The British cinema renewed itself, tardily no doubt, by orthodox commercial procedures' (Raymond Durgnat). To what extent is this a fair assessment of British cinema between 1959 and 1963?

I feel that this is a very complex statement that should be broken down in order to fully consider its validity. I propose to look at what I have interpreted Durgnat to mean by 'proven successes'; to which other 'media' and 'new talents' he refers; whether British cinema did, in fact, 'renew' itself; and which 'orthodox commercial procedures' he alludes to in his summary. Firstly, I have assumed that Durgnat's definition of 'proven success' to …

…Film of the 1980s' in Lester Friedman, ed., British Cinema and Thatcherism. Fires were Started (London: UCL Press, 1993) pp.15-34 Street, Sarah, British National Cinema (London: Routledge, 1997) Walker, Alexander, Hollywood, England. The British Film Industry in the Sixties (London: Michael Joseph, 1974/Harrap, 1986) Wollen, Peter, 'The Last New wave: Modernism in the British Films of the Thatcher Era', in British Cinema and Thatcherism. Fires were Started, pp.35-51 Filmography. Billy Liar! (1963) Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1961)