MASTERING FILM WITH GIANTS 

From clapper boy to Oscar-winning cinematographer, Jack Hildyard BSC shaped British cinema, working with legends like Laurence Olivier and creating classics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai. 

1908 – 1990   

Founding member President 1965 – 1966   

Jack Hildyard BSC began his career in 1932 as a clapper boy at Elstree Studios. By 1934 he had graduated to focus-puller on Freedom of the Seas (d. Marcel Varney, ph. Otto Kanturek) and four years later was operating the camera on films for Leslie Howard and others, including Pygmalion (1938 d. Anthony Asquith & Leslie Howard, ph. Harry Stradling Snr ASC), The Divorce of Lady X (1938 d. Tom Whelan, ph. Harry Stradling Snr.) and Pimpernel Smith (1941 d. Leslie Howard, ph. Max Greene BSC). He also operated on Laurence Olivier’s seminal Technicolor work, Henry V (1944 ph. Robert Krasker BSC). This gave him invaluable experience of colour cinematography and his subsequent films made him one of the most sought-after cameramen in England. He was one of several DPs attached to the troubled Caesar and Cleopatra (1945 dir. Gabriel Pascal) but his first real solo credit as cinematographer was on Anthony Asquith’s While the Sun Shines (1947).   

Hildyard’s other films include The Sound Barrier (1952), Hobson’s Choice (1954), Summertime (1955) and The Bridge on The River Kwai (1957) all for director David Lean. He also shot Anastasia (1956 dir, Anatole Litvak), The Sundowners (1960 dir. Fred Zinneman), Suddenly Last Summer (1959 dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz) and 55 Days at Peking (1963 d. Nicholas Ray). He was DP on the aborted Cleopatra (1963 dir. Rouben Mamoulian) which was forced to close due to the illness of its star, Elizabeth Taylor and wet weather which stalled the shooting at Pinewood.   

Additional credits include Battle of the Bulge (1965 dir. Ken Annakin), Casino Royale (1967 dir. Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish and Richard Talmadge), The Beast Must Die (1974 dir. Paul Annett) and The Wild Geese (1978 dir. Andrew V. McLaglen). He also photographed both of producer-director Moustapha Akkad’s films on Islamic history, The Message (1976) and Lion of the Desert (1981) and in 1983, shot Mohamed Shukri Jameel’s Al-Mas’ Ala Al-Kubra (Clash of Loyalties) which was produced by Saddam Hussein and nominated for the Golden Prize at the 1983 Moscow International Film Festival.   

OTHER CREDITS: The Deep Blue Sea, Charley Moon, The Gypsy and the Gentleman, Another Time Another Place, The Devil’s Disciple, The Millionairess  

SELECTED AWARDS: OSCAR and BSC Best Cinematography Awards: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957 dir. David Lean)  
BAFTA Nomination: The V.I.P.s (1963 dir. Anthony Asquith)  
BAFTA Nomination: The Yellow Rolls Royce (1964 dir. Anthony Asquith)   

BAFTA Nomination: Modesty Blaise (1966 dir. Joseph Losey)   

BSC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 1989   

This piece was adapted from the book, Preserving the Vision, Compiled and edited by Phil Méheux BSC and James Friend ASC BSC.