Richardson continued to work with Osborne in the theatre and, in 1958, the two formed Woodfall Film Productions to bring the new theatrical sensibility to the screen. The company's first two features were adaptations of Richardson's and Osborne's stage collaborations, LOOK BACK IN ANGER (1958) and THE ENTERTAINER (1960). Both featured fine performances -- Richard Burton in the former and Laurence Olivier in the latter -- but failed to attract much interest at the box office. Woodfall's first commercial success came with 1960's SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING, directed by Reisz.
Richardson scored his first major hit with the beautifully rendered A TASTE OF HONEY (1961), a realistic yet lyrical and poignant tale of working-class life in Manchester, based on Shelagh Delaney's novel. Both critics and public alike responded to a fine central performance from Rita Tushingham, sterling support from Dora Bryan and Murray Melvin, and striking industrial landscapes poetically photographed by Walter Lassally.
The influence of the French New Wave was particularly noticeable in Richardson's next two films, Alan Sillitoe's THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER (1962) -- which used a flashback narrative structure to weave a 400 BLOWS-style story of adolescent rebellion -- and TOM JONES (1963), considered by many to be the director's masterpiece.
TOM JONES was a hilarious, bawdy romp through 18th-century England, adapted by Osborne from the Joseph Fielding novel and superbly acted by Albert Finney, Susannah York, David Warner and Hugh Griffith. The film was particularly noted for Lassally's imaginative location camerawork. The film earned nearly $40 million and won four Oscars® for Best Film, Director, Screenplay and Music Score.
Little of Richardson's subsequent work equaled his earlier achievements, but critical reassessment suggests that the contemporary reactions to his work were a bit harsh on a filmmaker who was always, at the very least, an interesting talent to watch. MADEMOISELLE (1965) and THE SAILOR FROM GIBRALTAR (1967) were both castigated at the time of their release, but are visually sumptuous and intriguing, if flawed, studies of tormented passion. THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1968), meanwhile, earned measured praise for its unromanticized portrait of Victorian military life; HAMLET (1969), starring Nicol Williamson, and A DELICATE BALANCE (1973), with Katharine Hepburn and Paul Scofield, were effective examples of stage productions transposed to the screen; and JOSEPH ANDREWS (1977) was an unsuccessful attempt to repeat the TOM JONES formula.
Richardson's later features were produced in the US. THE BORDER (1982) was noted more for Jack Nicholson's performance than for the direction; HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE (1984), a faithful adaptation of John Irving's novel featuring a star-studded cast (Jodie Foster, Beau Bridges, Nastassja Kinski et al.), met with only limited critical and commercial success.
In the late 1970s Richardson turned to American TV, where he directed "A Death in Canaan" (1978), "Penaly Phase" (1986), "Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun" (1988), "Women and Men: Stories of Seduction" (1990) and the elaborate "Phantom of the Opera" (also 1990) starring Burt Lancaster and Charles Dance. Unreleased until after his death, Richardson's final feature, BLUE SKY (1994), was hailed as a return to form. This sensitively handled domestic drama featured an Oscar-winning lead performance by Jessica Lange.
Other notable directing credits include THE LOVED ONE (1965), RED AND BLUE (1967), LAUGHTER IN THE DARK (1969), NED KELLY (1970), DEAD CERT (1974), and MAHOGANY (1975, uncredited).
Richardson was the father, by Vanessa Redgrave (married 1962-67), of actresses Natasha and Joely Richardson. He died of AIDS in Los Angeles in 1991.
Best Picture 1963: TOM JONES - Producer at Woodfall
Directing 1963: TOM JONES
2 nominations, 2 Awards