Search Results for: Rodney Giesler

Born 31.12.29. Father a GP in Leeds. Evacuated to Wales with Leeds Grammar School. Idyllic. Then to Wharfedale. Learning came easily. Early interest in cinema. Given 9.5 mm projector at six. Built a cinema in attic. Father had cine camera. Cousin David Rush had visited studios. Read Grierson at 15 and decided him on career in documentaries. Went to University College London and read history. Joined its film unit in 1948. Got polio in 1949. First film assistant Jack Gold. Stan Joseph the founder. Directed a spoof on archaeology, The Restoration Comedy, in 1952. Edited film for NUS Travel. School friend's father had worked for Film Centre. Arranged a meeting with Edgar Anstey which led to nothing. Got in to BBC TV Film Unit in the library. John Elliot headed film unit. After six months moved to the cutting room. Then to "Talks". First solo editing for David Attenborough with Richard Massingham. Several months on daily newsreel. Worked entirely on negative. Fastest job when Queen Mary died. After two years moved to Shell Film Unit in 1954. Regarded as "the" documentary unit. A re-education in science.  work ed with Bert Haanstra editing The Rival World.  assistant to Denis Segaller. Went on to direct The Ruthless One for Anti-Locust Research Centre. Alan Fabian's talents as an "imagineer". Directing locusts (45'45") Then directed a compilation film in SE Asia for a conference presentation. In line for a job in Iraq to succeed John Shearman. Kassem's revolution diverted him to Nigeria. Became producer of unit based there, employed by Film Centre. Explaining Shell-BP to the country. Took Maurice Picot and Roy Ayton. Unit based in Lagos with shooting crew in Port Harcourt. Rejoined Shel Film Unit on return from Nigeria and became resident producer. producer of The River Must Live, and Underwater Search. Working with John Armstrong on Underwater Search. Went freelance in 1970. Went to USA in 1968 to make Areas for Breathing with Alan Pendry for Shel Oil. Went on to make three more films for Shel Oil: on geomorphology: This Ixind. which was not accepted by Shell UK. Then two films for the bicentennial. One on the anthropology of North America.. Final film was on American innovation completed in America in 1980. (43'42")Worked as a producer with BP in mid seventies through Balfour Films. Planet Water with Derek Williams. The Oil in your Engine with Philip Owtram. Energy in Perspective with Peter de Normanville. A very good scientific film maker. Shetland film with Derek Williams. Final film for BP Coal the Bridge. Then back to Shell. Taking over Time for Energy from Derek Armstrong. Then For Want of Water, both with Theo Richmond. Fate of the Forests with Alan Pendry. REturned to Nigeria for a film on 25th anniversary of independence, directed by John Rogers. Last film in 1993.  Disabled film for British Rail. The passing of the festivals. (32'5Douglas Gordon's cv  can be retrieved by clicking on the tab below. DOUGLAS GO R D O NSIDE ONEBorn 31.12.29. Father a GP in Leeds. Evacuated to Wales with Leeds Grammar School. Idyllic. Then to Wharfedale. Learning came easily. Early interest in cinema. Given 9.5 mm projector at six. Built a cinema in attic. Father had cine camera. Cousin David Rush had visited studios. Read Grierson at 15 and decided him on career in documentaries. Went to University College London and read history. Joined its film unit in 1948. Got polio in 1949. First film assistant Jack Gold. Stan Joseph the founder. Directed a spoof on archaeology, The Restoration Comedy, in 1952. Edited film for NUS Travel. School friend's father had worked for Film Centre. Arranged a meeting with Edgar Anstey which led to nothing. Got in to BBC TV Film Unit in the library. John Elliot headed film unit. After six months moved to the cutting room. Then to "Talks". A good grounding in a very primitive setup. Memories of Grace Wyndham-Goldie. First solo editing for David Attenborough with Richard Massingham. Several months on daily newsreel. Worked entirely on negative. Fastest job when Queen Mary died. An exciting time. After two years moved to Shell Film Unit in 1954. Regarded as "the" documentary unit. A re-education in science. Good fortune to work with Bert Haanstra editing The Rival World. A marvellous experience with a marvellous man. The astuteness of Stuart Legg, the producer. The importance of The Rival World to subsequent Shell films. An exciting experience. Characters of Stuart Legg and Arthur Elton. First location experience as assistant to Denis Segaller. Went on to direct The Ruthless One for Anti-Locust Research Centre. Alan Fabian's talents as an "imagineer". Directing locusts (45'45") End of Side 1.SIDE TWOMore on filming The Ruthless One. Its influence on the methods of a physiotherapist. Shell gave you time to get things right. Then directed a compilation film in SE Asia for a conference presentation. In line for a job in Iraq to succeed John Shearman. The reason for setting up overseas units. Kassem's revolution diverted him to Nigeria. Became producer of unit based there, employed by Film Centre. Explaining Shel-BP to the country. Took Maurice Picot and Roy Ayton. Tough locations. Problems of finding local technicians. Importance of training. Stressful but interesting. Unit based in Lagos with shooting crew in Port Harcourt. Cultural differences. Echoes from the old raj. Working relationships. The assistant director who made it in his own way. The films that were made. The success of Framework for a Nation. Shell's "Vatican-like perspective". The importance of Film Centre's role as a "broker". The mechanism of good sponsorship. The roles played by Alex Wolcough and Jack Beddington at Shell. (44'51") End of Side 2.SIDE THREERejoined Shel Film Unit on return from Nigeria and became resident producer. Changing nature of the unit. Recollections of John Drummond, head of media of Shell PR in the sixties. Became producer of The River Must Live, and Underwater Search. Differences with Arthur Elton. Working with John Armstrong on Underwater Search. John Drummond's way with using the films. Importance of films to the Shel Group. Sixties very busy. 16 titles on the go at one time. Michael Heckford's films Paint and Crown of Glass. Went freelance in 1970. Went to USA in 1968 to make Areas for Breathing with Alan Pendry for Shel Oil. Grew out of US interest in The River Must Live. Film hit the rocks for a year then given a Hollywood preview and scored higher than I Love Lucy. Went on to make three more films for Shel Oil: on geomorphology: This Ixind. which was not accepted by Shell UK. Then two films for the bicentennial. One on the anthropology of North America.. Great response from younger audiences. Final film was on American innovation. All widely shown. Extensive use of film in American education system. Final film completed in America in 1980. (43'42") End of Side 3.SIDE FOURWorked as a producer with BP in mid seventies through Balfour Films. Planet Water with Derek Williams. The Oil in your Engine with Philip Owtram. Energy in Perspective with Peter de Normanville. A very good scientific film maker. Shetland film with Derek Williams. Final film for BP Coal the Bridge. Then back to Shell. Taking over Time for Energy from Derek Armstrong. Then For Want of Water, both with Theo Richmond. Fate of the Forests with Alan Pendry. The amval of video at Shell. Sponsors became more short termist. Returned to Nigeria for a film on 25th anniversary of independence, directed by John Rogers. The rude contrast to his previous time. Armed robbery was now a national habit since Biafran War. The country was in an economic mess. A view of his old home. Last film in 1993. More than fulfiled ambitions. Recollections of people and ways of working. Disabled film for British Rail. The passing of the festivals. (32'5[END]

