David
Puttnam was born in London on the 25th February 1941 and was educated
in at Minchenden Grammar School in London. Born of a working class
family in England, he was the son of an Army Film Unit cameraman and
began his working life as a photographers agent.
He soon moved to movie production and made a few little-known films
before he, and director Alan Parker, scored big with ‘Bugsy
Malone’ (1976) – fully breaking in Jodie Foster as a child
actress. He and Parker then went on to make the Academy Award winning
Midnight Express (1978). Amidst all the acclaim for that gripping
true story of an American placed in a Turkish prison after drugs are
found on him in customs, Puttnam publicly apologized for any exploitative
affects the film had on audiences, thus earning him the reputation
as a ‘responsible renegade’.
But it was to be a film about a Christian sprinter that would truly
shoot Puttnam into the spotlight. ‘Chariots of Fire’ (1981)
was to be a massive success on both sides of the Atlantic and was
to give Puttnam the chance to deliver those immortal lines at the
Oscars…
A succession of quality material ensued beginning with ‘Local
Hero’ (1983) , ‘The Killing Fields’ (1984) , ‘Defence
of the Realm’ (1985) and ‘The Mission’ (1986). Whilst
I do not plan to speak in detail about these films a short treatise
may be useful. Currently ‘The Killing Fields’ is in the
film section and ‘The Mission’ will added shortly.
‘Local Hero’ was written and directed by the multi talented
Mr Bill Forsyth - a modern day fairytale, of riches beyond belief,
being brought to a small fictional Scottish town called Furness. The
Texan Knox oil and gas company decide that they need a new site for
a new refinery, and the small town of Furness is just perfect. So
they use `middle man`, McIntyre (Peter Riegert) to fly to bonnie Scotland
and try to convince the natives that they should sell out for a worthy
fee. ‘The Mission’ was a cinematic feast courtesy of Roland
Joffe, Jeremy Irons and Robert DeNiro. It was another critical and
financial success for Puttnam.
Shortly after this film he became chief of production for Columbia
Pictures where he promised to focus on cost-effective productions
with an emphasis on artistry and depth. Puttnam's reputation was for
modestly budgeted productions which achieved critical acclaim and
moderate box-office receipts, while dealing with socially and politically
sensitive subjects. With an impressive network to support his ambitions
in Hollywood, Puttnam created enormous expectations. He promised to
keep costs down with leaner, lower-budgeted fare that would also serve
an international rather than simply American audience. He resigned
a year later, having failed to turn its fortunes around or stiffen
the moral fibre of its movies, and he relocated back to England. Goldcrest,
with which his company had been associated, had collapsed.
In
1990 he produced ‘Memphis Belle’ which met with reasonable
success in a number of spheres. In 1999 he produced ‘My Life
So Far, directed by Chariots colleague, Hugh Hudson, but to much more
muted effect.
Awarded a CBE in 1982, he became Lord Puttnam in 1997. Currently he
has become an incessant lobbyist for government support of the British
film industry – who would fancy such a job!!