Search Results for: Alan Lawson

…up.D>S> behp0157-royston-morley-summary[A slightly paraphrased version of Alan Lawson and Norman Swallow’s notes. DS]Born 1912, son of Methodist minister educated at various schools according to…

Johnny Jay was born in 1920 in Brixton in  London. His career began at the age of fifteen when he left school to become a photographer’s apprentice. He took the stills on Hammer Films Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass II and The Curse of Frankenstein. He went on to become  one of Britain’s top motion picture photographers and  traveled the world  working  on the sets of such films as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the first   Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope among many others. behp0154-johnny-jay-summaryBorn in Streatham, London 1920. Local schooling, keen to get into films. Went for an interview at [Gaumont British?] at the Bush [Shepherds Bush], seen by Otto Dyer, the American Head of the Stills Dept., who advised him to get an apprenticeship in photography, and then perhaps he might get into the Bush’s own trainee scheme. Got a job with a local photographer and after three months received a call from Gainsborough studios at Islington and was taken on in the Stills Dept., where he slowly learned about Stills photography. He gives a lot of technical detail about types of cameras and processing. As the war approached the Islington Studios closed and he was transferred to the Bush, eventually called up into the Royal Air Force, and after basic training was posted to Pinewood where he took over the RAF Stills Dept. He was invalided out of the RAF in 1944 and returned to Gainsborough where his first assignment was to be Stills man on The Wicked Lady. He gives details of some of his varied assignments, and then his freelance work.This interview does describe some of the conditions under which Stills photographers had to get their pictures.[END]

John Halas (born János Halász; 16 April 1912 – 21 January 1995) was a pioneering Hungarian-Jewish emigre who became the father of British Animation. He was educated in Budapest and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. After art school he worked with the Hungarian-born director and special-effects expert George Pal.  He moved to London in 1936 and while working on "Music Man" he met Joy Batchelor, who was already a film animator.They married, and in 1940 they founded Halas and Batchelor Animation  which became the largest cartoon film studio in the UK. They experimented with 3-D graphics , computer animation and  holography.  They  used animation in the service of high art, making the Poet and Painter series for the 1951 Festival of Britain and such experiments as The Owl and the Pussycat (1952), a 3D stereoscopic short based on Edward Lear's nonsense poem. However they directed and co-produced their greatest work in 1954 the  adaptation of George Orwell's " Animal Farm." the first British full length colour cartoon feature film. 

Born 1925 in Sale, Manchester. Taken away from “prep” school, went to Downside, then Cambridge at 17 ½ to read History at Trinity College. National Service 1943, into the army. Tells story about trying to get Class B release to go back and complete his studies. Demobilised 1947, wrote to all the production companies and studios to try for a job in film; started at Pitman’s College to learn shorthand and typing, and Berlitz to learn Italian. Gave it up, had an interview with Cecil McGivern at Alexandra Palace, taken on as an assistant librarian in the film library under Dick Cawston.He talks about working on various films including London To Brighton in Four Minutes; in 1950 he was getting fed up and told Dick Cawston so, then got an attachment to Children’s Programme Department as Producer. After 6 months he went back to the Film Department and worked as a director on three films connected with the regional development of the television service.He then joins the Talks Department and works with Norman Swallow on the Special Enquiry series. He directed the series The Inheritors,  He made a film about Eton which is most amusing. The making of The Royal Palaces of Britain is next and he also talks about the BBC/ITV film on the Royal family . He was overall producer of the series One Pair of Eyes and directed three of sixteen films. The Pacemakers – another series he produced. behp0142-anthony-de-lotbiniere-summaryNB: This interview is somewhat unstructured as it doesn’t follow chronological order, but nevertheless it is full of valuable material covering BBC Television from the post-war Alexandra Palace days through to his retirement.SIDE ONEBorn 1925 in Sale, Manchester. Taken away from “prep” school, went to Downside, then Cambridge at 17 ½ to read History at Trinity College. National Service 1943, into the army. Tells story about trying to get Class B release to go back and complete his studies. Demobilised 1947, wrote to all the production companies and studios to try for a job in film; started at Pitman’s College to learn shorthand and typing, and Berlitz to learn Italian. Gave it up, had an interview with Cecil McGivern at Alexandra Palace, taken on s an assistant librarian in the film library under Dick Cawston.SIDE TWO[not indicated on logsheet, so this content may be slightly out DS]He talks about working on various films including London To Brighton in Four Minutes; in 1950 he was getting fed up and told Dick Cawston so, then got an attachment to Children’s Programme Department as Producer. After 6 months he went back to the Film Department and worked as a director on three films connected with the regional development of the television service.He then joins the Talks Department and works with Norman Swallow on the Special Enquiry series. He tells various amusing stories about the series, including one about Aidan Crawley and Frank Gillard. He talks about Paul Rotha’s on a programme he filmed, Denis Mitchell, Phillip Donnellan, Michael Orram.SIDE THREEHe talks about the series The Inheritors, which he directed, also about a background film for the Kennedy/Nixon presidential elections. He tells about the making of his film about Eton which is most amusing. He then goes on to speak a little about Grace Wyndham Goldie and Joanna Spicer, two of the senior women staff of BBC Television.SIDE FOURThe making of The Royal Palaces of Britain is next and he also talks about the BBC/ITV film on the Royal family which is most interesting. He talks about the series One Pair of Eyes – he was overall Producer and directed three of sixteen films. The Pacemakers – another series he produced.SIDE FIVEHe continues to speak of his career.[END]

