HAR Thomson

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Harold Arthur Robert Thomson , also Bob Thomson (born September 30, 1910 in London , † July 3, 2003 in Taunton ) was a British cameraman.

Life

HAR Thomson came to film in 1925 and learned the profession from scratch at the production company Gaumont British. In 1931 he became second assistant camera and moved the following year to Gainsborough Pictures, where he rose to become first camera assistant. In the same year Thomson went to the production company British Lion in Beaconsfield, where he stayed until the start of the war in 1939. Here he was allowed to shoot his first film in 1937, the small-scale production “ Big Fella ”, as one of three chief cameramen. Nevertheless, Thomson remained mostly limited to the work of a simple, subordinate cameraman (so-called camera operator) or that of a cameraman of the second team (so-called second unit photographer) throughout his life. In these functions Thomson photographed, only interrupted by his military service, which Thomson spent from 1939 to 1945 as a member of the camera unit of the Royal Navy - he took pictures of German positions as a member of a Fairey Swordfish double-decker crew - a wealth of partly right ambitious entertainment films.

In the 1950s to 1970s in particular, Thomson was behind the camera in well-known films. The productions he oversaw as a second-unit cameraman under chief cameramen Jack Hildyard , Desmond Dickinson , Ernest Steward , Otto Heller , Arthur Ibbetson and Paul Beeson included Burning India , Lancelot, the daring knight , Ich, Dr. Fu Man Chu , Khartoum , The Quiller Memorandum - Danger from the Dark , Agents Die Lonely and The Prisoner of Zenda and enjoyed considerable popularity with the audience. In later years Thomson was again allowed to work more frequently as a head cameraman, for example in Cornel Wilde's theatrical productions " Der Todesmutige " and " No Blade of Grass " and in 1968 in two episodes of the popular crime series Mit Schirm, Charme und Melone . HAR "Bob" Thomson died of a heart attack while shopping in a supermarket in his home town of Taunton.

Filmography

as a simple cameraman or second unit cameraman, unless otherwise stated:

  • 1937: Big Fella (co-chief camera)
  • 1939: The Chinese Bungalow
  • 1946: Launched ( Odd Man Out )
  • 1947: Jim Ackland suspected of murder / Twilight ( The October Man )
  • 1947: The Mark of Cain
  • 1948: sleeper to Trieste ( Sleeping Car to Trieste )
  • 1948: Great days ( Cardboard Cavalier )
  • 1949: Made-to-measure lovers ( The Perfect Woman )
  • 1949: No choice without agony ( The Chiltern Hundreds )
  • 1950: On the wrong track ( The Clouded Yellow )
  • 1951: Appointment With Venus
  • 1952: Venetian Bird
  • 1953: A Day to Remember
  • 1954: But, Herr Doktor ... ( Doctor in the House )
  • 1954: The Million Baby ( To Dorothy a Son )
  • 1955: Doctor Ahoy! ( Doctor at Sea )
  • 1955: X-boats attack ( Above Us the Waves )
  • 1956: Road of Death ( Checkpoint )
  • 1956: The Iron Petticoat ( The Iron Petticoat )
  • 1956: Help, the doctor is coming! ( Doctor at Large )
  • 1957: Dangerous Legacy ( Campell's Kingdom )
  • 1958: Two cities ( A Tale of Two Cities )
  • 1958: ... because the wind cannot read ( The Wind Cannot Read )
  • 1958: Passionate Summer - A Summer Flirt ( Passionate Summer )
  • 1959: The girl sapphire ( Sapphire )
  • 1959: Burning India ( Northwest Frontier )
  • 1959: The burglars do themselves the honor ( The League of Gentlemen )
  • 1960: The rocket for brisk Doll ( The Bulldog Breed )
  • 1960: Make Mine Mink
  • 1961: vicious circle ( Victim )
  • 1961: She has the last word ( A Pair of Briefs )
  • 1962: The hot night ( All Night Long )
  • 1962: Burning debt ( A Life of Ruth )
  • 1962: Lancelot, the daring knight ( Lancelot and Guinevere )
  • 1963: Woman of Straw ( Woman of Straw )
  • 1964: The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb ( The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb )
  • 1964: The Naked Prey (chief camera)
  • 1964: Agents ask ( Masquerade )
  • 1965: The Big Bottle ( The Early Bird )
  • 1965: Secret in the Blue Castle ( Ten Little Indians )
  • 1965: I, Dr. Fu Man Chu ( The Face of Fu Man Chu )
  • 1966: Khartoum
  • 1966: The Quiller Memorandum - Risk from the darkness ( The Quiller Memorandum )
  • 1966: The slave of the amazons ( slave girls )
  • 1967: Pretty Polly
  • 1967: Beasts lurk in front of Caracas ( The Lost Continent )
  • 1968: Agents Die Alone ( Where Eagles Dare )
  • 1969: Die Krücke ( The Walking Stick )
  • 1969: Assault Troop Gold ( Kelly's Heroes )
  • 1970: No Blade of Grass (chief camera)
  • 1973: diamonds and cockroaches ( 11 Harrowhouse )
  • 1974: who stole our dinosaur? ( One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing )
  • 1976: It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet
  • 1978: The Prisoner of Zenda ( The Prisoner of Zenda )

literature

  • David Jones (Ed.): Film Fanatics Guide. Merlin Books Ltd., Braunton (Devon) 1988, p. 359

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thomson, HAR
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thomson, Harold Arthur Robert (full name); Thomson, Bob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British cameraman
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH London , UK
DATE OF DEATH July 3, 2003
Place of death Taunton , United Kingdom