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Inthevisualartsthereweremanyparallelstothemodestshiftfromsmudgyink
toglossyprint.ItwascriticDavidSylvesterwhofirstconnectedrealismwiththe
kitchensinkscenesofPrunellaCloughorJohnBratby.Ifsuchlabelsarealmost
alwaysmisleading,therewasneverthelessamongsomeaturntowardsthe
everyday.Evenifmomentarily,Bratby’sStillLifewithaChipFrier(1954)or
SarahDressing(1958)apparentlymetthecriterialaiddownbytheMarxist
criticJohnBergerforarealist,causedrivenart.Bytheearly1960s,though,
agenerationalshiftwasemerginginboththemeandform.PeterPhillips,like
manyBritishartistsofthetime,wastransfixedbytheicon-likeimageof
MarilynMonroe,evenbeforeherdeathin1962;PeterBlakemodified1950s
realistpaintingwithhisaffectionatestudiesofworkingclasspopularcultureand
fandom;BridgetRileycreatedabstract,hypnoticdesignsinlightandspace,and
becamethedefinitiveblack-and-whitepainteroftheearly1960s.
Oncloserinspection,thereiscontinuitythroughthisperiodtoo;thesmall-scale
documentaryrealismofthemid-andlate1950swasnotsofarremovedfromthe
spectacular,star-drivenmelodramasoftenyearslater.TheFreeCinemadirec-
tors,forexample–Anderson,Reisz,Richardson–allwentontomakecommer-
ciallyandartisticallysuccessfulfilmsoverthenextdecade.Inthislight,
Bailey’sculturalshiftwasmoreaclarificationanddevelopmentofearlier
themesthanabreakwiththepast.Twoofthemostsuccessfulfilmsoftheperiod
–SaturdayNightandSundayMorning(KarelReisz,1960)andATasteof
Honey(TonyRichardson,1961)wereonthecuspofthistransition:realistbut
alsostylized;setwithinthecommunitarianworkingclassdistrictsofNotting-
hamandManchester,yetcelebrationsofindividuality.Anothercycleoffilms
fromthesametime,though,usedahybridofrealismandtheuncanny,andin
thiswaystressedboththesocialtensionsofthemoment,andthecharismatic,
spectacularqualityofthelater1960sBritishcinema.TheVillageoftheDamned
(WolfRilla,1962)imaginesagroupofsupernaturallyspookychildrenwho
attemptacoupintheworldofadults;TheDaytheEarthCaughtFire(1962)
predictsenvironmentalcatastropheandcarriesananti-establishment,anti-
nuclearpolemic.JulieChristie,whobythemid-1960shadherselfbecome
ashiningiconofBritishcinema,inBillyLiar(JohnSchlesinger,1963)andthen
inDarling(JohnSchlesinger,1965)describesthechangeasfollows(McFarlane
1997:22):
Suddenlynaturalism–orrealism–camein,justasithadintheneo-realist
cinemaafterthewar,andIwasluckyenoughtobepartofthat.Itwasalso
thesubjectsofthefilms[thatchanged]thewaywewereallowedtobehave.
Suddenlywewereabletochallengeaudiencestoacceptus–whichthey
did….
By1963then,theyearBillyLiarwasreleased,theyeartheFabFourreallytook
offinAmerica,apeculiarmusicaljourneyhadalreadytakenplaceinthelivesof
