Gifford provided one of the earliest researched archives of early cinema, with
The British Film Catalogue, 1895–1970, and produced numerous authoritative works on previously uncatalogued films from the UK and the US. Gifford had a particular interest in early horror and science fiction, and early comedy including
Laurel and Hardy.
Books on cinema
Gifford's Karloff: the Man, the Monster, the Movies, a biography of iconic Frankenstein actor Boris Karloff.
Gifford's work on cinema included both original research on cinema, such as The British Film Catalogue, 1895–1970 and British Animated Films, 1895–1985: a Filmography, which has considerable academic credibility, and more popular, heavily illustrated books, often on genre films, such as Movie Monsters.
Space Patrol Official Handbook[1] (1952); self-published.
British Cinema: an Illustrated Guide to the Leading Players and Directors (1968); Zwemmer.
ISBN0-302-00484-X
The Illustrated Who's Who of British Films (1979); Batsford.
ISBN0-7134-1434-0
British Film Animation, 1920–80: Exhibition Catalogue (1980) (ed. Denis Gifford and David R. Williams).
ISBN0-9501926-2-7
The British Film Catalogue (2nd edition: 1895–1985) (1986); David & Charles.
ISBN0-7153-8835-5
The Great British Picture Show (1987); Facts on File.
British Animated Films, 1895–1985: a Filmography (1988), McFarland & Co.
ISBN0-89950-241-5
The Comic Art of Charlie Chaplin: a Graphic Celebration of Chaplin's Centenary (1989), Hawk Books (co-written with
Mike Higgs).
ISBN0-948248-21-1
American Animated Films: The Silent Era, 1897–1929 (1990); McFarland & Co.
ISBN0-89950-460-4
Books and Plays in Films, 1896–1915: Literary, Theatrical and Artistic Sources of the First Twenty Years of Motion Pictures (1991); McFarland & Co.
ISBN0-89950-650-X
Things, Its and Aliens! Lobby Card Posters from Sci-Fi Shockers! (1991); H.C. Blossom.
ISBN1-872532-58-6
Mad Doctors, Monsters and Mummies! : Lobby Card Postcards from Hollywood Horrors! (1991); H.C. Blossom.
ISBN1-872532-71-3
The British Film Catalogue (3rd edition: 1895–1994) (1994); Routledge.
ISBN1-57958-200-1
Entertainers in British Films: A Century of Showbiz in the Cinema (1998); Greenwood Press.
ISBN0-313-30720-2
King Kong and Co!: The Films of Edgar Wallace (1998); Flick Books.
ISBN0-948911-14-X
Contributions on cinema
The Edgar Allan Poe Scrapbook, to which Gifford contributed the chapter Pictures of Poe: A Survey of the Silent Film Era 1909–1929.
Pictures of Poe: A Survey of the Silent Film Era 1909–1929; in The Edgar Allan Poe Scrapbook (ed. Peter Haining, chapter Pictures of Poe: A Survey of the Silent Film Era 1909–1929 by Denis Gifford) (1977); London: David & Charles; p. 131.
ISBN0-8052-0583-7
My Funny Frankenstein; in The Frankenstein File (ed. Peter Haining) (1977); Los Angeles: New English Library.
ISBN0-450-03305-8
The Man Who Did Work Miracles-in the Movies; in The H.G. Wells Scrapbook (ed. Peter Haining) (1978); Los Angeles: New English Library.
ISBN0-450-03778-9
The Octopus Encyclopaedia of Horror (ed. Richard Davis, The Catalogue chapter co-written by Denis Gifford and Richard Davis) (1981); New York: Crown Publishing Group.
ISBN99975-473-2-2
Félix le Chat: 1923–24 (by Pat Sullivan, preface by Denis Gifford) (1982, English translation 2004); Pierre Horay.
ISBN2-7058-0114-6
The Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction Movies (co-author Phil Hardy) (1986); Woodbury Press.
ISBN0-8300-0436-X
Fitz: The Old Man of the Screen; in All Our Yesterdays: 90 Years of British Cinema (ed. Charles Barr) (1986); London: British Film Institute.
ISBN0-85170-179-5
Filmography: Gainsborough and Related Films 1924–1950,[2] in Gainsborough Pictures - Rethinking British Cinema (ed. Pam Cook)(1997); London: Cassell.
ISBN0-304-33707-2[3]
King Kong Cometh! : the Evolution of the Great Ape (ed. Paul A. Woods, Chapter 5: The Lost World, reprinted from A Pictorial History of Horror Movies, and Chapter 10: The King of Kongs, reprinted from A Pictorial History of Horror Movies by Denis Gifford) (2005); London: Plexus.
ISBN0-85965-362-5
Articles and interviews on cinema
Gifford's involvement in cinema fanzines dates back to the early 1950s, and he continued to write for the fan press well into the 1980s, long after he was well established, in large-circulation magazines such as House of Hammer. Gifford also conducted a large number of recorded interviews with vintage showbusiness figures, including actors and filmmakers, intended for personal reference. Many of these are now kept as an archive by the BFI.