director, writer and producer, born 16 December 1922; died 22 January 2016Simmons was born in West Ham, the fourth of five children – three boys and two girls – to parents of Polish extraction, Miriam (nee Corb) and Joseph Simmons (originally Anzulowsky), from a family of market traders. He was named Isidore but adopted the forename Anthony in his teens. died aged 93,  first real contact with film was in Rome watching the neorealists filming in the streets. never had any training as a film-maker. an outsider who never quite fitted into the slots of the British film industry.”Simmons worked across that industry, as a maker of documentaries and shorts, then feature films and, later, as a jobbing director on television dramas. the Venice film festival grand prix for his documentary Sunday By the Sea (1953), which captured working-class Londoners’ ritual of taking the train to Southend for a cheap and cheerful summer’s day out: Bow Bells (1953), an evocation of his own East End childhood These documentaries were shot by Walter Lassally and produced by Leon Clore,  Simmons never became one of that community. His brand of socialism was more optimistic and less anti-establishmen. three significant feature films. Four in the Morning (1965) grew out of a planned documentary about the Thames, People of the River. The fictional story, about two couples connected to a young woman who is found drowned, benefited from the director’s authentic location shooting. Judi Dench, in her second cinema role, received a Bafta most promising newcomer award, as the frustrated wife to Norman Rodway’s angry young husband and Simmons won a Golden Leopard, top prize at the Locarno international film festival.The industrial riverside was also the setting for The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973), based on Simmons’s own 1964 novel. The tragicomic tale stars Peter Sellers as an ageing street busker befriended by two latchkey children and recalling his days in the music halls. Black Joy (1977), with Norman Beaton and Floella Benjamin as the worldly new acquaintances in London.  After attending West Ham grammar school, Simmons gained a law degree from the London School of Economics, where his course was interrupted by wartime army service. Although he practised as a barrister, he had ambitions to enter the film industry. The great documentary-makers Humphrey Jennings, Robert Flaherty and Joris Ivens were influences, along with Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Il Grido (1957).On a trip to Bulgaria in 1947, a year after the country became part of the eastern bloc, Simmons made a documentary, Bulgarian Village, about a rural community he regarded as being part of a progressive society. However, he was unable to record his commentary, so the film was never released – until it was restored by the British Film Institute in 2011.  on returning to Britain, formed Harlequin Films with Clore and the writer-director Jack Arnold. he produced several low-budget feature films, including Time Without Pity (1957), directed by Joseph Losey in which Michael Redgrave investigates a young woman’s murder, for which his son (Alec McCowen) has been convicted and sentenced to death. the comedy, Your Money or Your Wife (1960), which he directed and which starred Donald Sinden, was poorly received.One reason Simmons never became a fully paid-up member of the Free Cinema movement was that he also took funding from businesses and the Central Office of Information for sponsored documentaries. These included Blood Is Life (1957), encouraging the public to donate blood, From First to Last (1962), for the Ford motor company, and No Short Cut (1964), promoting the National Cycling Proficiency Scheme that had been created by the government in 1958. As he struggled to find money for new films, he also made commercials for Martini, Mothercare, Embassy cigarettes, Findus and others.Later, he directed the film Little Sweetheart (1989), a thriller starring John Hurt, but much of his time was spent in television, making episodes of popular series such as The Professionals (1978-82), Inspector Morse (1989) and A Touch of Frost (1992).His finest work on the small screen was On Giant’s Shoulders (1979), the International Emmy award-winning dramatisation of a real-life thalidomide victim’s story, starring Dench again, as the mother, and Life After Death (1982), a drama about bereavement, for the Play for Today series.  Born 16.12.22 in West Ham: memories of Queens Road street market. Parents market traders. Father a Polish Jewish emigrd. Wnt to Upton Cross school then to West Ham grammar. Teacher a left wing poet, Peter Hewitt, who encouraged his writing. Overcame his lack of language. Evacuated to Brentwood. Good rapport with teachers. Won a place at the LSE at Cambridge to study law. Stayed until 1942. Politically active. President of the Union. Organised student work camps getting in harvest. Called up in Army. Sent to Isle of Man. Ran ABCAs. Thence to India in June 1945 running army newspapers. Returned to university. LSE now back in London. Trained as a barrister. Liv^ in Soho. Became vice president of NUS campaigning for fiill student grants. In 1946 became part of Student Union delegation to Prague. Paid for the trip with cigarettes. Watched black market in operation. On to Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Described journey in "History Goes on Holiday". His political outlook at the time. Called to the bar in 1948. NUS veiy active. In 1947 decided to repeat European trip as a film. Raised money, joined by director/cameraman (Charles Heath) and Owen Andrews. Reached Prague and decided to do film on a Bulgarian dancer instead. Arrested in Bulgaria. No sign of dancer. Decided to make a film on a Bulgarian village of Plovdiv instead. {^'Balkan Village") Wrote a script on the spot. Instructed to "tell them what to do in front of the camera", he became a director as well. Arrested again on way back. Got home to find that no one wanted their footage. (44'35") End of Side 1.Through Donald Alexander got DATA to pay for processing. No one could see a commercial future in it. "March ofUme" offer turned down. Peter Brinson at Film Centre arranged for film to be finished in Rome. Went there during summer break. Film stuck in Customs. Removed by bribery. Fellini working next door. Also Giuseppe de Santis. Watched the Italians at work. Caught the smell of film. "Balkan Village" much admired. Asked to stay as a director. Decided to return home as a barrister. Film was banned in Italy as too left wing. Banned in Bulgaria as too right wing. Film finally turned up in London in mid fifties. Never finished. Always considered himself an outsider. Makes "European" films. Took ACT on to the streets, filming May Day celebrations, etc. Had to leave chambers because he was Jewish. Joined Leon Clore. Had an idea for a film based on music hall songs. Shot "Sunday by the Sea" with Walter Lassally at Southend in five days. Won Grand Prix at Venice. "Bow Bells" followed. Still playing as a short. Unemployable as he was considered as being without technical training. Never settled into such a discipline. Not accepted by Free Cinema. Didn't find his commercial feet until "Four in the Morning". Three short films in one. Scripts built out of improvisations. Backed by the NFFC. Cannes screening. Origins of "The Optimists of Nine Elms". Five years to bring it to the screen. (46'00") End of Side 2.Problems of finding a niche. Neither a "BFI" director nor a "commercial" director. Made "Poisoned Candy" as BBC/US co-production. Problems of straddling different methods of working, and different cultures. Quotes Mike Radford's experiences. Contrasting Italian neorealism with today's sub culture. Discourses on the state of British cinema, and the nature of TV commercials. Producers making films for each other, not their audiences. "Optimists" a great critical, but not commercial, success. Taken as a tax loss, "Black Joy" ran into copyright problems. How it was made. US blacks could not identify with Brixton blacks. Unsuccessful in working for the BBC. Directed some "The Professionals" series. Eighty setups in a day. Sent the book "On Giant's Shoulders": the story of a thalidomide boy. Made for the BBC. A big hit. "Day After the Fair" for TV with Hannah Gordon. Took ten years to get made. Followed by "Poisoned Candy". Story about hole in the heart baby "Whose Turn to Live!" scrapped because of political worries. Working on "Inspector Frost". A different tempo of work. Never a true journeyman director. Problems of ageism. (43'14") End of Side 3.A view of Hollywood. A lot of respect for older directors. The story of a Channel Four commission. Follow up on the thalidomide boy. Story taken from him because he was not young enough. (6'18") End of Side 4. 

