Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian.[1] A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he was historically most noted as founder and director of the Ontario Film Institute, a film archive and reference library which was acquired by the Toronto International Film Festival in 1990 and became the contemporary Film Reference Library and TIFF Cinematheque.[2]
Born in London, England, Pratley emigrated to Canada in 1946 and joined the CBC two years later.[1] For the CBC he hosted various radio shows about cinema, including The Movie Scene, Music from the Films and Pratley at the Movies, between 1948 and 1975.[1] He was a writer for various publications including Variety, Canadian Film Weekly, Canadian Film Digest, Hollywood Digest and Films in Review.[3]
He established the Ontario Film Institute in 1968,[1] served as director of the Stratford Film Festival from 1969 to 1975, and was a jury chair for the Canadian Film Awards between 1969 and 1976.[1] He was also the author of several books about Canadian film, including Torn Sprockets: The Uncertain Projection of the Canadian Film and A Century of Canadian Cinema: Gerald Pratley's Feature Film Guide,[4] as well as studies of the work of John Frankenheimer, Otto Preminger, David Lean and John Huston.[3] After the Ontario Film Institute was acquired by TIFF, leadership of the program was taken over by James Quandt, and Pratley then taught film history courses at Ryerson University for a number of years.[5]
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1984, and was promoted to Officer in 2003.[6] At the 22nd Genie Awards in 2002, he was also the recipient of a special lifetime achievement award to honour his work as a promoter of Canadian film,[7] and in 1998 he was the recipient of the Toronto Film Critics Association's Clyde Gilmour Award for distinguished contributions to Canadian film criticism.[8]
He died on March 14, 2011, in Belleville, Ontario.[6]