In the 1950s, he became the London correspondent of the French film magazine Cahiers du cinéma.
[3][5] From 1963 to 1969, he was also film critic for The Guardian of London, a role from which he was fired after writing a one-word review of The Sound of Music (simply, "No.
His tastes were described by his colleagues at the London Film Festival as idiosyncratic and fiercely held.
He promoted many French nouvelle vague directors and revived interest in Max Ophüls La signora di tutti.
[7] Roud's books include Max Ophuls: An Index (1958), Cinema – A Critical Dictionary – The Major Film-Makers (1980), a two-volume work which he edited; A Passion for Film (1983), a biography of Henri Langlois, the former director of the Cinémathèque Française; and two books on nouvelle vague directors Straub and Godard.