Sheila Hancock was born February 22, 1933. on the Isle of Wight. She later moved to King's Cross in London, where her mother and father ran a pub. Sheila went to Dartford Grammar School, and then with a grant she went to RADA. She then went into nine years of weekly repertory around the country. While in repertory in Bath she met actor Alec Ross, whom she married in 1955, and had a daughter, Melanie Thaw (aka "Ellie Jane") on July 15, 1964. Her first big TV hit was her appearance in The Rag Trade (1961). Her first theatrical success was in "Rattle of a Simple Man" at the Garrick Theatre London. In 1969 she starred in the West End hit "So What About Love?", where she met actor John Thaw. The same year her mother died of cancer, followed nearly nine months later by Alec's tragic death. On December 24, 1973, she married Thaw, with their daughters Melanie and Abigail present. On July 27. 1974, at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, Hammersmith, Sheila gave birth to her only child with John, Joanna Suzy Thaw. In the 1980s Sheila toured the UK with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later with the National Theatre. In 1988 she was told she had breast cancer, but she fought and won her battle against it. She and Thaw split briefly during this period. In 2001 John was told he had cancer. For nine months he fought against it, and with Sheila's help his privacy was protected. John died in Sheila's arms the day before her 69th birthday. Since his death Sheila has written a book called "The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw", and has made numerous TV and stage appearance talking about the book and her life with John. Sheila lives in Hammersmith near her daughters and grandchildren.

Born: 11.7.15. Father pioneer penal reformer in Australia, superintendent of Shaftesbury Institution. Family emigrated from Dumfries in 1830. Pioneering family. Father fought in Boer War. Brought up in liberal atmosphere. Lived a mile from landing of first settlers. Saw building of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Moved from Sydney to Parramatta. Then to Bathurst. Then Goulbum. Followed in wake of colonial expansion. Built first crystal set in 1930. Worked on sheep stations.. Began working as a teacher on £1 per week.Applied for announcer's job at radio station 2WL at Wollongong, owned by local electrician. Big newspapers bought in to radio. Big coal industry buUt up in the area. Did every job on this little country radio station. On the air 14 hours a day. Paid £8 per week. Describes the variety of programmes he made. Radio became important in building up community feeling among a scattered population. Keith Murdoch building up interests at the time. . Loneliness of living in a large empty country. Poor communications. Radio helped fill this gap. Australia isolated from Europe. Twelve weeks sea voyage. Test match commentary broadcast simulation in studio based on tables sent from London at end of every over. Applause supplied by leather flaps in studio. Produced by Charles Moses at ABC. Some shops had radio and scoreboard in window. Crowds watched on pavement, in the middle of the night. After a couple of years applied to Australian Broadcasting Commission to make programme on young ideas. At audition abandoned {H'epared script and spoke his own ideas. Became an announcer. (43'57")Then started programme "Young Ideas" for listeners of his generation. Big audience in the outback. Got into trouble over programme on youth unemployment. Got statistics from Premier of NSW through family contact. Used these in his programme. Produced by Paul Jacklin, who was a young Orson Weles. Pressure from politicians to sack him. Protected by his chairman. Minister threatened the whole Commission, but backed down. Programmes on "New World Movements": world political systems and organisations, and national political issues. Then became Talks Editor as well as producing his own programmes. Further programmes on hobbies for the young. Sent programme notes through the mail. Nationwide coverage. Technical side of ABC run by the Post Office. Couldn't move their own microphones. In 1939 sent to Melbourne to start up short wave service. Had to forestall comm^cial stations getting in on it. (Australia had only Trade Commissioners. Diplomacy handled by British Foreign Office.) Set up in two weeks. Went on air exactly on schedule. Service settled down, broadcasting in several languages. Trusted in accurate translations. Problems with drunks on the air. Broadcasting to Australian troops in Middle East. Then asked to go to London to broadcast in BBC Empire Service. Lefl Australia in 1940 by flying boat across the Pacific. Interviewed by Lowell Thomas on NBC. On to London via Bermuda and Lisbon. Description of BBC Overseas Services. Types of programmes and speakers. Censorship. Had to schedule services on local times of recipient. On duty when Pearl Harbour announced, U.S. networks never broadcast anything recorded. Speakers had to turn up to broadcast in the middle of the night. Knew of D-Day landings from pre-recorded speech by Eisenhower. Details of handling the radio coverage of Normandy landings. Memories of Chester Wilmot, Stephen Potter and  Geoffrey Grigson. Committee for literary programmes. Studios in Peter Robinson’s, [Department Store] 200. Oxford Street. Also knew George Orwell and William Empson.Left the BBC at the end of the war. Wrote to J. Arthur Rank suggesting cinematic version of        his broadcast features. The  need to project Britain in postwar  world.    Rank  already  incensed by narrow versions of events portrayed by March of Time. Started counterpart called This  Modern Age. Headed by George (later Lord) Archibald. Other board members Earl St. John and Sascha Galperson. Castleton Knight brought in from Gaumont British. Sergei Nolbandov appointed producer. Edgar Anstey and Basil Wright contributed. Production team included John Monck, Robin Carruthers, Eric Cross  and Peter Baylis. Access to all Rank theatres and benefitted from British quota.  Film on postwar housing problem: Houses for All. Favourable reaction from Aneurin Bevan who was impressed by Rank’s social conscience! Film on Coal Crisis highlighted neglect by previous mine-owners. Filmed in Palestine during the mandate: two units, one covering the Arabs, the other the Jews. There during bombing of the King David hotel. Recollection of conversation with Ernest Bevin,  foreign secretary.  (44’.11”) Found difficulty in reconciling  political and cinematic disciplines. Became head of English radio at U.N.memories of the Congo uprising. Detailed descriptions of the forces at work. And the personalities. Van Bielsen, David, Serge Michel, Corporal Mobutu. Patrice Lumumba fomenting riots   over the  radio. Used his experience in radio to  immobilise the   transmitt er. Describes the circumstances of Hammarskjold’s death, and his own ideas of what really happened. (43’45")   SIDE ONEBorn: 11.7.15. Father pioneer penal reformer in Australia, superintendent of Shaftesbury Institution. Family emigrated from Dumfries in 1830. Pioneering family. Father fought in Boer War. Brought up in liberal atmosphere. Lived a mile from landing of first settlers. Saw building of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Moved from Sydney to Parramatta. Then to Bathurst. Then Goulbum. Followed in wake of colonial expansion. Built first crystal set in 1930.Worked on sheep stations. (Digresses on science programmes he put on at the BBC during the war with the leading scientists of the day). Began working as a teacher on £1 per week.Applied for announcer's job at radio station 2WL at Wollongong, owned by local electrician. Big newspapers bought in to radio. Big coal industry buUt up in the area. Did every job on this little country radio station. On the air 14 hours a day. Paid £8 per week. Describes the variety of programmes he made. Radio became important in building up community feeling among a scattered population. Keith Murdoch building up interests at the time. (Digresses on time he had David Low write "cartoons for the air" on the BBC). Loneliness of living in a large empty country. Poor communications. Radio helped fill this gap. Australia isolated from Europe. Twelve weeks sea voyage. Test match commentary broadcast simulation in studio based on tables sent from London at end of every over. Applause supplied by leather flaps in studio. Produced by Charles Moses at ABC. Some shops had radio and scoreboard in window. Crowds watched on pavement, in the middle of the night. After a couple of years applied to Australian Broadcasting Commission to make programme on young ideas. At audition abandoned {H'epared script and spoke his own ideas. Became an announcer. (43'57")End of Side 1.SIDE TWOThen started programme "Young Ideas" for listeners of his generation. Big audience in the outback. Got into trouble over programme on youth unemployment. Got statistics from Premier of NSW through family contact. Used these in his programme. Produced by Paul Jacklin, who was a young Orson Weles. Pressure from politicians to sack him. Protected by his chairman. Minister threatened the whole Commission, but backed down. Programmes on "New World Movements": world political systems and organisations, and national political issues. Then became Talks Editor as well as producing his own programmes. Further programmes on hobbies for the young. Sent programme notes through the mail. Nationwide coverage. Technical side of ABC run by the Post Office. Couldn't move their own microphones. In 1939 sent to Melbourne to start up short wave service. Had to forestall comm^cial stations getting in on it. (Australia had only Trade Commissioners. Diplomacy handled by British Foreign Office.) Set up in two weeks. Went on air exactly on schedule.(43'27")SIDE THREEService settled down, broadcasting in several languages. Trusted in accurate translations. Problems with drunks on the air. Broadcasting to Australian troops in Middle East. Then asked to go to London to broadcast in BBC Empire Service. Lefl Australia in 1940 by flying boat across the Pacific. Interviewed by Lowell Thomas on NBC. On to London via Bermuda and Lisbon. Description of BBC Overseas Services. Types of programmes and speakers. Censorship. Had to schedule services on local times of recipient. On duty when Pearl Harbour announced, U.S. networks never broadcast anything recorded. Speakers had to turn up to broadcast in the middle of the night. Knew of D-Day landings from pre-recorded speech by Eisenhower. Details of handling the radio coverage of Normandy landings. Memories of Chester Wilmot, Stephen Potter and  Geoffrey Grigson. Committee for literary programmes. Studios in Peter Robinson’s, [Department Store] 200. Oxford Street. Also knew George Orwell and William Empson. Experience from Australian local radio very useful. Repairing the damage to Anglo-Australian relations after fall of Singapore. (44’17“)End of Side 3.SIDE FOURMore detailed memories of programmes broadcast to Australia. Personalities involved. General    Birdwood, Lord  Nuffield,  Thomas Wood,  Arnold Haskell. The importance of Australia     to him.  Returns  to  memories   of  childhood, and  details of life on a   sheep  station. The National fabric. Meeting Alistair Cook and Ed Murrow. Procedure for royal broadcasters. The bombing of Bedford  College. J.B. Priestley. Reithian atmosphere Jean Melville, concert pianist (GIS’s aunt). (44’23")End of Side 4. SIDE FIVELeft the BBC at the end of the war. Wrote to J. Arthur Rank suggesting cinematic version of        his broadcast features. The  need to project Britain in postwar  world.    Rank  already  incensed by narrow versions of events portrayed by March of Time. Started counterpart called This  Modern Age. Headed by George (later Lord) Archibald. Other board members Earl St. John and Sascha Galperson. Castleton Knight brought in from Gaumont British. Sergei Nolbandov appointed producer. Edgar Anstey and Basil Wright contributed. Production team included John Monck, Robin Carruthers, Eric Cross  and Peter Baylis. Access to all Rank theatres and benefitted from British quota. Mentions political argument with Rank. Film on postwar housing problem: Houses for All. Favourable reaction from Aneurin Bevan who was impressed by Rank’s social conscience! Film on Coal Crisis highlighted neglect by previous mine-owners. Filmed in Palestine during the mandate: two units, one covering the Arabs, the other the Jews. There during bombing of the King David hotel. Recollection of conversation with Ernest Bevin,  foreign secretary.  (44’.11”)End of Side 5. SIDE SIXMore on Palestine. Meeting General Cunningham. Found difficulty in reconciling  political and cinematic disciplines. Became head of English radio at U.N. Headquarters at Lake Success. British Ambassador showed Palestine film to the Security Council. Goes back over further incidents during time at This Modem Age. Back to the U.N. Television side of the U.N. given to CBS. A disaster. Farce of Gene Autrey programme. Personalities involved included  Gielgud, Olivier, Ruth  Draper, Danny Kaye and Marlon Brando. Thorold Dickinson recruited to  run  U.N. television side. Became press  officer  for Dag Hammarskjold. Memories of the Congo. (43’27“)End of Side 6. SIDE SEVENDetailed memories   of  Dag Hammarskjold: his     background, interests, personality and his work in many  parts of the World. The establishment of the  fiirst  U.N. peacekeeping force    after the Suez   Crisis.   Anecdotes      and details of  time  during    the Congo uprising in 1960. Describes the anatomy of the Congo crisis, and its consequences. Many eyewitness memories. (44’02”)End of Side 7. SIDE EIGHTFurther memories of the Congo uprising. Detailed descriptions of the forces at work. And the personalities. Van Bielsen, David, Serge Michel, Corporal Mobutu. Patrice Lumumba fomenting riots   over the  radio. Used his experience in radio to  immobilise the   transmitt er. Describes the circumstances of Hammarskjold’s death, and his own ideas of what really happened. (43’45")End of Side 8. [END]

