Miles, Christopher 1939–

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Miles, Christopher 1939–

(Christopher John Miles)

PERSONAL: Born April 19, 1939, in London, England; son of John (a consulting engineer) and Clarice Baskerville (Remnant) Miles; married Susan Helen Howard Armstrong, 1967; children: a daughter. Ethnicity: "British." Education: Attended Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques, Paris, France, 1962. Hobbies and other interests: Long walks, sketching in Arcadia.

ADDRESSES: Home—Calstone House, Calstone Wellington Calne, Wiltshire SN11 8PY, England; Aghios Leos, Methoni, Greece. Office—Milesian Film Productions, London, England.

CAREER: Milesian Film Productions, London, England, director and screenwriter, 1962–. Royal College of Art, professor of film and television, 1989–93; lecturer at other institutions, including D.H. Lawrence Society, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Balliol College, Oxford; also British Council lecturer in India, Mauritius, and Cuba. Director of films, including Up Jumped a Swagman, Elstree Productions, 1965; The Virgin and the Gypsy, J. Arthur Rank, 1970; Time for Loving, J. Arthur Rank, 1972; That Lucky Touch, EMI, 1976; and The Clandestine Marriage, Universal Pictures, 2000; producer and director of Priest of Love, Orion Pictures, 1981; director of television specials, including Zinotchka, British Broadcasting Corp., 1973, and Alternative 3 (documentary), 1977; director of television episodes, including "Neck," and episode of Tales of the Unexpected, Anglia Television, 1978; director of the stage play Skin of Our Teeth, produced in Chicago, IL, at Arlington Park Theater, 1973; director of more than 100 commercials, promotional pieces, and video productions.

MEMBER: Garrick Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: Academy Award nomination, best short subject, live-action film, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1964, for The Six Sided Triangle.

WRITINGS:

SCREENPLAYS, EXCEPT AS NOTED

(And producer and director) A Vol d'oiseau (short film), Columbia Broadcasting System, 1962.

(And producer, with Sara Bennett and others, and director) The Six Sided Triangle (short film), British Lion Films, 1963.

(And director) Rhythm 'n Greens (short film), Associated British-Pathé Productions, 1964.

(With Robert Enders; and director) The Maids (based on play by Jean Genet), EMI, 1975.

(Editor of revised version) Priest of Love (screenplay), Curzon West End (London, England), 1985.

Also author of screenplay Alternative Three. Contributor of articles to books, including House of Commons Report on Film, 1982. Contributor of articles to periodicals, including Image et son and D.H. Lawrence Society Journal.

TELEVISION SCRIPTS

(And producer, director, and photographer) The Rue Lepic Slow Race (documentary). American Broadcasting Companies, 1967.

(And producer and director) Daley's Decathlon (documentary special), British Broadcasting Corp., 1982.

(With Cliff Temple; and director) The Marathon (documentary special), Channel 4 (England), 1983.

(With John Julius Norwich and Kenan Erim; and director) Aphrodisias: City of Aphrodite (documentary special), Television South West (England), 1984.

(With Brian Clark and Andreas Staikos; and producer and director) Lord Elgin and Some Stones of No Value (movie), Channel 4 (England), 1985.

(And director) Cyclone Warning Class 4 (special), Mauritius Broadcasting Corp., 1994.

(With John Julius Norwich; and producer and director) Love in the Ancient World (documentary miniseries; broadcast by Arts and Entertainment, 1996), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1997.

(And director) Fire from Olympia (special), Milesian Films, 2004.

OTHER

The screenplay Alternative Three has been translated into five foreign languages.

SIDELIGHTS: Christopher Miles, who is the brother of actress Sarah Miles, has coauthored many of his own screenplays; one, Alternative Three, has been published in five languages. He wrote and directed the 1996 television documentary series Love in the Ancient World and has also served as a professor of film and television at the Royal Cinema Academy.

In 1981 Miles edited the screenplay Priest of Love, the story of author D.H. Lawrence's life. (Miles also directed the film.) The title is taken from a phrase in Lawrence's correspondence he used to describe himself. Critics expressed mixed opinions about Priest of Love, but a critic for People magazine, while cautioning moviegoers about the swift pace of the film, nonetheless called Priest of Love "a perceptive view of Lawrence's later life."