Henry Forsyth Hardy (12 February 1910 – 24 May 1994) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

critic, writer and film administrator.

Biography

Henry Forsyth Hardy was born in

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

on 12 February 1910. He co-founded the Edinburgh Film Guild in 1929. Hardy started his career as an office bearer in the

Edinburgh Film Guild The Edinburgh Film Guild (EFG) is a film society based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1929, it is notable as the oldest continuously running film society in the world. Though pre-dated by the original (London) Film Society, founded five years ...

, Scottish Film Council and the Federation of Scottish Film Societies. He was working as a reporter for ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' in 1930, where he wrote a review of John Grierson's '' Drifters,'' Grierson enjoyed the review that he went to speak with Hardy. In 1932 he became ''The Scotsman'''s first film critic, and after ten years with the company, he left to become head of information at the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

. Hardy was one of the founders of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

in 1933, and also a founding member of the Scottish Film Council in 1934. Hardy was also a co-founder of the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

in 1947. From 1953-75, Hardy was the first Director for the Films of Scotland committee; he worked on 140 films during his time with the committee. He was put in charge of overseeing John Grierson's work on the documentary ''Seawards The Great Ships'' which was released in 1961. ''Seawards'' was the first Scottish film to win an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

during the 1962 award ceremony. Hardy then left the Films of Scotland committee to become the first secretary of the Scottish Film Directors Fund.

''Cinema Quarterly''

Hardy co-founded the ''Cinema Quarterly'' with Norman Wilson in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1932, people also contributed to the paper, and this included

Paul Rotha Paul Rotha (3 June 1907 – 7 March 1984) was an English documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. Early life and education He was born Paul Thompson in London, and educated at Highgate School and at the Slade School of Fine Art. Care ...

Basil Wright Basil Charles Wright (12 June 1907 – 14 October 1987) was an English documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher. Biography Basil Wright was born in Sutton, Surrey in 1907. After leaving Sherborne School, a well known i ...

and John Grierson. The quarterly continued before it stopped circulating under ''Cinema Quarterly'' in 1935; however, in its later years, it had notable contributions from

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

and

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

. In 1936 the name of the magazine changed to ''World Film News and Television Progress'' in 1936, it then had a final change of name to ''SEE: World Film News'' for three issues before publication of the magazine ceased.

Bibliography

Books

''Grierson on Documentary'' (1946) ''Scandinavian Film'' (1 January 1952) ''John Grierson: A Documentary Biography'' (28 February 1979) ''John Grierson on Scotland'' (1979) ''Grierson on the Movies'' (2 March 1981) ''Scotland in Film'' (21 June 1990) ''Slightly Mad and Full of Dangers: The Story of the Edinburgh Film Festival'' (31 December 1992)

Co-authored

''Twenty Years of British Film'' 1925-45 (1947)

Journals

''Filmgoers' Review: A Pictorial Survey Of The Year's Films'' (1945-7)

Articles and Book Chapters

"Planning", in W.M. Ballantine (ed.), ''Scotland's Record'', The Albyn Press (1946) "Fourteenth Edinburgh Film Festival", ''Saltire Review'', Vol. 6, No. 22, Autumn 1960 Review of ''The Projection of Britain'' by P.M. Taylor, in ''

Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature, at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...

'' No. 10, Autumn 1982

References

External links

The Forsyth Hardy Collection at the University of Stirling Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, Forsyth The Scotsman people Writers from Edinburgh Scottish journalists Scottish film critics 1910 births 1994 deaths People from West Lothian Scottish film producers 20th-century Scottish businesspeople