Norman Swallow's career in British broadcasting, from his joining the BBC in 1946 through to his  involvement in independent production , was that of a major pioneer of the British television documentary and, more broadly, a significant contributor to public service television. BEHP 0127 S Norman Swallow synopsis.BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE INTERVIEW WHICH IS LOCATED BELOW.Born 1921. Educated in Manchester, primary then to Manchester Grammar School, Keble College Oxford, Military Service finally in what was Palestine, saw advertisement in the New Statesman (which was sent to him by Dick Crossman) the BBC requires Documentary Features Producer: in Manchester. He applied and was told if he could get back by a certain date he would be considered, he did and was accepted, started producing programmes in Manchester, then seconded to London.After working with Louis MacNeice etc. he moved to Television, his first production being a Gardening programme, he later went on the make a series of programmes  Special Enquiry with Robert Reid, as well as a series An American Looks at Britain.  After about 5 years in Talks Dept., he moved to the Film Dept of the BBC where he became Assistant Head, three years later he moved back to Talks Dept to look after Panorama. In 1963 he left the BBC to go with Denis Mitchell Films where they made films which were taken by Granada, they each did a six months ‘rota' duty there.  After some years he moved back to the BBC to take over Arts Features which included Omnibus. Then some years later he moved back to Granada.The interview gives a very good idea of the workings of the BBC, and explains the amount of freedom given to a Producer.

