Director Richard Lester has donated a selection of his papers, providing documentation of his entire career in film and television.
We can now explore a career spanning ground-breaking films with the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965), a Cannes Grand Prix winner, The Knack…and How to Get It (1965), and the successes of The Three Musketeers (1974) and Superman II (1980) and III (1983).
Highlights of the donation include Alun Owen's early drafts of A Hard Day's Night which was then simply titled The Beatles; shooting scripts for The Knack…and How to Get It and The Three Musketeers; storyboards for Superman II and III; behind-the-scenes stills from Lester's work in film and television; and letters from Audrey Hepburn, Charlton Heston, Spike Milligan, Harold Pinter, Alastair Sim and Raquel Welch.
Richard Lester stated:
"I have had a long association with the BFI going back over 40 years. The organisation has always been very helpful to me in different ways. It is a pleasure for me to be able to offer them the detritus of my working life."
We will be making Lester's gift available for consultation in the BFI National Library for those keen to explore the director's career. A selection of materials will be available at BFI Mediatheques around the UK, and the catalogued collection will be available via Screenonline, the BFI's online educational resource.
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