behp0237-graham-thompson-summary
Born 1909 in Bridgend, Wales, ultimately moved to Glasgow where his father took over the Lafayette Photographic Studios. In 1927 he became an apprentice in his father’s business. 1929 became a photographer on the Glasgow Herald and Bulletin, and a year later became a general ‘factotem’ to Eddie Peabody who was in the entertainment business in France. After one year he returned to the Glasgow Herald. He talks about making short films for the Glasgow schools (on 35mm) which were shown as 16mm prints. He made some 50 films which are held in the Scottish Film Council’s Library. He met Alf Tunwell who was covering a Scottish story for Movietone in 1937 and through him Thompson was offered an agency for Movietone for a six-month trial period. He was now working full time on news stories. In 1940 became a war correspondent based in Gibralter, but moved on for the Madagascar landing where he shot some 10,000 feet, and talks about the problems of getting the material back to the UK. He was on the Dieppe Raid and talks about that. He then moved on for the landing in Sicily and the move up Italy and it was whilst on that assignment he got attached to the Royal party, who were visiting. His accreditation was initially for a six-month period, and was renewed until it was made permanent. He talks about the rivalry among the newsreels to this appointment and how he eventually became the Newsreel Association’s cameraman and moved from one newsreel to another on a fifteen-month rota.
He says that he found he was disliked because of his position and was unable to establish a real contact with his fellow newsmen. He says that he could see the end of newsreel coming and wanted to get out and through the good offices of the Buckingham Palace Press Secretary he was given an interview with the controller of programmes at A.P. [Presumably Alexandra Palace, BBC], where he joined the television newsreel staff.
He talks about the Newman-Sinclair camera, which seems to be the only camera he used throughout his news career. He talks about the filming of the Royal Wedding, and the problems; the Royal Tour of South Africa, which was a highlight for him. In talking about the ‘newsreel war’ he says that there are many stories but one should take them with a pinch of salt. He does relate one story covering a golf tournament at Troon where Paramount had bought the rights but how he managed to film, but was caught; but his assistant was able to slip away with the films and get on a train for London. At the age of 60 he was retired, but asked to go back on a six-month contract to continue the work he had been doing on the Newsreel Desk. This continued until he was 70 and then he was made a Liaison Officer, (looking after visitors from overseas), but after two years, with approaching deafness, he finally retired.
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