Search Results for: Alan Lawson

Les talks about his career but in so doing refers to lab equipment, optical printers, and the various cameras and their magazines, so there is quite a high level of technical content. His army call up is covered and how that led to Army film work in Egypt. Studios mentioned include Denham and he talks about Humphreys laboratories. There is also quite a lot about colour film (Dufay, Eastmancolot and Techicolor). He explains the role of a "contact man" and latterly the many cuts and reorganisations at Technicolor as the accountants take over from the film people.DS 2018.A Career in the Industry: Les Ostinelli. [author unknown]Les Ostinelli, born 1918, started work at Denham Studios in 1935. As a trainee he was assigned to the Optical Effects Department, following on, in time, to the Camera Dept., up until the war, during which he served for 5 years as an Army cameraman.After the war and some freelance work, he joined MGM Studios as a cinematographer in the Special Effects Dept., for seven years.In 1976 Les Ostinelli was made a Fellow of the British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society for his unexcelled appreciation of the Artistic and Technical Requirements of Feature Film Cameramen, and in 1981 received the Lenham Award for excellence from the Guild of British Camera Technicians and is currently [1992] a vice-president of the British Society of Cinematographers.Throughout his career, Les Ostinelli has been associated with many feature films including, most recently – Gandhi, Yentl, Passage to India, Superman, Greystoke, The Emerald Forest, Legend, and the [then] unreleased Labyrinth and The Mission.He has represented a number of major processing laboratories, gaining a unique reputation for his ability to effect liaison between Producers, Directors and Cameramen.In 1984 Les Ostinelli retired, at the age of 66, from full active duty with Technicolor Ltd., where he had been Technical Director for 11 years.However he [was] still taking selective consultancy assignments in all matters relating to film production, in addition to his commitments on behalf of the Rank Film Laboratories.[END]

Cyril Frankel  is a retired British film and television director. His career in television began in 1953 and he directed for over 30 TV programmes He directed and was the creative force behind many episodes of popular British TV shows, such as The Avengers, and the pilot episodes of the ITC Entertainment shows Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Department S in 1969. In 1970, he directed "Timelash", an episode of UFO.Frankel also directed many documentaries and feature films, including Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960)  ,School for Scoundrels and “The Witches”  He launched the film careers of both Richard Harris and Sean Connery and became the trusted director of Hollywood legends Joan Fontaine and Ava Gardner. One of his films, Man of Africa (1953) - the first film to feature an all -  black cast  - was not released and was lost for some time. A complete copy has since been discovered and has been screened at a number of international film festivals.In terms of documentaries, Frankel supervised some of the films that were broadcast for the BBC arts series Monitor (1958–65), among which was the first ballet programme to be filmed and edited to the choreography. He  had a career that has spanned ballet, theatre, music - and an entirely separate, and equally successful, career as an expert in fine art and ceramics for major London auction houses, Christie's and Bonham's. His memoir, Eye to Eye, was published by Bank House Books in 2009.A partial filmography from the BFI is under the PDF tab below.

behp0242-stanley-sayer-cv[Slightly edited from original. DS]Stan Sayer special effects.1946 Black Narcissus Camera Operator1947 Blanch Fury Camera Operator1949 Maytime in Mayfair; Treasure Island Camera Operator/Lighting1951 Festival of Britain (3-D) Camera Operator/ Lighting with Raymond Spottiswood1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower Camera Operator/Lighting1956 Around the World in 80 Days Camera OperatorPreference: Features and commercialsSpecial Experience: Matte Photography consultant and cameraman.Aerial, underwater, tropical and arctic photography.Productions:As matte photography consultant on: Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back; The Return of the Jedi; Raiders of the Lost Ark; Dune; Return to Oz; Willow; The Adventures of Baron Munchausen; Slipstream; Witches Sabbath; Brazil; Legend; Spies Like Us; Hyper Sapien: People from another Star; Soulivan Street[?]; Never Ending Story II; Wils Karlsson;[?] No Cause for Alarm [?]Woody Allen (failed project, 1990)A Kiss before Dying; The Year of the Comet.Other InformationDistinguished Service [Order Register] Volume XII [wartime records].Dictionary of International Biography.Commendation in ‘Men of Achievement’. [Biographical reference book]. behp0242-stanley-sayer-summarySIDE ONEBorn 1917, Highbury {London]; attended Middlesex University College; went to Regent Street Polytechnic; father wanted him to go into De Haviland aircraft as an apprentice. Keen on photography he got an introduction to Jerry Blattner who told him that there was no job at the moment but to come back in 6 months; however, Stan said he would work for nothing for 3 months and after 3 months he was taken on with a wage. After one year he applied to Technicolor for a job. He saw George Gove [?] who took him on as Assistant Camera Technician. The first film he worked on was Wings of the Morning, he didn’t remember the name of the cameraman (it was Ray Rennahan). He also talks a little about the first cameramen he worked with at Rock Studios which became Leslie Fuller Studios. He talks at some length of his wartime service with the Royal Air Force Film Unit. He was demobbed in 1946 and returned to Technicolor working on Black Narcissus; he talks about Chris Challis [BEHP Interview No 59] and Jack Cardiff. He talks about Camera Grips, who don’t get the credit they deserve. He talks about various films he worked on, and also about Vidtronics. He left Technicolor to freelance, specialising in Matte Photography and Special Effects. He talks about some documentaries he worked on; Shellarama.SIDE TWOHe talks about underwater photography and also about Gil Waxholt [?] ; he also talks on aerial photography. He then talks about the problems of Matte photography in general, about ‘Front Projection’. He has worked with David Lean – but can’t remember the name of the film, also with ‘Mickey’ [Michael] Powell.[END]

