News on Screen

In about 1937 David Prosser left Imperial College, London, to join British Movietone News as a cameraman. His first credited work is for ‘REMEMBRANCE 1939’ in British Movietone News No.544A of November 1939, and he also provided film for ‘ABOUT THE HOME GUARD’ in No.582A of August 1940. He then became a war correspondent with the Royal Navy, based at Gibraltar, providing film for ‘ITALIAN ‘SUB’ MAKES A DASH FOR PORT’ in British Movietone News No.598A of November 1940, ‘SHIPS AND WINGS IN MEDITERRANEAN’ in No.605A, and ‘HMS ‘ARK ROYAL’ AT SEA’ in No.607A, both of January 1941. In April 1941 he was back in London, filming the King for a rota story in ‘THEIR MAJESTIES WITH THE SERVICES’ in No.618. Prosser then went to Singapore, where he filmed ‘IMPERIAL FORCES FOR MALAYA’S DEFENCE’ for No.623A of May 1941, but he soon returned to the Mediterranean. He also worked in North Africa, and in September 1941 his story ‘FLEET AIR ARM OVER THE DESERT’ ran in British Movietone News No.643. Prosser provided more Far Eastern footage for ‘SINGAPORE - ON THE ALERT’ in British Movietone News No.645A of October 1941, but otherwise remained in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In January 1942 he provided film from North Africa for ‘ROMMEL ON THE RUN’ in British Movietone News No.658A, and also supplied film of ‘HAZARDS OF CONVOY’ for No.683A in July 1942. In March 1943 he was back in London filming ‘ROSE VERSUS LEEK SOCCER INTERNATIONAL’ for British Movietone News No.717A, and he continued covering domestic stories for some months. However, Norman Fisher [qv] of Movietone recalled that Prosser then joined the RAF Film Unit as a Pilot Officer, and was based at Pinewood Studios. He made many film operational flights with RAF, including low-level bomb attacks on German V-Weapon sites on the French Coast. However, by May 1945 he was back with Movietone, filming crowds in central London for ‘VICTORY’ in British Movietone News No.832, and in September 1945 he took film for ‘RADAR’ in No.852 of October 1945.

In June 1946 Prosser provided shots of the neon-lit British Movietone News building in Soho Square for ‘VICTORY DAY’ in No.888A. Later that year Prosser was sent to film the unrest in Palestine. He supplied film for ‘PALESTINE NEWS’ in British Movietone News No.904A of October 1946, and continued to provide reports of the situation in Palestine until his last report, ‘PALM SUNDAY IN JERUSALEM,' in No.931 of April 1947. Prosser’s last credited story for Movietone was ‘FA CUP 3RD ROUND - ARSENAL V BRADFORD’ in British Movietone News No.971A of January 1948. In the same month the BBC launched its own Television Newsreel, and Prosser was recruited as one of its five cameramen. In 1951 he left the BBC Television Newsreel to work as a BBC director-cameraman.

Sources

BUFVC, British Paramount News files, Issues Number 1015 (21/11/1940), Number 1033 (23/1/1941), and Number 1054 (7/4/1941, Prosser’s rota shotlists), Number 1522 (Prosser’s rota shotlist, c.September 1945): W. G. Greatorex ‘TV newsreel man thrives on danger,' John Bull, 1/12/1951, pp.11-12: J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels: Vol.III’ (1993), p.75.