Eloquent and incisive chief film critic of the Observer for 35 years
Many years ago, Alexander Walker of the Evening Standard bet his fellow critics that they couldn’t guess the number of allusions to other art forms in Philip French’s next film column for the Observer. The nearest guess would get a prize. No one came close and the prize was withheld. The answer was 17.
There was no malicious intent in the abortive competition. Rather, there was a joshing admiration for a film critic who had a far wider view of the arts than simply film. French, who has died aged 82 following a heart attack, was a critic who not only wrote well but knew his stuff more than most and could relate a film to the time in which it was made, precisely.
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