Born 1910 in Bridgend, Wales, ultimately moved to Glasgow where his father took over the Lafayette Photographic Studios. In 1927 he became an apprentice in his father’s business. 1929 became a photographer on the Glasgow Herald and Bulletin, and a year later became a general ‘factotem’ to Eddie Peabody who was in the entertainment business in France. After one year he returned to the Glasgow Herald. He made some 50 films which are held in the Scottish Film Council’s Library. He met Alf Tunwell who was covering a Scottish story for Movietone in 1937 and through him Thompson was offered an agency for Movietone for a six-month trial period. He was now working full time on news stories. In 1940 became a war correspondent based in Gibraltar, but moved on for the Madagascar landing where he shot some 10,000 feet, He was on the Dieppe Raid . He then moved on for the landing in Sicily and the move up Italy and it was whilst on that assignment he got attached to the Royal party, who were visiting. His accreditation was initially for a six-month period, and was renewed until it was made permanent. He talks about the rivalry among the newsreels to this appointment and how he eventually became the Newsreel Association’s cameraman and moved from one newsreel to another on a fifteen-month rota. he could see the end of newsreel coming and wanted to get out and through the good offices of the Buckingham Palace Press Secretary he was given an interview with the controller of programmes at A.P. [Presumably Alexandra Palace, BBC], where he joined the television newsreel staff. filming of the Royal Wedding, and the problems; the Royal Tour of South Africa, which was a highlight for him.  At the age of 60 he was retired, but asked to go back on a six-month contract to continue the work he had been doing on the Newsreel Desk. This continued until he was 70  and then he was made a Liaison Officer, (looking after visitors from overseas), but after two years, with approaching deafness, he finally retired. behp0237-graham-thompson-summaryBorn 1909 in Bridgend, Wales, ultimately moved to Glasgow where his father took over the Lafayette Photographic Studios. In 1927 he became an apprentice in his father’s business. 1929 became a photographer on the Glasgow Herald and Bulletin, and a year later became a general ‘factotem’ to Eddie Peabody who was in the entertainment business in France. After one year he returned to the Glasgow Herald. He talks about making short films for the Glasgow schools (on 35mm) which were shown as 16mm prints. He made some 50 films which are held in the Scottish Film Council’s Library. He met Alf Tunwell who was covering a Scottish story for Movietone in 1937 and through him Thompson was offered an agency for Movietone for a six-month trial period. He was now working full time on news stories. In 1940 became a war correspondent based in Gibralter, but moved on for the Madagascar landing where he shot some 10,000 feet, and talks about the problems of getting the material back to the UK. He was on the Dieppe Raid and talks about that. He then moved on for the landing in Sicily and the move up Italy and it was whilst on that assignment he got attached to the Royal party, who were visiting. His accreditation was initially for a six-month period, and was renewed until it was made permanent. He talks about the rivalry among the newsreels to this appointment and how he eventually became the Newsreel Association’s cameraman and moved from one newsreel to another on a fifteen-month rota.He says that he found he was disliked because of his position and was unable to establish a real contact with his fellow newsmen. He says that he could see the end of newsreel coming and wanted to get out and through the good offices of the Buckingham Palace Press Secretary he was given an interview with the controller of programmes at A.P. [Presumably Alexandra Palace, BBC], where he joined the television newsreel staff.He talks about the Newman-Sinclair camera, which seems to be the only camera he used throughout his news career. He talks about the filming of the Royal Wedding, and the problems; the Royal Tour of South Africa, which was a highlight for him. In talking about the ‘newsreel war’ he says that there are many stories but one should take them with a pinch of salt. He does relate one story covering a golf tournament at Troon where Paramount had bought the rights but how he managed to film, but was caught; but his assistant was able to slip away with the films and get on a train for London. At the age of 60 he was retired, but asked to go back on a six-month contract to continue the work he had been doing on the Newsreel Desk. This continued until he was 70  and then he was made a Liaison Officer, (looking after visitors from overseas), but after two years, with approaching deafness, he finally retired.[END]

