SCOTT, RIDLEY

born 1939, South Shields, Durham [now Tyne and Wear], Eng. British-American film director. Scott grew up in West Hartlepool, England, and attended the West Hartlepool College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. After working as a set designer and director in British television, he began in 1967 to direct commercials, eventually numbering over 2,000, for his own company. His attention to visual stylization in his commercials, including distinctive atmospheric lighting effects, continued into the feature films that he began directing in 1977. His first was The Duellists, set in Napoleonic France, which won the best first-feature award at the Cannes Film Festival. His next three films were fantasies: Alien (1979), a science-fictionhorror story; Blade Runner (1982; recut 1992), a science-fiction story notable for Scott's vision of a grim, dark, polluted future; and Legend (1985), an allegorical fairy tale. Scott's subsequent films were set in contemporary times, including the thrillers Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) and Black Rain (1989); again, these were admired for their visual styling. While Scott's settings in Thelma and Louise (1991) were no less notable, the film's lead characters and feminist theme were the focus of critical attention. His 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) released for the quincentennial of Columbus' discovery of America, was less well received.