BIOGRAPHY: Hugh Stewart was born in Falmouth on 14th December 1910. Educated at Claysmore and then at Cambridge under F.R. Leavis, he entered the film industry in the early 1930s at Gaumont-British under the apprenticeship scheme run by Ian Dalrymple. He trained as a film editor, initially cutting together out-takes from Marry Me (1932). He was assembly cutter on Basil Dean’s 1932 adaptation of The Constant Nymph, and his first film as Editor was Forbidden Territory (1934). He cut several important films for Gaumont, including Saville’s Evergreen (1934) and Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) before moving to Beaconsfield to work on quota productions. He also gained experience with John Dighton writing comedy scripts for Naughton and Gold shorts. During the late 1930s he edited a series of films for Korda and Saville including Dark Journey (1937), Action for Slander (1937), and South Riding (1938), and for Eric Pommer in St Martin’s Lane (1938). Having worked for Michael Powell on The Spy in Black (1939) he was engaged for 49th Parrallel (1941) but was unable get a discharge from the Army before the unit sailed. Keen to go oversees, Stewart joined the Army film Unit, filming in Algeria and Tunisia and he helped Roy Boulting edit this footage into Africa Freed. After this film was shelved due to difficulties with the Americans he worked on Tunisian Victory (1944). After the War, Stewart became a film producer, beginning with Trottie True (1949) the novel of which he’d read while ill. Generally under Rank at Pinewood, he made a series of commercially successful films, most notably taking over from Maurice Cowan as the producer of the long running Norman Wisdom series, starting with Man of the Moment (1955). Stewart also produced films starring Leslie Phillips and Morecombe & Wise. By the late 1960s, he was in semi-retirement, teaching English but also finding time to produce several films for the Children’s Film Foundation, notably All At Sea (1970) and Mr Horatio Knibbles (1971). SUMMARY: In this excellent interview with John Legard, Stewart discusses his apprenticeship at Gaumont and the influence a film editor can exert on the quality of a film, and on a particular actor’s performance. He talks in detail about the difficulties of his time at the Army Film Unit, particularly the tension between British and American film-makers over Africa Freed and Tunisian Victory. He remembers colleagues, including Alfred Hitchcock, Ian Dalrymple, Roy Boulting, Frank Capra, Conrad Veidt, Victor Saville, Maurice Cowan, John Paddy Carstairs, Robert Asher, Anthony Newley, and of course, Norman Wisdom. There is a fascinating account of Wisdom’s working practice and his desire to gain increasing control over his material throughout the 1960s. (Lawrence Napper, BCHRP)

 Second World War combat cameraman, and documentary director, reporter and writer,  worked at Denham. He was a member of The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Born in Ealing in 1920, Began work as a clapper boy at age 16 on George Formby comedies. Camera assistant at Denham Studios, He worked with  King Vidor on The Citadel (1938) and appeared briefly in The Thief of Bagdad (released 1940) .Joined the Army Film Unit  was sent to Persia to make a film about getting supplies through to Russia. - Via Persia (1942). later sent to Greece in 1944 to record the British advance Megara, At the battle, At the end of the war, Hopkinson was sent by the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Association to the Soviet republics of Belorussia and Ukraine, where he filmed the plight of orphaned children.He won an award from the Overseas Press Club for "Best Reporting from Abroad on Foreign Affairs" for his film To Open the World to the Nations: Suez (1955) In 1955, he joined NBC's Project 20 which planned a programme on Austria as director/cameraman, He joined World Wide Pictures .He continued working long past retirement age, making his last documentary for Whickers War, broadcast in 2004He died on 28 June 2007, aged 87. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, and two stepsons.

