Peter Austin Harley Newbrook
BSC
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
(29 June 1920 – 19 June 2009) was an English
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...
, director, producer and writer.
Newbrook was born in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
and educated at the Chester, and Worcester Cathedral schools, and the
Ewell Castle School
Ewell Castle School is a 3–18 mixed, independent day school and sixth form in Ewell, Epsom, Surrey, England. It was founded in 1926 by Herbert Budgell as a boarding school and became fully mixed in September 2015. It consists of the Main Ho ...
. He began his career as a trainee cameraman and
focus puller
A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed.
"Pulling focus" refers to ...
with
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
British studios at
Teddington
Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...
in London. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
he made Army training films with the
Army Kinematograph Service
The Army Kinematograph Service (AKS) was established during the Second World War by the British government in August 1941 to meet the increasing training and recreational needs of the British Army. Created by the newly established Directorate of ...
and was commissioned as a
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...
. In 1947, with drummer
Carlo Krahmer
Carlo Krahmer (born William Max Geserick, 11 March 1914, Shoreditch, London – 20 April 1976, London) was a British jazz drummer and record producer.
Biography
Born in Shoreditch, London, Krahmer was partially sighted. He made has first re ...
, he co-founded
Esquire Records, which specialised in jazz.
In the 1970s due to the decline of the British film industry he turned to television. He worked at Granada and Yorkshire Television and spent several years with Anglia Television in Norwich, making episodes of the popular drama series ''
Tales of the Unexpected''. He retired in 1990 as a senior lighting director.
He was president of the
British Society of Cinematographers
The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British cinematographers ...
from 1984 to 1986.
Peter Newbrook died of a heart attack at his home in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...
on Friday, 19 June 2009.
Selected filmography
* ''
Scott of the Antarctic'' (1948)
* ''
The Sound Barrier
''The Sound Barrier'' is a 1952 British aviation drama film directed by David Lean. It is a fictional story about attempts by aircraft designers and test pilots to break the sound barrier. It was David Lean's third and final film with his wife ...
'' (1952)
* ''
The Bridge on the River Kwai
''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic film, epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the The Bridge over the River Kwai, 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of ...
'' (1957)
* ''
A Farewell to Arms
''A Farewell to Arms'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, set during the Italian campaign of World War I. First published in 1929, it is a first-person account of an American, Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant () in the am ...
'' (1957)
* ''
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–19 ...
'' (1962)
* ''
In the Cool of the Day
''In the Cool of the Day'' is a 1963 British-American romantic drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Metrocolor and Panavision. The film is directed by Robert Stevens and starring Peter Finch, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Arthur Hill, a ...
'' (1963)
* ''
The Black Torment
''The Black Torment'' (a.k.a. ''Estate of Insanity'') is a 1964 British gothic horror film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. The film is set in 18th-century Devon and was scripted by bro ...
'' (1964)
* ''
Gonks Go Beat
''Gonks Go Beat'' is a 1964 British science fiction/musical fantasy film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis. It stars Kenneth Connor and Frank Thornton. ''Gonks Go Beat'' is loosely based on the ''Romeo and Juliet'' storyline and features 16 m ...
'' (1965)
* ''
The Sandwich Man'' (1966)
* ''
Press for Time
''Press for Time'' is a 1966 British comedy film starring Norman Wisdom. The screenplay was written by Eddie Leslie and Norman Wisdom, based on the 1963 novel ''Yea Yea Yea'', by Angus McGill. It was partly filmed in Teignmouth in Devon. It ...
'' (1966)
* ''
The Smashing Bird I Used to Know
''The Smashing Bird I Used to Know'' is a 1969 British drama/sexploitation film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring Renée Asherson, Patrick Mower, Dennis Waterman, Madeleine Hinde and Maureen Lipman. As with other Hartford-Davis ...
'' (1969)
* ''
She'll Follow You Anywhere
''She'll Follow You Anywhere'', released in the United States as ''Passion Potion'', is a 1971 British comedy film directed by David C. Rea and starring Kenneth Cope, Keith Barron and Richard Vernon. The screenplay concerns two chemists worki ...
'' (1971)
* ''
Crucible of Terror'' (1971)
* ''
The Asphyx
''The Asphyx'', also known as ''Spirit of the Dead'' and ''The Horror of Death'', is a 1972 British horror film/science fiction film directed by Peter Newbrook and starring Robert Stephens and Robert Powell.
''Asphyx'' refers to Old Greek '' ...
'' (1973)
References
External links
*
1920 births
2009 deaths
British Army personnel of World War II
English film producers
English film directors
English cinematographers
People educated at Ewell Castle School
People from Chester
Royal Army Ordnance Corps officers
20th-century English businesspeople
Military personnel from Chester
{{UK-film-producer-stub