British director Clive Donner, who epitomized “Swingin’ London’ in the ’60s through such films as ‘What’s New Pussycat?'(1965) and ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’ (1968) died Sept. 7 in London at 84. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years. The helmer was often credited for helping to spearhead the British New Wave and helped launch the careers of such actors as Ian McKellen and Alan Bates, according to Variety. Donner began his career at Pinewood studios, where he directed low-budget films and TV shows before his feature adaptation of Harold Pinter’s ‘The Caretaker,’ ‘The Guest’ (1963), brought him widespread attention. His credits also included ‘Luv’ (1967), ‘The Nude Bomb’ (1980) and ‘Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen’ (1981). His wife, costume designer Jocelyn Rickards, died in 2005. He leaves no immediate survivors.
Fox Searchlight has picked up director Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life,’ which stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in an impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950’s chronicling the journey of the eldest son through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years. The studio will wait until next year to release the drama, which was finished by Malick in time for the Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals. [Variety]
Scott Speedman, Lily Cole, Sarah Gadon and Sarah Bolger have joined Canadian-Irish co-production ‘The Moth Diaries,’ a gothic horror film about a teenage girl at a boarding school who suspects that her roommate is a vampire. The film, directed by Mary Harron (‘American Psycho’), is shooting now in Montreal. [THR]