Edgar Anstey

Edgar Anstey is one of the most notable names in British documentary films. He joined the Empire Marketing Board in 1931, working under John Grierson, whom he followed to the GPO Film Unit before Anstey founded the Shell Film Unit in 1934. He became a director of productions for the British edition of The March of Time in 1936, and its foreign editor 1937-1938. He subsequently worked for Film Centre and as a film critic, then became head of British Transport Films (BTF) [qv] in 1949. At BTF, he produced several issues of London Tranport’s cinemagazine, Cinegazette, including, ‘THE ELEPHANT WILL NEVER FORGET’ Cinegazette No.12 of 1953, and ‘DO YOU REMEMBER’ Cinegazette No.15 of 1955.

Sources

L. Pontecorvo ‘The British Newsreel Companies: Staffing 1910-1945’ in J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels’ (BUFVC, 1983), p.94: R. Fielding ‘The March of Time, 1935-1951’ (OUP, 1978): L.- A. Bawden ‘The Oxford Companion to Film’ (OUP, 1976): NoS Number 349279; Cinegazette Number 14; Date released 1955: NoS Number 349277; Cinegazette Number 12; Date released 1953.