Douglas H. J. Hardy

Douglas Hardy was a cameraman with British Paramount News, who seems to have been based in the north of England, also covering stories in Wales and the midlands. Hardy’s first surviving credit is for ‘ALL BLACKS FIND FORM,' a story from Cardiff in No.487 from October 1935. Hardy continued to work for Paramount after the outbreak of war in September 1939, and in February 1940 he was sent to Birmingham, to film outside the prison where two IRA men were being executed, although his footage was not used in the reel. In September 1940 Hardy filmed army manoeuvres in north Wales for ‘TOMMY HAS NEW IDEAS BUT THE OLD SPIRIT’ in No.1003, and in December he provided ‘GO TO THE ATS THOU SLUGGARD!' for No.1022. Hardy later became a war correspondent with the navy. Hardy served as a cameraman throughout the war, and, according to Jock Gemmell [qv] of Pathe, he was awarded the MBE and OBE ‘for his courage and coolness.'

In 1942 Hardy filmed the Malta convoys, and provided both film and narrative for ‘RUNNING THE GAUNTLET’ in British Paramount News No.1200 of August 1942. In 1943 Hardy filmed the preparations for the invasion of Sicily, and supplied the material for ‘PANTELLERIA SURRENDERS’ in British Paramount News No.1284 of June 1943. In October 1943 Hardy was listed among the eight cameramen and two sound engineers on Paramount’s London staff, but noted as serving with the Mediterranean Fleet. By March 1944 Hardy was back in London filming domestic stories, and working with Jimmy Gemmell [qv] on ‘BIRMINGHAM - NEW BABY HOSPITAL IS LAST WORD IN INFANT WELFARE’ in No.1370. In August 1944 Hardy filmed the landings in southern France for ‘BATTLE OF FRANCE’ in British Paramount News No.1407, and the capture of Marseilles for ‘HOW STANDS THE WAR? - THE CAPTURED PORTS’ in No.1418 of October 1944. In October 1944 he co-operated with Norman Fisher [qv] of Movietone to film the liberation of Greece, which appeared as ‘ATHENS ACCLAIMS BRITISH’ in British Paramount News No.1426.

Hardy was still working in Athens in November 1944, when he supplied ‘GREECE WELCOMES WAR HEROES HOME’ for No.1435 - signing himself ‘Naval Correspondent’ on his dopesheet, and shipping his film via the Admiralty bag. In September 1945 Hardy went to Japan and filmed ‘ALLIED NAVIES ANCHOR IN TOKYO BAY’ for British Paramount News No.1518. In October 1945 Hardy was credited as the ‘first British war correspondent to enter Nagasaki and Sasebo,' giving his impressions in the interview ‘I SAW JAPAN’ in British Paramount News No.1550 of January 1946. As his dopesheet notes of Nagasaki, ‘Having seen much of the bomb damage in Europe, I have never seen anything like this even in places which have been repeatedly bombed.' Hardy added that ‘the shooting of this was restricted particularly by lack of transport and was mostly accomplished on foot or by local trains’: ‘Hence shooting took longer than it should have done.'

In April 1947 Hardy was back in England, filming ‘MONTGOMERY VISITS WESTERN COMMAND’ for British Paramount News No.1684. In November 1947 Hardy was filmed taking a bath in a pint of water for ‘MANCHESTER NOT GOING ‘DRY’ YET’ in No.1743. By 1949 Hardy was being credited as ‘a free-lance newsreel cameraman’ - possibly in the north of England. Hardy wrote about the changed conditions in this area in an article in July 1949, noting the cutbacks in local representatives and the fact that local audiences ‘are nowhere near as interested as prewar in events like the Boat Race or Ascot.'

Sources

BUFVC, British Paramount News files, NR 9290 (7/2/1940), Issue Number 1563 (Paramount ‘Daily Assignment Sheet,' 12/10/1943), Number 1407 (Hardy’s dopesheet and report, 17/8/1944), Number 1435 (Hardy’s dopesheet, 9/11/1944), Number 1518 (Hardy’s dopesheet, 27/8/1945), Number 1550 (Hardy’s dopesheets, 26 October/3 November 1945), Number 1684 (Hardy’s dopesheet, 16/4/1947): D. Hardy ‘The Technician Replies,' Film Industry, 14/7/1949, pp.4, 5, 16: J. C. Gemmell ‘Newsreels - Ancient and Modern,' Cine Technician, January-February 1952, p.5.