Peter E. Cannon

Peter Cannon was listed as a Gaumont cameraman from 1933 onwards, and in about 1936 he appeared in a Gaumont British publicity photograph, on top of a camera car. In January 1941 Cannon provided a rota story ‘Machine Gun Battalion at Practice,' which seems to have been film of army training. In September 1944 Cannon accompanied the Prime Minister to Canada for his meeting with President Roosevelt, providing ‘QUEBEC WELCOMES MR CHURCHILL’ for Gaumont British News No.1117. He apologised for the quality of this material on his dopesheet, noting that ‘this stuff of course is very scrappy owing to travelling with party, catching connections etc’: ‘No stuff possible on journey over.' In March 1947 Cannon worked in the team which provided ‘ENGLAND V SCOTLAND RUGBY’ for Gaumont British News No.1378, and in July 1947 he helped to film ‘AAA MEETING AT THE WHITE CITY’ for No.1414. In November 1947 Cannon filmed ‘WEDDING PRESENTS ON SHOW’ for Gaumont British News No.1448. His Gaumont British listing ends in that year, but in September 1950 a photograph of Cannon was featured in the ‘Cinema’ among the ‘Newsreel Camera Aces,' the caption noting that he ‘covers news events where quality is of supreme importance.' The picture showed him working with Gaumont sound engineer Bill Burningham [qv]. In February 1953 Cannon was credited as cameraman for ‘THE QUEEN TOURS FLOOD AREA’ in Gaumont British News No.1996, and in the same month worked with sound engineer Arthur Irwin [qv] on ‘MR CHURCHILL SPEAKS TO FARMERS’ in Gaumont British News No.1997. In May 1956 Cannon filmed shots for ‘ROYAL VISIT TO WEST COUNTRY’ in No.2333.

Sources

NFTVA photograph: BUFVC, British Paramount News files, Issue Number 1039 (P. Cannon dope sheet, c.February 1941), Number 1414 (P. Cannon dopesheet, September 1944), Number 1675 (Cannon’s rota dopesheet, 15/3/1947), Number 1711 (Cannon’s rota dopesheet, 19/7/1947), Number 1745 (Cannon’s rota dopesheet, 17/11/1947), Number 2293 (Cannon’s rota dopesheet, 13/2/1953), Number 2294 (Gaumont rota dopesheet, 17/2/1953), Number 2630 (Cannon’s rota dopesheet, 8/5/1956): Cinema, 20/9/1950, p.15, ‘Newsreel Camera Aces’: J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels’ (BUFVC, 1983), p.91.