Few film critics can boast that they were employed to pick winners at the races before doing likewise for movies, but Derek Malcolm, who has died aged 91, was the Guardian’s racing correspondent before he became its longest-serving film critic, between 1971 and 1997, following this with a stint at the London Evening Standard from 2003 until 2015.
He put his experience as a critic to good use when he became director of the British Film Institute’s London film festival for three decisive years in the mid-1980s, making this a livelier, more inclusive event, helped by such novelties as a surprise film, and screenings outside London.
