Leslie Murray

Leslie Murray was a news cameraman who joined the Gaumont Graphic in 1925. On the launch of the British Movietone News in 1929 he joined its original staff as a sound cameraman. Murray’s sound engineer on many assignments was Terry Cotter [qv], with whom he became famous for pirating stories. In 1936 Murray became Movietone’s chief cameraman, and received a unique credit for ‘Camerawork by Leslie Murray’ in British Movietone News No.365 of June 1936. In May 1937 Murray headed the Movietone camera team that filmed the Coronation of George VI, and according to Norman Fisher [qv], he ‘had the key position in the Abbey’: ‘He used a Wall camera fitted with a special Cooke/Taylor-Hobson F1.3 58mm lens, and loaded with black and white Agfa Ultra 400 ASA negative, specially flown in from Germany at the time, but effective for only two weeks.' The result appeared in ‘CORONATION’ in British Movietone News No.415. When the short-lived National News was launched in October 1937 it was announced that the sound team would be headed by Murray and F. Ralph [qv], both from Movietone, and that Murray would run the first sound truck. Production of the National News was suspended soon after its launch in October 1937, and the newsreel folded in February 1938 when its camera gear was put up for sale.

After the collapse of the National News Murray may have returned to Movietone, and remained with them after the outbreak of war in September 1939. In February 1940 he filmed the launch of the battleship HMS Duke of York, apparently for Movietone, although the film was embargoed until December 1940, and only released as ‘THE ROYAL NAVY MIGHTIER YET’ in British Movietone News No.605 of January 1941. However, by that time Murray was working for Universal, and in December 1940 he filmed the destruction of mines for ‘WITH THE NAVY!' in Universal News No.1083. Murray later filmed the Norwegian campaign, along with Sidney Bonnett [qv] of Gaumont British News, but he received serious injuries which ended his career as a war cameraman. According to Jock Gemmell [qv] of Pathe, he was filming a live demonstration whe he ‘was severely wounded and had 13 operations on his leg over a period of 4 1/2 years.' Murray was featured in ‘HEROES OF THE NEWSREEL’ in Universal News No.1247 of June 1942, along with Frank Purnell [qv] and Ronnie Noble [qv].

Murray turned to editing, and by 1944 was production manager and assistant editor of Universal News, a post he held for several years. Ronnie Noble [qv] recalled that in this period ‘Murray lived and breathed newsreels for at least twenty-five hours a day’: ‘He saw no difference between day and night except photographically.' In 1948 Murray negotiated the rights to film the Taylor quads, and sent Ronnie Noble [qv] to get the pictures and preserve the exclusive by hanging ‘Universal News’ signs round their necks. At this time Murray was the assistant editor of Universal News, under Cecil Snape [qv] as editor. However, it seems that neither of them had the final say in the reel, and in 1949 both Murray and Snape were credited as assistant editors under Clifford Jeapes [qv] as producer.

Sources

World Film News, August 1937, p.31 ‘Newsreel rushes: notes by The Commentator’; October 1937, p.35, ‘Newsreel rushes: newsreel notes by The Commentator’; November 1937, p.37, ‘Newsreel rushes: newsreel notes by The Commentator’: Cine-Technician, March-April 1938, p.220, ‘Newsreel’: BUFVC, British Paramount News files, Issue Number 1028, R. L. Jay’s shotlist, 28/2/1940; Issue Number 1019, Universal News information sheet dated 2/12/1940: L. Murray ‘The Norwegian Campaign,' Journal of the British Kinematograph Society, January-March 1946, pp.26-27: J. C. Gemmell ‘Newsreels - Ancient and Modern,' Cine Technician, January-February 1952, p.5: L. Murray and R. Sutton ‘A newsreel round-up on filming the ‘Flying Enterprise’,' Cine-Technician, March-April 1952, pp.26-28: R. Noble ‘Shoot First!: Assignments of a newsreel cameraman’ (London, 1955), pp.116-8: P. Norman ‘The Newsreel Boys,' Sunday Times Magazine, 10 January 1971, p.13: J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels’ (BUFVC, 1983), pp.90, 92: J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels: Vol.III’ (1993), pp.25, 75.