Christopher John Miles (19 April 1939 – 15 September 2023) was an influential British film director, producer, and screenwriter, known for bringing literary sensibilities, emotional subtlety, and visual flair to his work.   Early Life and EducationBorn in London, Miles was the eldest of four siblings; his younger sister is actress Sarah Miles.  He was educated at Winchester College, and later trained at the prestigious Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (IDHEC) in Paris.  He showed an early interest in film, experimenting at home with 8mm and 16mm equipment.   Early Career and BreakthroughsMiles’s first short film, À Vol d’Oiseau (1962), which he wrote, produced, and directed, won the Foreign Section prize at the San Francisco Film Festival.  He gained wider notice with The Six-Sided Triangle (1963), a short that spoofed different national filmmaking styles; it earned an Academy Award nomination and helped him establish his voice in filmmaking.  His next short, Rhythm ’n’ Greens (1964), featured pop culture figures such as Cliff Richard and The Shadows.   Feature Films and Notable Works Up Jumped a Swagman (1965): His first feature film.  The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970): Adapted from the D.H. Lawrence novel; acclaimed critically, it was voted Best Film of 1970 by the British Film Critics and nominated for a Golden Globe.  The Maids (1975): Adapted from Jean Genet’s play, with Glenda Jackson, Susannah York and Vivien Merchant, among others. Known for its demanding performances and theatrical intensity.  Alternative 3 (1977): A TV film notable for its provocative themes and mock-documentary style, addressing conspiracy, environmental collapse, and political intrigue.  Priest of Love (1981): A literary biopic about D.H. Lawrence.  The Clandestine Marriage (1998): A late-career feature based on the 18th-century play by George Colman and David Garrick, reflecting his continued interest in adaptation.    Additionally, Miles made a number of works for television: Daley’s Decathlon (1982), Aphrodisias - City of Aphrodite(1984), Lord Elgin and Some Stones of No Value (mid-1980s), Love in the Ancient World (1997), among others. These projects often combined historical research, literary source material, and a cross-cultural or archaeological dimension.   Style and LegacyMiles was known for his elegant visual compositions, careful adaptation of source texts, and willingness to take risks (both in style and in subject matter). For example, Alternative 3 employed documentary-like effects, mixing real archival material with dramatised content, foreshadowing techniques used later in film and television.s BEHP 0351 Christopher Miles – Filmography and career1962 A Vol d’Oiseau, with Patrice Laffont, Monique Lejeune, Jean Mitry, Patrick Bureau, Nicoie Meyniei, etc.,Camera: Jean-Paul Comu Wrote, produced and directed (1962 TV short) (Milesian Film Productions/CBS) Foreign Section prize - San Francisco Film Festival.1963 THE SIX SIDED TRIANGLESarah Miles, Nicol Wiiliamson, Bill Meilen Camera: David Watkin, Music: Michael Dress. Wrote, produced with Sara Bennett and the Boulting Brothers and directed (1963 theatrical short)(Milesian/British Lion Films) Oscar Nomination • Hollywood Academy Award Second Prize - Oberhausen Film Festival1964 RHYTHM 'N GREENS Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Robert Moriey Camera: David Watkin Music: The Shadows Producer Terry Ashwood Wrote and directed (1964 theatrical short)(Associated British-Pathe Production/ABPC)1965 UP JUMPED A SWAGMANSuzy Kendall, Frank Ifield, Richard Wattis, Annette Andre Ronald Radd, Donal Donnelly, Bryan Mosley, etc. Camera: Ken Higgins Music: Norrie Paramor Writer Lewis Oreifer Producer: Andrew Mitchell Directed (1965 theatrical feature)(Elstree Productions - Leslie Grade/ABPC)1967 THE RUE LEPIC SLOW RACE Pierre Jacob, Vanessa Miles, Maurice Baquet, ClaudeWrote, produced, photographed and directed (1967 TV short)(Milesian/ABC TV)1970 THE VIRGIN & THE GYPSYJoanna Shimkus, Franco Nero, Honor Blackman, Fay Compton, Mark Burns, Maurice Denham, Kay Walsh, Norman Bird, etc., Camera: Bob Huke Music: Patrick Gowers Writer: Alan Plater - from the novel by D.H.Lawrence Producer Kenneth Harper [Directed (1970 theatrical feature) (Kenwood Films - London Screenplays/Rank) Voted Best Film of 1970 by British Film Critics Golden Globe Nomination USA 19701971 TIME FOR LOVING Joanna Shimkus, Philippe Noiret, Britt Ekland, Susan Hampshire, Mark Burns, Mel Ferrer, Michel Legrand, Lila Kedrova, etc.. Camera: Andreas Winding Music: Michel Legrand Screenplay: Jean Anouilh Producer. Dimitri de Grunwald/Mel Ferrer Directed (1971 theatrical feature)(London Screenplays/Rank)1973 ZINOTCHKA Charlotte Rampling, Raymond Francis, Madge Camera: Peter Hall Music: Tchaikovsky Screenplay: Melvyn Bragg from a Chekov short story Producers: Gavin Miller & Melvyn Bragg Directed (1973 TV special)(BBC 2 Television - Full House)1975 THE MAIDS Glenda Jackson, Susannah York and Vivien Merchant Camera: Douglas Slocombe Music: Laurie Johnson Screenplay: Christopher Miles & Robert Enders from the Jean Genet play Producer Robert Enders Directed (1975 theatrical feature)(American Film Theatre / E.M.I.) Diploma - Belgrade Film Festival 1975 Les Yeux Fertiles - Cannes Film Festival 19751976 THAT LUCKY TOUCHSusannah York, Roger Moore, Shelley Winters, Lee J.Cobb, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Sydney Rome, Donald Sinden, etc.. Camera: Douglas Slocombe Music: John Scott Screenplay: John Briley Producer: Dimitri de Grunwald with Timothy Burrill Directed (1976 theatrical feature)(Gloria Films + de Grunwald Films / E.M.I.)1977 ALTERNATIVE 3Tim Brinton, Shane Rimmer, Gregory Munro, Carol Hazell, etc.. Camera: Ian Craig Music: Brian Eno Screenplay: David Ambrose from an original story by Christopher Miles & David Ambrose Producers: Sir John Woolf & John Rosenberg Directed (1977 TV special)(Anglia Television) Nominated for 1977 UK Television Drama Awards - BAFTA Highest rating in Australia 1977 Shown 5 times in 2 months in Canada & Japan Sphere book based on original story by Christopher Miles & David Ambrose translated into 5 languages1978 NECKSir John Gielgud, Joan Collins, Michael Aldridge, Peter Bowles, Carmen Silvera and Paul Herzberg Camera: Richard Crafter Music: Ron Grainer Screenplay: Robin Chapman from a Roald Dahl short story Producer John Rosenberg Directed (1978 TV 'Tales of the Unexpected')(Anglia Television)1981 PRIEST OF LOVEJanet Suzman, Sir Ian McKellen, Ava Gardner, Penelope Keith, Jorge Rivero, Sir John Gielgud, Maurizio Merli, Massimo Ranieri, Mike Gwilym, etc.. Camera: Ted Moore Music: Joseph James Screenplay: Alan Plater - from the biography' Priest of Love' by Harry T. Moore Executive Producer: Stanley J. Seeger Producers: Christopher Miles & Andrew Donally Directed (1981 theatrical feature)(Milesian Film Productions / Orion Pictures) Diploma - San Sebastian and opening film San Diego Film Festivals (1991) Diploma - London Film Festival - closing film (1992)1982 DALEY'S DECATHLONDaley Thompson, Richard Slaney, Otto Szymiczek, Jurgen Hingsen, etc., Camera: Stavros Chassapis Music: Ken Freeman Wrote, produced and directed (1982 TV sports special) (Miiesian/Kulukundis Film Productions + BBC Television / Home Video Holdings) Diploma - Rennes Sports Film Festival Runner-up 1983 UK Video Awards1983 THE MARATHONGreta Waitz, Rod Dixon, Bill Glad, Dr & Mrs Green, etc., Camera: Alistair Cameron - Stephan Motzek, Graham Fowler Music: Ken Freeman Producer Derek Home Co-wrote with Cliff Temple, directed (1983 TV sports special) (TMI Films Ltd + Channel 4 