Douglas Slocombe, an underappreciated master of the craft.

So, at work we're rereleasing some old Ealing titles on blu-ray, unsurprising seeing as we currently control the UK distribution rights to most of their catalogue (and they have a hell of a catalogue). I bring this up because one of the titles to be remastered and blessed with a short cinema run is Kind Hearts and Coronets, one of the darkest, most hilarious comedies Ealing ever released, a film which has influenced so many film makers (I'm looking at you Coen Bro's) and authors, its hardly surprising its getting such star studded treatment. To fill up the blu-ray, and make it a worthwhile release, we've been trying to source some new extras to treat those Ealingites (like israelites, but mad about British film). One such possibility is an interview recorded in 1988 with the main camera operator at Ealing: Douglas Slocombe, the man who shot Kind Hearts. The interview in question is from an amazing project started by BECTU (The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union) at least 30 years ago, set up to give professionals in the Media industry, who would normally remain relatively unknown to people outside the industry (and in many cases people inside the industry also) a chance to tell their life story, from birth to their retirement. Douglas was the main cameraman for Ealing during their Golden age (40's, 50's) and left such an impression on people who saw those films he went on to film more internationally known classics such as The Italian Job (60's version not Marky Marks) and the Indiana Jones series. Armed with a pretty bad stutter, which contributes to the 4-5 hours runtime of the interview, his life was such an adventure, from being the first Brit to get footage of the Nazi's just before the Second World War, to being tracked down personally by Steven Spielberg who was such a fan of the Ealing titles he made sure Douglas was director of photography in his Indiana Jones flicks.  He is a character who is relatively unknown outside of the tightly knit circle of film cinematographers, but deserves a much greater spot light shone upon him. The interview in question availbe to listen to at the BFI library, however you must get in touch with BECTU beforehand to listen to it. Who knows what other stories have been recorded in that collection? Some absolute gems, I'm sure.