Margaret Dale was a British dancer who later became a producer and director  for BBC Television. Dale was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on December 30, 1922 and studied ballet at Sadler’s Wells School from 1937-9, before joining the Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1939, making her debut as the Child in Ninette de Valois’ ballet The Emperor’s New Clothes. Dale danced a wide repertoire, including works by Marius Petipa, Michel Fokine, Leonide Massine, Frederick Ashton, Robert Helpmann and Roland Petit. In 1953, before the end of her career as a dancer, she choreographed The Great Detective for Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet. In 1954, Dale began working with the BBC, where she presented a wide range of dance companies while they were visiting London and from 1957, recorded established ballets in the studio. She made a number of important recordings of the Bolshoi. In 1961, Dale signed a contract to record nine ballets performed by the Royal Ballet over three years, enabling her to document one of the most exciting periods in that company’s history. In her first decade as a producer and director, she focused on presenting and creating ballets, aiming to express “as much of the feeling of the stage production as is possible on the small screen”. During her second decade she also made a series of documentaries on aspects of dance. Dale left the BBC in 1976 to teach and undertake research, spending considerable time in Canada, where in 1976, she was appointed Chair of York University’s Department of Dance.

Born 1924 Bermondsey, London. Educated Clapham College, evacuated during the war years, left school 1948, went to Great Marlborough Street Labour Exchange and was sent to Humphreys Labs aged 17, starting as an office junior at £9 a week. 1950: National Service in the RAF; went back to Humphreys in 1952, went through positive then negative drying departments. In 1959 went into the Eastmancolor section; when commercial television arrived, went as contact man for the lab. He then got a job with Rediffusion at Wembley. Was then moved to City Display (a Rediffusion associate) at Shepherds Bush where they made the scenery for various TV companies. Westward TV as Schedules Officer at £20 a week.  Head of Film at Westward. He instituted the annual Head of Films Conferences in 1973 which lasted through until 1990. He went to TSW and stayed there for a short period, but in 1983 he leftr Arriflex, and then about obtaining leave of absence to start Media Developments International which was based in Hayes. The company specialised in supplying all kinds of equipment and also provided a full back=up service and then, through a management buy-out he became Executive Director of Media Film Service, sharing the same premises as Bell Lighting and Arri Lighting Sales.his sons, three of whom have followed him into the business. behp0234-john-cooper-summaryNOTE: This interview is full of anecdotes, and some amazing experiences; John Cooper has gone through life as a “joker”.SIDE ONEBorn 1924 Bermondsey, London. Educated Clapham College, evacuated during the war years, left school 1948, went to Great Marlborough Street Labour Exchange and was sent to Humphreys Labs aged 17, starting as an office junior at £9 a week. 1950: National Service in the RAF; went back to Humphreys in 1952, went through positive then negative drying departments. In 19959 went into the Eastmancolor section; when commercial television arrived, went as contact man for the lab. He then got a job with Rediffusion at Wembley. Was then moved to City Display (a Rediffusion associate) at Shepherds Bush where they made the scenery for various TV companies. He was becoming rather disillusioned with that particular TV scene, when out of the blue came a letter from Bill Cheevers, asking him to apply for a job at Westward TV as Schedules Officer at £20 a week. It was at this time that he met Peter Cadbury, who became a great and lasting friend. Later he was to become Head of Film at Westward. He instituted the annual Head of Films Conferences in 1973 which lasted through until 1990.SIDE TWOHe talks about the Head of Conferences role and the various visits arranged and he talks about his life at Westward genereally.SIDE THREEHe talks about the 1979 TV strike and how it affected Westward’s chances in the runup to the new franchise auction, and he gives a great deal of the background to the split within Westward which broke the company’s chances. He went to TSW and stayed there for a short period, but in 1983 he left.SIDE FOURHe talks about working for Arriflex, and then about obtaining leave of absence to start Media Developments International which was based in Hayes. The company specialised in supplying all kinds of equipment and also provided a full back=up service and then, through a management buy-out he became Executive Director of Media Film Service, sharing the same premises as Bell Lighting and Arri Lighting Sales. He talks about his aspirations for the future, and about his sons, three of whom have followed him into the business.