Television)1984 APHRODISIAS - Citv of Aphrodite Professor Kenan Erim, John Julius Norwich, Peter Rockwell Camera: Alistair Cameron Music: Michael Steer Producers: Robin Lowe & Bill Buraside Co-wrote with John Julius Norwich & Kenan Erim Directed (1984 TV special) (R.L. Productions + Television South West) 1985 LORD ELGIN AND SOME STONES OF NO VALUE Nigel Havers, Clare Byam Shaw, Julian Fellowes, Hugh Grant, Dimitri Malavetas, etc., Camera: Stavros Chassapis Music: Christodoulos Halaris Co-wrote with Brian Clark & Andreas Staikos, produced and directed (1985 TV special) (Milesian Films + Channel 4 Television & ERT 1 - Greek Television)1985 PRIEST OF LOVE - (Centenary Version)For credits see above Priest of Love To celebrate the centenary of Lawrence's birth, a shorter director's cut version was re-released with more success(Enterprise/Curzon)1994 CYCLONE WARNING CLASS 4 Marie Michele Etienne and Richard Ramasawmy, etc., Camera: Mahen Bujun Music: Ismet Ghanty Producer Ashok Kinnoo Wrote and directed (1994 TV special) (Milesian Films + British Council/Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation)COMMERCIALS Over 100 commercials for J. Walter Thompson, Young & Rubicam, Lintas, McCann-Erikson, etc.,PROMOTIONAL and VIDEO PRODUCTIONSMcAlpine Ancient Art (1986)League of St Paul's School - fund raising film (1985-89) Aegean 1990 Greek Trireme Trials - with Professor John Morrison for the Trireme Trust.THEATRE - SKIN OF OUR TEETHSarah Miles, Bruce Davidson, Robert Gerringer, Patricia Falkenhain, Michael Byers, Joe Shea, Michael Wellborn, etc.. Producer David Lonn, Writer: Thomton Wilder Directed theatre and film extracts (1973 theatre in the round)(Arlington Park Theatre - Chicago USA)PROFESSORSHIP AT THE R.C.A.Invited in 1989 by Jocelyn Stevens, Rector of the Royal College of Art, to accept the Professorship of the Film and Television Department and to re-organise the film and television courses and re-design the studios in the new RCA Stevens Building, which was opened by HRH Duke of Edinburgh in 1992 RCA Film & TV Department won 1st Prize Fuji Awards 1990 for best college film in UK Best Short Drama (BBC Television Award) 1991 Most Original Film - Fuji Awards 1991LECTURES AND SEMINARSLectures to the D.H.Lawrence Society (1982 and 1989) In conjunction with the British Film Year in 1985 invited by the British Council to show my films and lecture in Madras, Bangalore, Trivandrum and DelhiInvited by the Georgia Institute of Technology - Atlanta (1986) for a seminar and to show some of my films Invited to run the 'Script Writing Course' for the British American Drama Academy with Benedict Nightingale, 'Times' theatre critic (1989) and to run the B.A.D.A. 'Acting for Film' Course (1992) both at Balliol College, Oxford Invited by British Council in Mauritius to lecture and give seminar and work on a project for the Mauritius Broadcasting Company (1994) also invited by Cuban government to give two week course at the Escuela Intemacional de Cine y TV, Havana, CubaREPRESENTATION etc.. .ICM - Denis Selinger / Duncan Heath Education: Institut des Hautes fitudes Cin^matographiques, Paris, and Winchester CollegeMilesian Film Productions Ltd (London Office) Room E (2nd floor) 86 - 88 Wardour Street London WIV 3LFTel & fax 0171 437 4557(Milesian Films - film storage/country address) Calstone House Calstone Wellington Calne Wiltshire SN 11 8PYTel & fax 0249 817181Milesian Film Productions Ltd., Registered Office & Accountants Boumer Bullock Sovereign House 212-224 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8HQ

Born 1928. father a S. African doctor. Went to SA in the thirties. Returned UK early 50’s with degree. Went to London Poly on photography course. Got into Shell with help of Denis Forman. BFI course in Edinburgh. Bert Haanstra was making Rival World. Worked on sound tracks for it. Very exacting. With Peter de Normanville on High Speed Flight. First film directed was The Carburettor. Raymond Spottiswoode producer. Got a job with Bristol Aeroplane Company. Thence to Bristol-Siddeley. Stayed 10 years. Built up a unit. First ideas of building up a library. Lost his job when TSR2 was cancelled. (Set up Gazelle productions.) Made shorts for cinema. Provided footage for TV programmes. Brought in Athos crews.Film Society interest at University in South Africa. Made radical documentaries there. Classic films inspired him. Louisiana Story. More on aircraft industry. Worked with NET TV in States from Bristol. Steady work. Programmes on Bristol-Siddeley [BS] for US television. Eye on Research for BBC. Represented KCTV24 [?]. COI [Central Office of Information] films. Made a film on Gold. Became interested in minerals. Film industry moving out of sponsorship. Made programmes and sold them to TV. Print sales financed the work. Details of financing such films.Started Index library. Spotted the possibility whilst still with BS. Value of historical footage. Good 35mm colour footage coming from Shell, BP etc. Emphasis first on preservation. Also shot footage for the library. How library began at Athos. Took on Peggy Dowling. Established libraries joined him. Subsidised by Gazelle in early days. Describes staff at Gazelle: John Kenway, cameraman. Outside editor. Nigel Ashcroft became staff editor. Richard Ganniclift. Many poached by TV. Marvellous talent in documentary in those days.Most films he made at this time were made for overseas TV since British television made their own programmes. (Discourse on metal corrosion.) More on working with the BBC when at Bristol-Siddeley. Offered facilities in West to BBC. Aviation specialty . Work for Richard Cawston, Aubrey Singer, and Max Morgan-Witts. In at the beginning of Tomorrow’s World.   behp0332- gerry-weinbren-summary SIDE ONEBorn 1928. father a S. African doctor. Went to SA in the thirties. Returned UK early 50’s with degree. Went to London Poly on photography course. Got into Shell with help of Denis Forman. BFI course in Edinburgh. Bert Haanstra was making Rival World. Worked on sound tracks for it. Very exacting. With Peter de Normanville on High Speed Flight. First film directed was The Carburettor. Raymond Spottiswoode producer. Got a job with Bristol Aeroplane Company. Thence to Bristol-Siddeley. Stayed 10 years. Built up a unit. First ideas of building up a library. Lost his job when TSR2 was cancelled. (Set up Gazelle productions.) Made shorts for cinema. Provided footage for TV programmes. Brought in Athos crews.Film Society interest at University in South Africa. Made radical documentaries there. Classic films inspired him. Louisiana Story. More on aircraft industry. Worked with NET TV in States from Bristol. Steady work. Programmes on Bristol-Siddeley [BS] for US television. Eye on Research for BBC. Represented KCTV24 [?]