Bryan Forbes at 100: remembering the Whistle down the Wind and The Stepford Wives director on his centenary

From 1960s British classics such as Whistle down the Wind and Seance on a Wet Afternoon to big-budget Hollywood productions, the genre-hopping films of British director Bryan Forbes often reflected his own generosity and humanity. At the end of 2011, I drove out to Virginia Water with a colleague, to collect a film donation to the BFI National Archive. Luckily for us, Forbes – who was born 100 years ago on 22 July 1926 – was meticulous in archiving his films and papers. Whistle down the Wind (1961)While Forbes only directed 14 feature films (and a handful of television productions), he left behind a very diverse filmography. Bryan Forbes and Malcolm McDowell on the set of The Raging Moon (1971) Image preserved by the BFI National ArchiveThe Raging Moon was also the film that Forbes himself was most proud of.