DAVID SAMUELSON by Ron E. Collins (Ex Cameraman, British Movietonews 1960 – 1969)

David Samuelson was given the name Baroch by his parents, this could not have been a more appropriate name as translated from the Hebrew means Blessed. Despite a difficult up-bringing, David was determined to succeed in his chosen career. He was the eldest of four brothers whose Jewish Grand Parents had emigrated from Poland to England in 1840, having changed their name along the way from Metzenberg to Samuelson. His film-producing father born in Southport, England, in 1889, played an important role in his son’s life and, at the age of nine, taught him to develop and print roll film; on his thirteenth birthday he was given a 9.5mm movie camera. His father also taught him how to string together a series of shots to give some sort of continuity to the story. There was absolutely no doubt in David’s mind what he wanted in his chosen career.

Then, as now, the best way to get into the film industry in the UK was to know someone who was in a position to help you get started, with this in mind, David’s father wrote to his ex-partner Sir Gordon Craig, who was then Managing Director of British Movietonews. Sir Gordon promptly wrote back to David’s father suggesting that his son should write back on reaching he age of sixteen. Early in 1945, David applied for a job at Movietone and was accepted, starting off as a re-wind boy in the projection room.  This lasted for six months before he was moved onto another department. In those day, cinema newsreels were a constituent of every cinema in the UK. Newsreels ran for ten minutes and changed twice weekly. The Movietone production offices, situated in Soho Square, London, meant that David had to commute sixty miles each way, every day from the south coast. The cost of commuting was, at least, as much as he was earning, but he felt, with his career in mind, that it was well worth it. Six months after his time in the projection box, he was transferred to the editing room, winding up the short lengths of film left over from the cameramen’s negative after the editors had cut and assembled it into a story that was going into the next edition of the newsreel. Having served in the Royal Air Force during World War II as a flight engineer, he returned to Movietonews after he was demobilised in 1947.  This time as a newsreel cameraman.

Paul Wyand (image © BUFVC)

He could not have been in better company working alongside some of the greatest cameramen of the time, these included David’s mentor Paul Wyand. Paul Wyand went on to become Assignments Manager, and then Production Manager, at Movietonews having previously served as  a war correspondent / cameraman during WWII.  He was involved in filming many assignments alongside his soundman Martin Gray.  Much of Paul’s material has since become historic footage, such as the bombing of the Monastery at Monte Cassino, The Liberation of Rome, The German surrender at Luneberg Heath and the horrific footage he film at Belsen Concentration Camp which, incidentally, was used as evidence during the trial of the Nazi thugs. David recalled that working as a newsreel cameraman was unlike a feature-film cameraman, where there is a  recognised structure of progress; you start at the bottom. Loading film magazines, holding in the clapper board, progressing to the job of keeping the lens clean and in focus, to operating the camera, to become DOP/lighting cameraman who is responsible for the look of the image. Unlike a feature film cameraman, a cinema newsreels cameramen work on their own, do their own research, directs, organises their own transport, moving the camera around and set up and position the lights.