. COI [Central Office of Information] films. Made a film on Gold. Became interested in minerals. Film industry moving out of sponsorship. Made programmes and sold them to TV. Print sales financed the work. Details of financing such films.Started Index library. Spotted the possibility whilst still with BS. Value of historical footage. Good 35mm colour footage coming from Shell, BP etc. Emphasis first on preservation. Also shot footage for the library. Must be up to date. 35mm neg to digital tape. No quality loss on copies. Will be transmittable down line. Importance of good telecine operator.How library began at Athos. Took on Peggy Dowling. Established libraries joined him. Subsidised by Gazelle in early days. Describes staff at Gazelle: John Kenway, cameraman. Outside editor. Nigel Ashcroft became staff editor. Richard Ganniclift. Many poached by TV. Marvellous talent in documentary in those days.SIDE TWOMost films he made at this time were made for overseas TV since British television made their own programmes. (Discourse on metal corrosion.) More on working with the BBC when at Bristol-Siddeley. Offered facilities in West to BBC. Aviation specialty . Work for Richard Cawston, Aubrey Singer, and Max Morgan-Witts. In at the beginning of Tomorrow’s World.Memories of working with Bert Haanstra. Happy accidents in the cutting rooms. Remembers Stuart Legg’s contributions. Personal touches in technical films. Also remembers John da Silva, a brilliant library cameraman in S. Africa. Always got what he wanted.Joyful moments in technical films. Remembers many of his best shots. Often sees them on television. Importance of an editor’s contribution. Contribution of a crew. Grabbing shots: "if you see something, shoot it."[END]

Edward Williams born in Surrey in 1921. University and  Navy service,Assistant to legendary film conductor Muir Mathieson. British documentary composer began in 1948,  Lecturer at the University of Bristol . Designed Soundbeam an electronic music machine . 1995 BAFTA Cymru award  best original score " The Search for Arthur".There follows 4 pages of notes (mostly names) possibly by Edward Williams, covering various "chapters" of his life which may have been used as a "prompt". The fourth page is his "technical history". [DS]Edward Aneurin Williams(b.1921) Cambridge - Group of Jooss dancers and musicians - Clifton Parker - Dartington - Hein Heckroth ("Red Shoes" - connection with Powell)Peter Price (CUFS)Muir Mathieson (Jan to Sept 1941)Korda,Bliss, "Things to Come", Sargent "The 49th Parallel" Leslie Howard, Eric Portman, Mary Morris, VW, LSO, GeorgeStratton Michael Powell Pressburger David Lean Money ethics - consultant status - some previous md s taking cuts from players Union Power - Herbert Wilcox (Spring in Park Lane?) -"Props" Music for RAF Film - Brian Easedale - John Greenwood Office at Film Centre, 34 Soho Square,Basil Wright, Arthur Elton, Edgar Anstey (?)World Documentary News? or Doc News Letter (?) Lionel ColeVW and "The People's Land"Dick Addinsell - friendship - Joyce Grenfell The Navy (1941 - 46)With Muir after the War (1946 - 8) Muir - EW's wages - IAW's comments.Denham - Rank Empire - Denham, Pinewood, Shepherds Bush - Sydney Box -Islington, Doc (Ealing asst to Ernest Irving) "Odd Man Out" - Bill Alwyn , Carol Reed, John HollingsworthMarcus DodsSheila King - New ACT job category "Music Continuity" Dusty Buck (ex Pinewood?)Historian John Huntley - publicity (Film music and trains)Alex ShawBill Alwyn - (EW losing scores) subsequent "composition lessons"   Orchestras - Philharmonia - Walter Legge - ????? -LSO - Gordon Walker (Alwyn story) - Eddie Walker - 3 generations -Sinfonia of London fixers - Pat HallingOrchestral musicians - Aubrey and Dennis Brain - George Eskdale - Colin Conductor Clt ("A or B“) - Jack Thurston ("Try anything except incest or folkdancing") - Willem (Bill) de Mont (closing time) - Gervaise de Peyer - Richard Adeney - Peter (Timmy) Graeme, Philip Jones, Jock Sutcliffe, Jimmie Blades (passion for and knowledge of Dickens), Osian Ellis, Marie Goossens, Sidonie Goossens, Jessie Hinchliffe, Marie Wilson vlnAlan Rawsthorne.Muir and session-conducting genius - concert conducting - quid pro quo - association with Ken Cameron - GPO - Auden/Britten "Nightmail" - Crown - Anvil finally at Denham (L o E)Britten "Instruments of the Orchestra" Bernard Stevens - Express (?) prize Cedric Thorp Davie, scots composerThe New London Film Society - my film education - Olwen Vaughan SohoThe Highlander - George Elvin - Ralph Bond - Bessie Bond The Dog and DuckThe French Pub - Gaston Berlemont pere et fils- Louis the Waiter - pools winThe SwissFava’s - Angus Wilson - The Gargoyle - Mandrake - The Wine bar - Muriel Belcher - The Colony Room -The French Club - Olwen Vaughan - Cavalcanti - Grierson - Elisabeth Lutyens - Edward Clark - ISCMDylan Thomas, John Mortimer, Humphrey Jennings Michael Law - long friendship - nightclubsThe Carribean Club - Lauderic Caton, Fitzroy Coleman Dick Katz, Coleridge Goode, Documentary Film Makers and CompaniesGreenpark - St Martin’s LaneRalph Keene, later Humphrey Swingler, Paul Fletcher (FFB?) - "Cyprus is an Island" - (Laurie Lee) - Terry Bishop - "3 Dawns to Sydney" - "Waverley Steps" - "Five Towns" - (Randall Swingler?)Donald Taylor - Strand FilmsRealist - John Taylor - Basil Wright - Frank Sainsbury - Ben WeinrebCrown Film Unit - John Taylor - Less music - "Young Offenders" with John Hol. George Cole - "Oddy" -  The Sack          Alwyn - RAMLionel Cole - Arthur Elton - Shell Film Unit - "How an Aeroplane Flies - Part 3 Thrust" - Kays Studio - Maida ValeThen "What a Life" - Michael Law - Richard Massingham - H.W.Massingham of the Manchester Guardian (?) - COI - "Is this worth £6,000.00 of your mone› ?" (Tatler or other small news cinema)Shell Fim Unit - Edgar Anstey - Geoffrey Bell - Sara Erulkar "New Detergents" - "History of the Helicopter""Stanlow Story" - Peter de Normanville - Bill Mason - Motor Racing - Lionel Cole - "Venezuela" John Armstrong - "Mekong" - "Singapore" - Dennis Segaller - Sara and Peter - Michael Clark "Food or Famine" (FAO UN)Theory of PR from Frank Pick, - Grierson, -Sir Stephen Tallents (?), Empire Marketing Board, - GPO etc.Films for Crown - Lotte Reiniger - Karl Koch - von Stroheim - Renoir - "La Grande Illusion" - (Trick table - Empire boundaries - political Power)Films for British Transport Commission Film Unit - Edgar Anstey - Stuart McAllister - John Legard - ??? edJourney Into Spring to Wild Wings (1966) (Oscar) Ralph Keene, Paddy Carey, John Taylor (3 others - Usk - Seals and Seabirds - Winter)WaterWays - "There Go The Boats" R K. (Rod) Neilson Baxter - Kay (Mander) -Kitty Marshall editor"Train Time" John Shearman - "The Elephant Will Never Forget" John Krish - ??? - "Unearthly Stranger"Leon Clore - Graham Tharp - John Taylor - "Gateway to the Antarctic" ‹Duncan Carse) - EverestJack Howells - Pathe- "Guilty Chimneys" to "Dylan Thomas" - Richard Burton - (Oscar)- ("Earth" Thames TV 1988?)etc,etc2nd Marriage 1957 - Peppins - James Gibb - Marcus DodsTechnical History Composing music for Films develops intoMaking Music for Films and TVRecording changes - Role of recordist - Giant Loops (A.Elton) - improvised music - George Burgess (sound recordist) - Riverside Studios - Holst music for film (?)Ken Cameron - GPO - Crown (Beaconsfield) - Anvil (Denham)Viewing changes - Movieola - Editola - ????? - video-cassette player Synch - MeasurementsDubbing - George Newberry (Pathe) - Ken Scrivener (Anvil) - Words the enemy! Electronics - Ken Scrivener and feedback - "Between The Tides" -Peter Zinovieff, EMS and the VCS3 - designer David Cockerell - Tristram Cary - 1963(?)  