Raymond Montgomery Raikes was a British theatre producer, director and broadcaster.He was particularly known for his productions of classic dramas for British Broadcasting Corporation Radio"s "World Theatre" and "National Theatre of the Air" series, which pioneered the use of stereophonic sound in radio drama broadcasts. After leaving Oxford, he began his career as a film and stage actor, appearing with the Birmingham Representative and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre as well as in the West End play While Parents Sleep. His film appearances included The Poisoned Diamond, directed by West.P. Kellino (1931) and lieutenant"s a Bet, directed by Alexander Esway (1935).During World World War II, he worked as an announcer for the British Broadcasting Corporation Forces Programme for two years and then joined the Royal Signal Corps, with whom he served in North Africa, Italy, and London.After the war, he joined the British Broadcasting Corporation drama department, initially working on the production of the soap opera The Robinson Family and then producing and directing the Dick Barton - Special Agent series which regularly obtained 20,000,000 listeners daily. He went on to become a producer and director for the British Broadcasting Corporation Third Programme, where his output included 17 Shakespeare plays, the Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus.The Wasps and Lysistrata by Aristophanes. And The Bacchae, Medea and Hippolytus by Euripides.He also introduced British radio audiences to less frequently performed Elizabethan and Jacobean dramas, Restoration comedies, and works by 20th century authors such as Robert Graves and Jean Anouilh.Foreign many of the plays he directed, he would adapt the archaic English for modern audiences and he also adapted existing English translations of foreign works. Many of the productions had incidental music written by the composer Stephen Dodgson, with whom he had a long and genial collaboration. Raikes" last production for the British Broadcasting Corporation was his own translation of Euripides" Iphigeneia in Aulis in 1975.Following his retirement, he studied Egyptian hieroglyphics and Russian as hobbies.He had a large personal library and for many years also served as chairman on the library committee of the Garrick Club. Raikes died in his sleep at his home in Bromley, Kent at the age of 88.The couple had one daughter. Raikes" papers, including scripts, production papers and correspondence, were acquired by the British Broadcasting Corporation Written Archives Centre in 2003.Raikes received two Prix Italia awards in 1965 for his stereophonic productions of The Foundling by A. R. Gurney and The Anger of Achilles by Robert Graves. At the 1965 Prix Italia, Raikes won the Radiotelevisione Italiana Prize for literary or dramatic programmes with The Anger of Achilles by Robert Graves and the Prix Italia for stereophonic musical and dramatic programmes with A. R. Gurney"s The Foundling  Radio includes stereophonybehp0232-raymond-raikes-summarySIDE ONEBorn 1910, Dulwich. His father was a stage designer/producer. Educated at Uppingham, then went to Oxford and took an English degree, got involved with OUDS as a general hand, then as an actor, also producer. Came to London and acted in plays and also in films – he talks about working on Blossom Time at Elstree. At the outbreak of the war [World War Two] he won a place as one of the two announcers on Forces Radio. Was called up, and eventually went back to Forces Radio. On demobilisation he returned to the BBC Radio, producing serials, which included some of the Dick Barton episodes. He describes his method of producing and calls himself an ‘actor’s director’.SIDE TWOHe talks about producing Shakespeare for radio, winning the Italia Prize with The Foundling which was one of the stereo [sound] experimental productions (1965). Shortly after this production, stereo transmissions stopped, and it wasn’t until 1967 that this production was shown.{END]

Export Print Manager behp0231-bill-hughes-summarySIDE ONEBorn December 1931 in London, evacuated twice to Devon. Grammar school in Kingsbury, left in 1948 saw a job for a post boy at AB Pathe in Film House. When he got there the jobs had all gone so he went down two floors to United Artists, where Bill Smith took him on at £2 12shillings and sixpence a week [£2-62.5 pence]. Stayed in the post room until his National Service in the Royal Air Force; returned to UA in 1952. Sent to the Baring Department – he explains what work was done there – he only stayed a week, then moved to advertising sales which was part of the publicity department under Joe Pole. The man who was his immediate superior dropped down dead and Hughes was promoted to take over the job of Export Print Manager. He gives details of the various tasks he did and talks about the pressure to get prints out. It would seem that his work was very similar to that of Dave Davies [Interview No 230] whose work dovetailed into Hughes work.SIDE TWOHe talks about the difficulties he experiences with the negatives and print material that had been damaged in the USA laboratories; he also talks about the problem of providing prints for television from all the various “Scope” type systems and says that there are fewer and fewer personnel who understand what is involved. He remembers the 1960s as being the best period for him because there were many productions being made in the UK, either as US or English productions.[END]

