Something that mattered--the early life and criticism of Iris Barry

This study was a preliminary look at the life and early film writings of Iris Barry, film critic for the Spectator and the Daily Mail in London in the 1920s and first director of the Museum of Modern Art Film Department from the 1930s to 1950. Although Barry is best known for her contributions while at the Museum, she was the first regular film critic for a London daily newspaper and for this if no other reason deserves study.

Articles by Barry, interviews with surviving friends and colleagues, and secondary sources were used for the biographical section of the study, which followed Barry's life from her birth in Birmingham, England, in 1895 to her departure for the United States in 1930.

Her 1926 book Let's Go to the Movies and 93 editorial-page essays from the Daily Mail (1925-1930) were subjected to two questions, designed to explore Barry's orientation toward the still relatively new film medium--"What characteristics did. Barry perceive as unique about the film medium?" and "What appealed to Barry most in films?"

The study found eight characteristics Barry perceived as unique- wide scope, dream quality, movement, tone, suitability for women, national character, mutability, and lack of prestige--and four aspects of film she found appealing--acting, Hollywood, lack of imitation and artifice, and strong storyline.

These were in turn related to five forces on Barry's personality--a desire for the glamorous and the novel, a literary interest, a stormy emotional life, the impact of World War I, and the state of film in the 1920s.

Finally, an attempt was made to assess Barry as a film critic. Although there is no way of directly measuring her impact on her public or fellow critics, it is evident that she left behind her a better informed and doubtless more thoughtful public.

Relatively little research has been done in the field of film critics and film criticism; a more standardized framework for the evaluation of critics' work would be of great help to the field. Iris Barry herself offers numerous possibilities for further research; a full-scale biography of this fascinating woman would be a good point of departure.