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David Stratton
David James Stratton (10 September 1939 – 14 August 2025) was an English and Australian film critic and historian. He also worked as a journalist and author, interviewer, educator and lecturer, television personality and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Australia spanned 57 years, until his retirement in December 2023. Stratton's media career included presenting film review shows on television with Margaret Pomeranz for 28 years, writing film reviews for The Weekend Australian for over 30 years, and lecturing in film history for 35 years. He was widely regarded as a highly influential film critic in Australia.
David James Stratton was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, on 10 September 1939, a week after Britain declared war on Germany. His father, Wilfred, enlisted in the army and fought in Burma and his mother, Kathleen, volunteered with the Red Cross. Stratton was sent to Hampshire to see out the war years with his grandmother. An avid filmgoer, his grandmother regularly took Stratton to the local cinemas. When he was around six years old, his father returned from the war and the family moved back to Wiltshire. His younger brother, Roger, was born in 1947. Roger later said that David's relationship with his father was difficult because he did not know him until he was six.
Stratton attended Chafyn Grove School from 1948 to 1953 as a boarder, but never finished secondary school. After leaving school, he spent his time with local film societies and working in the family grocery business. Stratton was expected to take over the business which had been established in 1824 and run by five generations of Strattons. Stratton later described his relationship with his father as "fractious", as his father wanted him to take over the family business, and did not understand his son's interest in films.
Stratton saw his first foreign film in Bath in 1955, the Italian romantic comedy Bread, Love and Dreams. That was soon followed by Akira Kurosawa's Japanese epic adventure drama Seven Samurai showing in Birmingham. At the age of 19, he founded the Melksham and District Film Society.
Stratton arrived in Australia in 1963 under the "Ten Pound Poms" migration scheme. He had only intended to stay in Australia for two years before returning to England. However, he soon became involved with the local film society movement and started volunteering as an usher at the Sydney Film Festival. By the end of 1964, he was elected to the festival's board. Stratton opposed film censorship and pushed through a motion that the festival would campaign for the introduction of an R rating. The festival director at the time objected to the motion and quit in protest, leading Stratton to be appointed director in 1966.
Several years later, his father became too ill to run his business. With both brothers unable to take over, the business was sold. Stratton said he "carried that guilt around ever since". Around the same time, he was the subject of surveillance by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) due to the festival showing Soviet films and his late-1960s visit to Russia. This information was not made public until January 2014. Stratton remained director of the Sydney Film Festival until 1983.
Stratton worked for SBS from 1980, acting as their film consultant and introducing the SBS Cinema Classics on Sunday evenings and Movie of the Week for 24 weeks a year. It was at SBS that Stratton met Margaret Pomeranz, then a producer. From 30 October 1986 onwards Stratton co-hosted the long-running SBS TV program The Movie Show with Pomeranz, who was also the show's original producer, after having to persuade her to join him on-air. The Guardian said "The good-humoured repartee between the no-nonsense Stratton and his cheerful (and stylish) co-host Margaret Pomeranz as they sparred over their star ratings and favourite films won them a devoted audience." Stratton and Pomeranz left SBS in 2004 due to dissatisfaction with the direction of the network.
The pair moved to the ABC where they hosted the similarly formatted show, At the Movies, from 1 July 2004. In 2014, Stratton and Pomeranz decided to end the show. The final episode, broadcast on 9 December 2014, was watched by more than 700,000 viewers, making it one of the most-watched season finales in the network's history. Stratton later said that he regretted his decision to end the show, and lamented the lack of a champion on television to promote small independent films, such as Partho Sen-Gupta's thriller Slam. In 2017, Stratton began an online film review series, David Stratton Recommends, in partnership with three Australian arthouse cinemas (Cinema Nova, Hayden Orpheum and Luna Palace).
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David Stratton
David James Stratton (10 September 1939 – 14 August 2025) was an English and Australian film critic and historian. He also worked as a journalist and author, interviewer, educator and lecturer, television personality and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Australia spanned 57 years, until his retirement in December 2023. Stratton's media career included presenting film review shows on television with Margaret Pomeranz for 28 years, writing film reviews for The Weekend Australian for over 30 years, and lecturing in film history for 35 years. He was widely regarded as a highly influential film critic in Australia.
David James Stratton was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, on 10 September 1939, a week after Britain declared war on Germany. His father, Wilfred, enlisted in the army and fought in Burma and his mother, Kathleen, volunteered with the Red Cross. Stratton was sent to Hampshire to see out the war years with his grandmother. An avid filmgoer, his grandmother regularly took Stratton to the local cinemas. When he was around six years old, his father returned from the war and the family moved back to Wiltshire. His younger brother, Roger, was born in 1947. Roger later said that David's relationship with his father was difficult because he did not know him until he was six.
Stratton attended Chafyn Grove School from 1948 to 1953 as a boarder, but never finished secondary school. After leaving school, he spent his time with local film societies and working in the family grocery business. Stratton was expected to take over the business which had been established in 1824 and run by five generations of Strattons. Stratton later described his relationship with his father as "fractious", as his father wanted him to take over the family business, and did not understand his son's interest in films.
Stratton saw his first foreign film in Bath in 1955, the Italian romantic comedy Bread, Love and Dreams. That was soon followed by Akira Kurosawa's Japanese epic adventure drama Seven Samurai showing in Birmingham. At the age of 19, he founded the Melksham and District Film Society.
Stratton arrived in Australia in 1963 under the "Ten Pound Poms" migration scheme. He had only intended to stay in Australia for two years before returning to England. However, he soon became involved with the local film society movement and started volunteering as an usher at the Sydney Film Festival. By the end of 1964, he was elected to the festival's board. Stratton opposed film censorship and pushed through a motion that the festival would campaign for the introduction of an R rating. The festival director at the time objected to the motion and quit in protest, leading Stratton to be appointed director in 1966.
Several years later, his father became too ill to run his business. With both brothers unable to take over, the business was sold. Stratton said he "carried that guilt around ever since". Around the same time, he was the subject of surveillance by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) due to the festival showing Soviet films and his late-1960s visit to Russia. This information was not made public until January 2014. Stratton remained director of the Sydney Film Festival until 1983.
Stratton worked for SBS from 1980, acting as their film consultant and introducing the SBS Cinema Classics on Sunday evenings and Movie of the Week for 24 weeks a year. It was at SBS that Stratton met Margaret Pomeranz, then a producer. From 30 October 1986 onwards Stratton co-hosted the long-running SBS TV program The Movie Show with Pomeranz, who was also the show's original producer, after having to persuade her to join him on-air. The Guardian said "The good-humoured repartee between the no-nonsense Stratton and his cheerful (and stylish) co-host Margaret Pomeranz as they sparred over their star ratings and favourite films won them a devoted audience." Stratton and Pomeranz left SBS in 2004 due to dissatisfaction with the direction of the network.
The pair moved to the ABC where they hosted the similarly formatted show, At the Movies, from 1 July 2004. In 2014, Stratton and Pomeranz decided to end the show. The final episode, broadcast on 9 December 2014, was watched by more than 700,000 viewers, making it one of the most-watched season finales in the network's history. Stratton later said that he regretted his decision to end the show, and lamented the lack of a champion on television to promote small independent films, such as Partho Sen-Gupta's thriller Slam. In 2017, Stratton began an online film review series, David Stratton Recommends, in partnership with three Australian arthouse cinemas (Cinema Nova, Hayden Orpheum and Luna Palace).