Week‘s workshop for composers - Robert Moog - 1970 my own electronic studioDouglas Gordon - "This Land" -"Life on Earth" ( my  last recordings at Denham) "Water Walkers"BBC Nat Hist UnitMaking Music for films and TV in the studio today.Composers income - Royalties - Publisher's share of film and tv royalties- Musico- political work on CGGB, APC, MU (ACCS) committees - CJC - the problems.Some comments - the planning of words, FX and music much worse nowadays(?)Work - over the last 15 years or so - for BBC Natural History Unit (Bristol), Thames TV (London), Greenpark Productions (London), Pelican Films (London). Forum Television (Bristol) and Teliesyn (Cardiff)Current occupations[END] Born 1921. Father a journalist on The Time. Always musical. Went to Rugby which had a good music department. On to Trinity Cambridge. Cinematic education through university film society. Decided on a musical career. Left university and became assistant to Muir Mathieson. Involved in the recording of music for 49th Parallel. Met Vaughan Williams. Worked in cutting room with David Lean. Also worked in offices of Film Centre at 34 Soho Square. Met Arthur Elton and Basil Wright. Detailed memories of Muir Mathieson. Called up for the Navy in 1941.                                                                                          End of Side 1Went back to MUIR MATHIESON after the War. Recalls the hectic activity at Denham Studios at that time. First job recording the- music for Odd Man Out. Film made a great impact. Memories of its composer, WILLIAM ALWYN.  Memories too of ALAN RAWSTHORNE and JOHN HOLLINGSWORTH. More details of MATHESON’s way of working, in sessions and in commissioning modem British composers. Also involved in "Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra" with BRITTEN.End of Side 2. Composition lessons with ALWYN at the Royal Academy of Music. Pleasant  artistic life in Soho. Shared a house with BILL HOWELL. Knew MICHAEL LAW, DONALD TAYLOR, DYLAN THOMAS, JOHN MORTIMER. Married a daughter of AUGUSTUS JOHN. RALPH KEENE became his brother in law. Commissioned by LIONEL COLE to write music for Shell film. Went on to write music for British Transport Films. Mostly conducted by MARCUS DODS, a Rugby contemporary. Talks about the sense of public service in film making then. Inspired by EDGAR ANSTEY, GRIERSON etc. Scored films tor the UN sponsored by Shell. Also a film on British Waterways with ROD BAXTER and KITTY MARSHALL. Collected ballads from an old canal man. Knew LOTTE REINIGER who made animated films using shadow puppets. Also her husband, CARL KOCH, a friend of RENOlR’s, and the only man who could manage VON STROHEIM. Worked with JACK HOWELLS on a film on Dylan Thomas.End of Sidc 3. Wrote the scores for two second features. "Double Crossing" for Group Three Plctures. (Talks about Group Three and its work). Also "Unearthly Stranger" for JOHN KRISH. Describes the business side of a composer. The fight to stop producers taking a share of their royalties. Work of the Composers Guild. Work of the Performing Rights Society and the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society. Unlike MATHIESON, who was an intermediary, he liked to work directly with a director. The importance of being a good listener.End of Side 4. More about MARCUS DODS. Second marriage to JUDY SWINGLER, daughter of RANDALL, and niece of HUMPHREY SWINGLER. Moved to Bristol during students’ strike of 1968. Met CHRIS PARSONS and commissioned to write music for "Life of Earth" television series. Goes on to describe his work in "electro-acoustic music". Experiments in electronic sounds used in Shell Films. DR. MOOG and his synthesiser. PETER ZlNOVEV’s computer-generated music. Opened a studio. Synthesised music easier to handle.End of Side 5.Extends his work into the generation of musical sounds  by  body  movements.  Developments of the "Theremin Vox" and the "Ondes Martenot". Work on his "Soundbeam". Its use by handicapped children. Retrospective view of friends, and the skills of recording and dubbing engineers such as KEN CAMERON, KEN SCRIVENER and GEORGE NEWBERRY.End of Side 6.[END]      

Born in South London. Movie camera at 13. First made movie at 16 Regency Polytechnic 1939. Joined Merchant Navy. To GPO film unit in war. Editing departnet. Moved to live in Denham 1941. Great detail of how films were made music , extras , locations.Relates about Humprey Jennings Listen to Britain and Alberto Cavalcanti. All in WW2 time. Joined Navy. FAA. Joined Naval film unit Portsmouth with Hazel Wilkinson. Rank after war.1947 joined the Guild. Then assistant director. Film director for the Guild Green Park.Left Guild and went freelance. 1955-1956 World wide. Part 3 is about the Croydon Film Unit. Part 4 is post war career in Africa behp0300-joe-mendoza-summary[Sides one and two from interview on 3rd September 1993]SIDE ONEBorn January 29th 1921. Came from a family of shopkeepers in South London. Went to St Paul’s school. ‘Mad on films’. Battleship Potemkin decided him on a film career. Given a movie camera for his barmitzvah. School tutor encouraged his interest. Shunned university and went to Regent Street Polytechnic on cine course. Finished in July 1939. Phone up by Jack Lee to join GPO Film Unit as his assistant. Worked on Anglo-French newsreels produced by Cavalcanti: Journal de Guerre. Then on Merchant Seamen, with Jack Holmes and Harry Watt. Then on London Can Take It as assistant editor to Stewart McAllister and R.Q. MacNaughton editing material shot by two units.Worked as assistant to Charles Hasse on War and Order. House destroyed on May 10th 1941. Moved to Denham and worked as assistant to Jack Lee and Jack Holmes on Coastal Command.Next became assistant to Humphrey Jennings on Listen to Britain. Has many anecdotes on Jennings and his methods of working. Great admiration of Cavalcanti and Hasse.Called up for the Navy. Immediately drafted into Naval Film Unit as Leading Cine Operator.SIDE TWOMet Tony Skene and wrote feature scripts together. After the war sent scripts to Sydney Box, and taken on a staff writer for two years. Moved on to Greenpark Productions to work with Terry Bishop on film of Old Vic. Became a studio assistant director. Further memories of Naval Film Unit, and the clash between film technicians and naval discipline.Became freelance in 1955. Worked with Martin Curtis on film in Ireland. Memories of Realist with Jack Holmes, Shell Film Unit and Derek Armstrong, and Ranks.Memories of personalities he knew during his life in films.NB Referenced throughout as The GPO Film Unit, whereas it became known as the Crown Film Unit in the early years of World War Two.SIDE THREE[From further interview 0f July 22nd 1997]Joined Crown Film Unit on 19th birthday. Many recollections of the people working there at the time: Alberto Cavalcanti. Humphrey Jennings. Harry Watt. Jack Holmes. Ian Dalrymple. Thoughts on the importance of the Unit. Hilarious moments.SIDE FOURMemories of filming in Africa. First extensive foreign location. Problems of lighting a campfire sequence. “Mr Mendoza’s Special Effects”. Working with James Cameron. Educational experience of Africa in transition. Redneck opinions in Rhodesia and Ulster. Benefits of British Colonial rule. Problems of tribalism. Sense of achievement in film career. Experience on commercials. The Rank Sort Films Group.[END]