In about 1937 David Prosser left Imperial College, London, to join British Movietone News as a cameraman. His first credited work is for ‘REMEMBRANCE 1939’ in British Movietone News No.544A of November 1939, and he also provided film for ‘ABOUT THE HOME GUARD’ in No.582A of August 1940. He then became a war correspondent with the Royal Navy, based at Gibraltar, providing film for ‘ITALIAN ‘SUB’ MAKES A DASH FOR PORT’ in British Movietone News No.598A of November 1940, ‘SHIPS AND WINGS IN MEDITERRANEAN’ in No.605A, and ‘HMS ‘ARK ROYAL’ AT SEA’ in No.607A, both of January 1941. In April 1941 he was back in London, filming the King for a rota story in ‘THEIR MAJESTIES WITH THE SERVICES’ in No.618. Prosser then went to Singapore, where he filmed ‘IMPERIAL FORCES FOR MALAYA’S DEFENCE’ for No.623A of May 1941, but he soon returned to the Mediterranean. He also worked in North Africa, and in September 1941 his story ‘FLEET AIR ARM OVER THE DESERT’ ran in British Movietone News No.643. Prosser provided more Far Eastern footage for ‘SINGAPORE - ON THE ALERT’ in British Movietone News No.645A of October 1941, but otherwise remained in the Eastern Mediterranean. In January 1942 he provided film from North Africa for ‘ROMMEL ON THE RUN’ in British Movietone News No.658A, and also supplied film of ‘HAZARDS OF CONVOY’ for No.683A in July 1942. In March 1943 he was back in London filming ‘ROSE VERSUS LEEK SOCCER INTERNATIONAL’ for British Movietone News No.717A, and he continued covering domestic stories for some months. However, Norman Fisher [qv] of Movietone recalled that Prosser then joined the RAF Film Unit as a Pilot Officer, and was based at Pinewood Studios. He made many film operational flights with RAF, including low-level bomb attacks on German V-Weapon sites on the French Coast. However, by May 1945 he was back with Movietone, filming crowds in central London for ‘VICTORY’ in British Movietone News No.832, and in September 1945 he took film for ‘RADAR’ in No.852 of October 1945. In June 1946 Prosser provided shots of the neon-lit British Movietone News building in Soho Square for ‘VICTORY DAY’ in No.888A. Later that year Prosser was sent to film the unrest in Palestine. He supplied film for ‘PALESTINE NEWS’ in British Movietone News No.904A of October 1946, and continued to provide reports of the situation in Palestine until his last report, ‘PALM SUNDAY IN JERUSALEM,' in No.931 of April 1947. Prosser’s last credited story for Movietone was ‘FA CUP 3RD ROUND - ARSENAL V BRADFORD’ in British Movietone News No.971A of January 1948. In the same month the BBC launched its own Television Newsreel, and Prosser was recruited as one of its five cameramen. In 1951 he left the BBC Television Newsreel to work as a BBC director-cameraman. SourcesBUFVC, British Paramount News files, Issues Number 1015 (21/11/1940), Number 1033 (23/1/1941), and Number 1054 (7/4/1941, Prosser’s rota shotlists), Number 1522 (Prosser’s rota shotlist, c.September 1945): W. G. Greatorex ‘TV newsreel man thrives on danger,' John Bull, 1/12/1951, pp.11-12: J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels: Vol.III’ (1993), p.75.

Started in Electric LIght Company as electrician, Moved to Warners Teddington Studios and contracted out to others such as Shepperton, Marylebone etc mid 1930's. Details about specific lights used on films.Ealing studios 1939 until going in to Navy during WW11.Ealinf Studios until 1947 . Films It Always Rains on Sunday. Teddington in 1947. 1952 ABC studios.on staff but no work for a period. Until The Dam Busters relates anecdotes about filming and lighting needed. !959 TV Series Flying Doctor and others in Australia as Supervsior on Sundowners.

Early Life & EducationDaphne Ancell was born in Battersea in 1926. historyproject.org.ukShe went to a school in Whitton (moved there with her family at some point) for her early education. historyproject.org.ukAfter leaving school, she got her first job in a bank (in the ledger/accounts department) around age 15 or so. historyproject.org.ukEntry into Film Lab / TechnicolorIn June 1950, Daphne Ancell started working at Technicolor. Her first role was as a “National Cash operator and comptometer operator” in the office side of the lab department. historyproject.org.ukHer responsibilities included minute taking, serving as Secretary / Minutes Secretary on the Lab Committee; later she became Chairman of the Lab Committee. historyproject.org.ukUnion Activity & LeadershipDaphne was very active in union matters: she was an officer in ACTT (Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians), representing Technicolor lab workers. historyproject.org.ukShe served on the Lab Negotiating Committee, General Council, Women’s TUC, Equality Committee, etc. historyproject.org.ukShe was involved in negotiating working conditions, equal pay, holidays, and other rights. She also took part in strikes / lockouts, for example, during a period when management locked out some workers, she was locked out too due to her union role. historyproject.org.ukAchievements & InfluenceShe was instrumental in securing improvements for lab-workers at Technicolor: better holiday entitlement, equal pay, and sickness payments were among the gains. historyproject.org.ukDaphne served for many years in her union roles: minutes secretary, chairman of the Lab Committee, member of Executive, etc. historyproject.org.ukShe was recognized as an honorary member of ACTT. historyproject.org.ukPersonal LifeDaphne had a daughter (named Hilary) whom she left home to raise for a period, then returned to work. historyproject.org.ukHer early jobs before Technicolor included work in banking and ledger-type roles, and after the war she worked briefly in a coal firm for a period. historyproject.org.ukCommittee on Equality Chairperson, Daphne Ancell,