Dave Davis was born in 1921 in a small mining village in South Wales, Troed Y Rhiw. Local schooling, local grammar, came to stay with his uncle after leaving at 16. His parents told him if he could get a job he could stay in London, otherwise to return home. Got a job in a carpet factory. He then tried for a job with the Road Research Laboratory (Bath Road) but there wasn’t really a job that was of any interest to him; they suggested “try Technicolor down the road”, which he did and started work there in 1938 for £2 a week less 1 shilling and threepence National Insurance. His job was clerical, but he was persuaded to join the Terriors [Territorial Army] and was called up in 1939. Demobbed in 1946 he returned to Technicolor in Denham  at £6 a week in the Production Control Section   working in the administration side of the labs, taking care of customers’ requirements. In 1950 he was made Production Supervisor. In this capacity Davis developed a system for organising the enormous volume of print jobs which the labs handled every day. He worked for Technicolor for thirty years.   behp0230-dave-davis-summarySIDE ONEBorn 1921, small mining village in South Wales, Troed Y Rhiw. Local schooling, local grammar, came to stay with his uncle after leaving at 16. His parents told him if he could get a job he could stay in London, otherwise to return home. Got a job in a carpet factory. He then tried for a job with the Road Research Laboratory (Bath Road) but there wasn’t really a job that was of any interest to him; they suggested “try Technicolor down the road”, which he did and started work there in 1938 for £2 a week less 1 shilling and threepence National Insurance. His job was clerical, but he was persuaded to join the Terriors [Territorial Army] and was called up in 1939. Demobbed in 1946 he returned to Technicolor at £6 a week in the Production Control Section. In 1950 he was made Production Supervisor. He talks at length about the job he did, and the record system that was evolved over the years. He talks about the print orders that were going through the plant.SIDE TWOHe talks about the complex arrangements to make a print for various foreign versions. He then talks about the first attempt to computerise the records system, but the experts weren’t able to produce the correct program to cope with the very complex details required. However, when he saw what J. Sainsbury were doing, he proposes a variation on their system, which has now come into being but it took two years to achieve. It started in 1984 and was fully operational when he retired in 1985. He looks back over his career starting on £2 a week and ending on £12,000 a year. He talks about his continental connections.SIDE THREEHe continues to talk about these connections with an amusing story about the Warner Brothers Paris representative and various other stories of European reps. He has an amusing story to tell about going to see Out of Africa at the local cinema. He finishes talking about the trip he took to Los Angeles and his retirement.END

Yvonne Littlewood MBE (born 22nd July 1927) is a former BBC Television Director and Producer. Born in Maidstone, Kent, her career extended over three decades. Littlewood began to work for the BBC in 1944 as a typist in Portland Place, rising to business secretary, and then took a pay cut to work as a production secretary for Michael Mills at the age of 20 at Alexandra Palace, .  Mills was the BBC’s first Light Entertainment producer. In the late 1950s Yvonne was picked by Eric Maschwitz for the BBC’s television directing and production training course. She directed her first show “Soft Lights and Sweet Music” in 1960.   She was the first female producer in BBC Light Entertainment . On the 23rd March  1963 she directed the Eurovision Song Contest , which was broadcast live from BBC Television Centre .  Around the same time she was instrumental  in launching  the “Jazz 625” series  for the newly formed BBC 2  on the 21st April 1964. The first episode  “Ellington In Concert” featured the world famous  jazz pianist, composer,conductor Duke Ellington and his Orchestra.Yvonne also produced a major folk music series  “Tonight In Person” which ran from 1963 - 1967 and included artists such as Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, Peter Paul and Mary,  the Clancy Brothers, Nana Mouskouri and Judy Collins.As producer of the concert series “A World Of Music” which ran from 1976 - 1978 featured a wide range of performers including the Carpenters, Fairport Convention, Petula Clark, The King Tigers, James Galway, Kiri Te Kanata and Moira Anderson.Her longest association was with “The Val Doonican Music Show”. She produced 85 episodes of the show from 1976 to 1986.Yvonne officially retired from the BBC in 1986 but continued tom work for the BBC as a guest producer into the 1990s.