The Cine Technician (1935-1937)

108 The Journal of the Association of CineTechnicians i^cc, 1936-Jan., 1937 David B. Cunynghame Production Manager, London Films, says Mr. Cunynghame fomiarded a copy of the following article to the "Journal" and requested that it be given the same prominence as the article in our last issue, entitled " And Still They Come." We replied, expressing our willingness to do this. Subsequently the article was published in the " Kinematography Weekly" on September 3rd, and a reply by the Secretary appeared on September lOth. We, therefore, publish both the article and the reply. — Editors. Under the heading "And Still They Come" there appeared in the August-October issue of The Journal of the Association of Cine Technicians a report and a summary of a memorandum presented at a meeting which representatives of the Association had with officials of the Ministry of Labour on July 15th. The point of view of employers of foreign motion picture technicians should, therefore, be of sufficient interest to warrant equal presentation of their case and this may be done under the heading "And Still We Need Them." The issue is thus at once brought to a head, for it then only remains to be substantiated that there are not immediately available the services of sufficient British personnel in whom present-day successful Hollywood Directors and Stars may reasonably be expected to entrust their careers. It must at the same time be realised that whilst such admittedly "ace" foreigners are under no obligation to work in England, the British Industry needs their support in order to take immediate advantage of the possibility of extending its export trade. Such a present state of affairs is not surprising when one realises that whilst only three years ago less than a dozen big pictures were made annually in England, the production programmes are now between them resulting in the making of probably over one hundred such films per year. The "ace" foreign technicians are all individuals with at least ten years' experience behind them and their British colleagues cannot be expected to acquire similar knowledge in a much shorter period, especially when it is realised with what limited opportunity many of them were trained. In spite of this fact, London Films has been able to organise and hopes to be able to expand a Make-up Department consisting of 100°o British Subjects. Likewise, whenever a suitable opportunity presents itself, it not only disposes of foreign labour in its Special Effects Department but places British Labour under contract and sends it to Hollywood so as to ensiu'c availability of the latest technical information. There are at Denham eleven foreign lighting experts, but as there are also two such British subjects, no doubt the eleven mentioned in the memorandum work somewhere else, as no reference is made to their British colleagues. Moreover, the eleven cameramen eniployed at Denham are engaged by no less than six different Companies. Of course there is not at Denham any Camera Unit which is entirely composed of foreigners, as stated to be the case in "a particular studio." In fact, the owners of the Denham Studios have been training individuals in all departments '^And Still We Need Them'' for the past four years and in order to enlarge the scope of promising applicants it has for some time past continued the trainirig already given to certain Polytechnic and other students. Several members of the Camera and Editing Departments have thereby been able to earn salaries which have and are still increasing steadily, both with London Films and as the result of offers from other Companies. In the memorandum presented by the Association of Cine Technicians reference was made to "a particular studio used by a number of Companies where not a single key position is held by a British Technician, except in Sound." It may, therefore, be advisable to emphasise again the situation at Denham so far as foreign labour is concerned. There are about forty Departments in the organisation of the London Film Studios, and of these thirty are administered by British Subjects, which is very different to the lot of the "particular studio." The hourly staff totals approximately 1250, and so far as the Company is aware includes no foreigners. The weekly staff numbers approximately 533, of whom 45 are foreigners. The 45 foreigners include two who (with the written approval of the authorities) work in junior positions owing to admitted exceptional circumstances. Every one of the remaining 43 is an ace individual at a particular job which has only been given him after the question has been investigated by the Ministry of Labour Home Office, as well as by the Company which has to pa\' out extra money by way of transportation expenses and often living as well as Income Tax allowances. It is usually admitted that Hollywood owes much of its success to the enthusiasm with which it has always welcomed all forms of first-rate talent which might present itself for absorption in the studios and the motion picture industry of other countries has not been slow to realise that the tremendous importance of obtaining the best technicians makes it impossible to reject them purely on the grounds of their nationality. The writer himself, and he hopes several of his present fellow-British, workers, is most grateful to the American Company which gave him opportunities in France, thanks to the foresight of both the French authorities and French technicians. The value of foreign assistance is further shown by the great advance which the British Industry has made during the past four years as the result of Alexander Korda's work in England. The Company, of which he has always been the head, has now been able to increase its production interests from a very few films a year to about thirty-five, thereby giving work to many thousands of British subjects. Such a unique record is also due to the technicians who helped to make the pictures which reflected credit on the whole British Industry. The Association of Cine Technicians shoidd realise that there cannot be a great deal wrong witii regulations wliich render possible such a fine achievement and which should, therefore, be considered well able to pro\-ide for any contingencies which may arise.