News on Screen

Arthur Farmer joined Pathe as a cameraman in about 1921, and apparently worked on the Pathe Pictorial and Eve’s Film Review. He is certainly mentioned in surviving correspondence from Eve’s Film Review in 1928. However, Farmer’s first surviving credit is for ‘MAY DAY’ in Pathe Gazette No.1603 of May 1929. Farmer was also credited with filming ‘BRAVO - VADs!' in Pathe Super Sound Gazette No.30/6 of June 1930, and was in the Pathe camera teams that filmed the Grand National and Cup Final for the Super Sound Gazette No.33/25 of March 1933, and No.33/35 of May 1933. Farmer continued to work as a cameraman after the outbreak of war in September 1939, and by May 1941 he had joined Paramount, filming domestic stories such as the bomb damage in London for ‘COMMONS AND ABBEY DAMAGED IN BLITZ’ in British Paramount News No.1065.

Farmer later became a war correspondent, and in August 1942 filmed landing craft returning from the Dieppe raid - his footage being included in ‘BRITISH ENTER FRANCE - THE DIEPPE RAID’ in British Paramount News No.1199. In October 1943 Farmer was listed among the eight cameramen and two sound engineers on Paramount’s London staff, and noted as working with Christopher Lankester [qv] on the anti-aircraft story for ‘NEWS FLASHES - STOP PRESS’ in No.1318. In November 1944 Farmer and Paramount sound engineer Ronnie Read [qv] went to the Hotel de Ville in Paris to film a speech by Churchill, but his objection to strong lighting caused problems. As Farmer noted on his dopesheet, ‘after a lot of trouble we managed to get in on this story with sound and lights’: ‘We made all the build-up material to Churchill’s speech, then he stood up and the first word he spoke was ‘lumiere’ and that was the end of that. He apparently is suffering from an eye disease.'

In April 1945 Farmer was again in Paris, filming General De Gaulle for ‘PARIS REWARDED’ in British Paramount News No.1473, and in May 1945 he was in Germany, filming the arrest of German officers for ‘ALLIES ARREST DOENITZ & CO’ in No.1487. In July 1947 Farmer helped to film ‘KING VISITS HOME FLEET’ for No.1712, and in September 1947 he appeared as the spiv in the comic ending to ‘T.U.C. FACE THE CRISIS’ in No.1723. Farmer was still being listed on Paramount’s ‘Daily Assignment Sheets’ in October 1952, where his name appeared first. In June 1953 Farmer was in the Paramount camera team that filmed ‘THE CORONATION’ for British Paramount News No.2323, filming from the King Charles Statue. In July 1956 Farmer was one of the cameramen who provided film for both ‘RIBOT THE WONDER HORSE’ and ‘COMICS PLAY TEST FOR SPASTICS’ in British Paramount News No.2651. Paul Wyand [qv] recalled that Farmer had a theory about filming cricket matches, believing ‘that a wicket fell after about every seventy-five balls.'

Sources

BUFVC, British Paramount News files, Issues Number 1065, Number 2651, Number 1431 (A. W. Farmer’s dopesheet, c.11/11/1944), Number 1487 (Farmer’s dopesheet, May 1945), Number 1563 (Paramount ‘Daily Assignment Sheet,' 12/10/1943), Number 2292 ('Daily Assignment Sheet,' 20/10/1952), Number 2323 (Paramount memo, 28/5/1953): P. Wyand ‘Useless If Delayed!' (1959), p.222: J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels’ (BUFVC, 1983), pp.87, 90: J. Hammerton ‘My Teeth are Miles in Front of Hers,' Focal International, Autumn 1997, p.5.