Coventry Cathedral BBC interview

Today Friday, 25th May 2012 is the fiftieth anniversary of the consecration of the new part of St Michael’s Cathedral, designed by Sir Basil Spence, which forms part of Coventry Cathedral.

I have already written an article on filming the consecration of Coventry Cathedral.  Click here to read the article.

Newsreels In A Hurry

Newsreels have always been in a hurry to get their stories processed, edited, scored and on the screen.

Sometimes, great ingenuity was brought in to play to ensure the success of these requirements.

Cameraman tales: George Fleischmann

How often have you heard someone tell you a story which starts with the phrase “you are not going to believe this…” ?

Well, you are not going to believe this:

The period : The Second World War.

Colleagues: John Davies – Movietone

John Davies was a British Movietone News cameraman from 1955 to 1960.  He was born in Deri, South Wales in 1915.

His family later moved to London. His first job, in 1930, was with the G.P.O. as a telegram delivery boy. He later joined Kay Film Laboratories in the negative developing and film drying room. In those days, Kays shared the building at 22, Soho Square with British Movietone News.

Foreign language versions

At the end of the Second World War, much of the world was in turmoil.  Before the War, Movietone had been distributed, like the other newsreels, around the world.  It was advertised that Movietone was produced in 57 languages.  These would have been produced out of five centres around the world. Some of the recipient countries had, previously, been able to re-record their own language version of the sound track.

A month at Movietone 1948

I had been called into the Army in November 1946, just as I was getting used to working for Movietone.  It was expected that I would serve for two years, but the start of the Cold War and the Berlin Airlift, ensured that I would spend another five months waiting to get demobbed.

Colleagues: Ian Grant – Movietone

Ian Grant came to British Movietone News in 1962, he was my colleague until I left the company in 1964.  We remained friends until he died in 1981.  Ian James Grant was born in Edinburgh in 1917 and was called up for military service in 1940, initially spending two and a half years with the Royal Scots as a Lance-Corporal.  He saw action in Northern France shortly after his conscription and was at Dunkirk in June 1940.

Colleagues: Dick Davies – Movietone

During this period at Movietonews, the late forties, there was a great deal of change.  All those who had been called up during the war were returning to take up their careers again.

One of these was C. F. W. Davies, known as Dick Davies.  Dick had worked in the accounts department before the war and he now returned to accounts. This was his legal right.

Colleagues: Charles Ridley – Movietone

Charles A. Ridley joined Movietonews before the Second World War.  He was an editor and an expert in the art of manipulating movie film negative to produce a print that was totally different in its action from the original negative.  The most famous of his creations was that of the German Army on parade in front of Hitler marching to the music of the Lambeth Walk. It was released by Spectator Films as “Germany Calling” and distributed by the Newsreel Association and is known today by several names, as a result.  At Movietone it was titled, “Hitler Assumes Command – German Troops Do The Lambeth Walk”, and ‘Hock Der Lambeth Valk‘ in the Pathe Gazette. This has been described as “Possibly the most famous piece of newsreel of all time”.

Colleagues: Greville Kent – Movietone

Greville Maud Lingard Kent was an assistant editor (Cutter) at British Movietone News.  He was conscripted into the Royal Navy early in the war and served on board the Armed Merchant Cruiser the RMS Dunottar Castle which had been converted in 1942.  The ship was used on the notorious Murmansk convoy route where very heavy losses were incurred.