Harry C. Raymond

Harry Raymond was the son of the actor and film director Charles Raymond. He began his film career as an actor in 1903, but in 1905 he became a darkroom technician, possibly with Will Barker [qv] at his Autoscope Company, or at the Warwick Trading Company with which Barker was to merge his Autoscope Company in 1906. Under Barker Raymond also gained experience in taking films, and when in 1909 Barker left the Warwick Trading Company to found Barker Motion Photography, Raymond became his chief cameraman. In 1909 Raymond was sent to British East Africa as cameraman on ‘the Balloonagraph Expedition,' and in 1910 he spent eleven months filming for Barker Motion Photography in the Far East. He journeyed through Siberia to Japan, which he reached in April 1910, and he filmed the Tokio floods before travelling on to China. In December 1911 Barker sent Raymond and Yates [qv] to cover the Delhi Durbar for Barker Motion Photography, and they not only filmed the ceremonies, but also developed, edited, and printed the footage, which was exhibited in Delhi on the same night and was afterwards distributed throughout India.

In 1912 Raymond left Barker to become Will Jury’s sales manager at Jury’s Imperial Pictures, where it was later claimed that he created ‘the ‘Topical Times,' which soon became one of the finest topicals on the market.' In 1914 he left Jury’s Imperial Pictures to become works manager for the Charles Urban Trading Company, but by March 1916 he seems to have been working for the War Office on official filming. Raymond then left the Charles Urban Trading Company and travelled to India for the official propaganda agency Wellington House, spending five and a half months filming in that country. In March 1917 he was sent to the Western Front as an official cameraman, receiving a commisssion as second lieutenant and working on the last of the major battle films. In November 1917 the War Office sent Raymond to Italy as official cameraman, where he remained until June 1918. Whilst in Italy he made constant complaints about the weather and transport difficulties, and filmed remarkably little for so long a stay, although he did provide most of the Italian material in the War Office Official Topical Budget and Pictorial News.

In June 1918 Raymond was awarded the OBE, and in July 1918 he returned to the Western Front, where he remained for some months before being assigned as official cameraman to the Royal Navy. Here he spent two months with the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, collaborating with Engholm [qv] to produce the film ‘Rule Britannia,' which was released in November 1918. In October 1919 Raymond re-joined Jury’s Imperial Pictures as works manager, in charge of the new film printing works. He seems to have remained in the film business, for in 1941 the Cine Technician referred to Raymond as being at Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

Sources

Bioscope, 17/11/1910, p.7, ‘A Cinematographer in the Far East’; 4/7/1912, p.59; 7/8/1913, p.409; 21/11/1918, p.15: IWM, MoI (Film) Papers, File of ‘First World War Shot Lists,' note of film ‘Chapperton Down Artillery School’ filmed by ‘Mr. Raymond’ on 9/3/1916; letter from F. W. Engholm to E. F. Cooper, 30/1/1925: Kinematograph Weekly, 17/8/1916, p.5; 20/6/1918, p.52, ‘Weekly Notes’; 16/10/1919, p.107, ‘Harry Raymond Joins Jury’s’: House of Lords Record Office, Beaverbrook Papers, BBK/E/2/5, J.C. Faunthorpe to Beaverbrook, 6/5/1917; BBK/E/2/2, War Office to GHQ, 22/11/1917: Cine Technician, July-August 1941, p.95; January-February 1952, pp.20-5: IWM, Stephen Badsey’s biographical index of British official cameramen, 1914-1918: NFTVA, Luke McKernan’s biographical index of Topical Budget staff.