House of Hammer #2 from December 1976, the start of Gifford's long-running columns on vintage horror, Golden Age of Horror and History of Hammer.
Film Review: Flight to Mars; in Straight Up; issue #3 (May 1952). - British fanzine.
Convention Projections; in Straight Up; issue #4 (July 1952). - British fanzine.
Denis Gifford's Projections; in Straight Up; issue #5 (October 1952). - British fanzine.[4]
Who do You Think You are Fooling Mr Hitler?; in The Movie (no available date).
The Sherlock Holmes Series of 1954; in Amateur Cine World[5] (1966) (repr. In The Armchair Odeon (1974)) - reviews in British fanzine of The Case of the Unlucky Gambler, The Case of the Christmas Pudding, The Case of the Haunted Gainsborough.
On Screen: Mr Laurel Meets Mr Hardy; in Amateur Cine World; Vol. 11, issue #6 (1966). - Review in British fanzine.
Nolan's Edgar Wallace; in Films in Review; Vol. 18, issue #5 (1967), p. 313–16. - Review in US magazine.
Laurel & Hardy; in Classic Film Collector; issue #21 (Summer 1968).
The Latter Days of Laurel & Hardy; in Classic Film Collector; issue #22 (Fall/Winter 1968).[6]
B-Movies; in Rex; issue #26 (October 1971). - British magazine.[9]
The Reel Image; in Movie Maker (November 1971). - review of Nyoka in the Caves of Death, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy and the Wolfman.
Lunar-tics; in Rex; issue #28 (December 1971). - British magazine, Laurel & Hardy article.
Woody Woodpecker shoots to the top of the cartoon tree; in The Guardian (4 July 1972, reprinted 4 July 2014). - interview with Walter Lantz, Woody Woodpecker creator at Zagreb Film Festival.[10]
Diary of the first World Festival of Animated Films at Zagreb; in Film Fan Monthly; issue #133–134 (July/August 1972). - US fanzine.[11]
The Reel Image; in Movie Maker; Vol. 6, issue #11 (November 1972). - review of 8mm print of It's a Grand Life.[12]
(Unknown article); in Movie Maker (March 1973) Vol. 7, issue #9, p. 600–601 (September 1973).
(Unknown article title); Films Illustrated; Vol. 5 issue #49 p. 24–25 (September 1975). - Report on the Annecy Festival of 1975.
Things aren't what they used to be!; in Ghoul; issue #1 (1976). - British horror magazine, article on horror films of the 1940s.[13]
Terry Wakefield: Film Funster; Ally Sloper comic magazine; Vol. 1, issue #2 (1976).
(Unknown article title); The Laurel and Hardy Magazine; (unknown issue) (1970s, no date).
The Golden Age of Horror (column) and History of Hammer (column); in House of Hammer; issue #2 - #22 (December 1976 – July 1978). - British film horror magazine.
"Ten Days of Terror" (article on the
Sitges Film Festival); in Hammer's Halls of Horror (formerly House of Hammer); issue #23 (August 1978).[14]
Article on the
Crazy Gang in Radio Times issue #3136 (17–30 December 1983). - Ties in with broadcast of The Crazy Gang: a Celebration.
Flavour of the Month (column); in Films and Filming; various issues (1984). - British fanzine.
Buster Keaton; in Films and Filming; issue #338 (?) (February 1984).
Abbott and Costello; in Films and Filming; issue #342 (June 1984).[15]
Laurel and Hardy; in Films and Filming; issue #346(?) (October 1984).[16]
(unknown article title); in Films & Filming; issue #366 (March 1985). - on British animation artist Charles Harrison 'Joe' Noble.
Hi, Gang!; in Film Season Publicity Programme - Made in London - 15th Season (1988); The Museum of London/ National Film Archive. - includes NFT note on radio programme 'Hi, Gang' by Denis Gifford.[17]
The Early Memories of Maurice Elvey; in Griffithiania; issue #60–61; p. 117–119 (October 1997).[18]
Biographic details may have been fully or partially published earlier in Gifford's The Illustrated Who's Who in British Films (1978).
Film credits
In addition to writing extensively on cinema history, Gifford also scripted, directed and photographed a number of newsreel, information and commercial short films.
Inserting a Damp-proof Course (1963) - photography.[19]
The Handy Manns (1963) - script (with Bob Monkhouse).[20]
^"Gainsborough Pictures entry". EVE (Everyone's Virtual Exhibition), The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema & Popular Culture. University of Exeter. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^"The Silent Picture #6". EVE (Everyone's Virtual Exhibition), The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema & Popular Culture. University of Exeter. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
^Gehring, Wes (1990). Laurel & Hardy: A Bio-bibliography. Greenwood. p. 192.
ISBN0-313-25172-X.
^"Film Season Publicity Programme". EVE (Everyone's Visual Exhibition), The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema & Popular Culture. University of Exeter. Retrieved 14 September 2012.