The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

January 1956 CINE TECHNICIAN hand, and it was in this way George and I discovered that we had a taste in common. At teatime we would go into a nearby Lyons Tea Shop and indulge in rather rich pastry, which he, much to the annoyance of the waitress, used to refer to as "deadlies". I do not eat much in that line myself now, but I think that I must take him out to tea one day and see if he still does. By TOMMY LYNDON-HAYNES I signed George's first contract, and there is just one thing I want to say now. We are all individualists in the film production industry, with all its different sides, labs, documentary, feature, sound and so on, and now TV. One of the great things that George has done is this : he has succeeded in keeping us all sweet together. By SASH FISHER We were in the doldums and we felt we had got to do something to make the union go. The General Council delegated Ken Gordon and myself to see Arthur Wall and ask his advice. Wall told us, " If you want to progress you have got to find a live wire who will also be acceptable to the other trade unions." We reported to the General Council, which decided to make a change. Tommy Lydon-Haynes was in the chair when George was brought in. I think we had to pass the hat round to pay his first salary; anyway, we had got the idea into our heads that somehow we must make something of A.C.T., and A.C.T. was reborn. None of us has ever for a moment regretted the fact that George came into our midst as Secretary. A higher tribute than that I cannot pay. Personally, I have always found him extremely accessible and friendly, but I have looked on him not only as a Secretary of the Union, but as a great personal friend to whom I can always refer in my troubles. I am afraid that perhaps too few members realise what A.C.T. has achieved under George in the past twenty-one years, not merely in building up the Union, but in the great advances that have been achieved in our conditions of work. BIRTHDAY" PARTY George Elvin's " coming of age " was celebrated by present and past members of the General Council at an informal party at the Gargoyle Club, Dean Street. In a brief speech of congratulation the President mentioned how thankful he was for the fog. If all planes had not been grounded that court of law.' That, I think you will agree with me, is the exact opposite of the case of George. Every year of experience has added to his stature. I have heard of unions which, I believe, may be greater numerically than A.C.T., but I have never heard of a union with a greater Secretary." PRESIDENT AND GEORGE WITH MEN WHO ELECTED HIM Left to right: Alan Lawson, Tommy Lyndon-Haynes, Anthony Asquith, G.H.E.. Thorold Dickinson, Fred Swann, Ken Gordon. Out of picture: Sash Fisher and Sid Cole. night he would have had to be somewhere over the Atlantic ! " Really, all that needs to be said," Mr. Asquith continued, " is this : 21 years ago today George became General Secretary of A.C.T. — an A.C.T. which had hardly been born and meant nothing in British films. Today — ? Well, thank you, George. " I asked him recently when his real birthday was, and he told me it was June 6th. That came under the sign of ' Gemini ' — the sign of the twins. I thought this was very significant indeed; it even seemed to me that the day should be dedicated to the Siamese twins because I could not possible imagine A.C.T. existing separately from George. " There is a story that Lord Coleridge was once asked his opinion of a new appointment to a Judgeship. Lord Coleridge replied, ' With a litle more experience, Mr. Justice — will be the worst judge who has ever sat in an English Mr. Asquith concluded by giving George a medallion with the sign of the twins on it. Thorold Dickinson, who followed, recalled the story of George's appointment to the General Secretaryship. George Elvin, replying, declared that in one respect at least A.C.T. was probably unique in the trade union movement. It had had the same Secretary and the same President for the past seventeen years. " All along," he said, " I have been very fortunate in the friends I have had around me. I have certainly had a very fine twenty-one years. On the whole we have jogged along together building up our trade union from nothing, until today it is something in the film industry." Now I want to say a word about (Continued on page 14)