The Denis Gifford Collection

This collection consists of recordings made by Denis Gifford, which have been donated to the bfi National Library, and which are available for research use only. They may not be copied.

The film historian and 'nostalgist' Denis Gifford recorded interviews with a number of people who had worked in the film and television industry, often as part of his research towards some of the many books he wrote or compiled; as a collector, he also recorded and kept relevant programmes from the radio, especially if they included information about, or interviews with pioneers of early cinema. This collection contains both types of recording, though mainly the former.

Still: teh Curse of Frankenstein (1957).

Off-air Hammer Horror Recordings form part of the Denis Gifford collection.

Some people were interviewed more than once, so there is an element of repetition on some recordings, and because Denis migrated some older recordings from reel-to-reel tape onto audiocassette, he sometimes edited interviews and may have copied them out of sequence. A few of the interviews are very brief.

Where recording dates are known these are given.

All the listening copies have been made from either an audiocassette original or in some cases from reel-to-reel tapes, and the quality is not necessarily the highest.

None of the recordings have been transcribed, and it is probable that transcription will provide further clues about the content of the recordings, so this should be regarded as work in progress.

The recordings do reflect Denis Gifford's broad range of interests, so in one or two cases we have indicated that these would not normally be within the bfi's range of interests, but have been kept in order to maintain the integrity of the collection.

The copyright of the recordings is unclear: those few which originally were broadcasts remain the copyright of the broadcaster. The remainder are presumed to be the copyright of the Gifford Estate.

Acknowledgement: the bfi would like to acknowledge the help and assistance of Dennis Drinkwater and of Tony Fletcher in securing these recordings for the collection.

Full list of recordings

(* = off-air recording)

  • Albert Arch
  • Dave Aylott
  • Dorothy Bellew
  • Ursula Bloom (silent accompanist)
  • Estelle Brody
  • Clive Brook
  • Bertie Brooks-Carrington
  • Charles Chaplin *
  • Harry Cohn *
  • Ivy Close
  • Roy Disney
  • Joe Drew
  • Maurice Elvey *
  • Maurice Elvey (3 tapes)
  • Joe Evans (4 tapes)
  • Kenny Everett (radio career only)
  • Lewin Fitzhamon (6 tapes)
  • "Friz" Freleng
  • Ken Gordon
  • Fred Gregory
  • Huntz Hall (2 tapes)
  • George Harris
  • Maurice Heggie (editor of the Dandy)
  • Cecil Hepworth *
  • Alfred Hitchcock *
  • Chuck Jones
  • Oswell Jones
  • Walter Lantz
  • Frank Launder & Sydney Gilliatt
  • Richard Lupino
  • Charles Meadows
  • Helena Millais
  • Joan Morgan
  • Joe Noble
  • HB Parkinson
  • George Pearson
  • Gertie Potter
  • Mabel Poulton
  • Hal Roach
  • Stewart Rome
  • Don Saunders
  • John Stuart
  • Bernard Vorhaus
  • Max Wall *
  • Max Wall
  • Max Wall - 'Hoop La'
  • Max Wall, Bob Monkhouse, Denis Goodwin - 'Leave it to the Boys'
  • Warwick Ward
  • Ewart Wheeler
  • Chrissie White (3 tapes)
  • Stanley White (comics illustrator)
  • Herbert Wilcox
  • Tom Williamson
  • Bert Wynne
  • Flashbacks* (Cinema History)
  • Hammer Horror*
  • Gainsborough/Gaumont British Studios*
  • Looks Familiar* (Max Wall, Larry Adler, Tommy Trinder)