Page 1 IntroductionPage 2 The start of ITVPages 3-8 Programme TitlesPage 9 AfterthoughtsPage 10 Acknowledgements

THE ABRIDGED ONLINE VERSION

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My working life began aged 16, in 1940, in the thick of London’s blitz. I waslucky – I got a job as a rewind-boy in the projection box of London’s largeDominion Cinema. It turned out to be my lucky break, although it was to beinterrupted by four years army service which, in 1944, took me in a tankfrom Normandy to Berlin.

A Life Rewound was first launched as an eBook in 2006by the Royal Television Society.

In 2010 it was replaced by this condensed online version

Introduction

With peace came demobilisation. The army had not blunted my desire topursue a career in films, and film editing was on top of the agenda. But Iwas thwarted by the film union, the ACT – no job without a ticket, no ticketwithout a job. A bleak prospect. So back to being a projectionist, but thistime with a difference – with a job in the preview theatre of the The FilmProducers Guild, a group of documentary film companies. It took eighteenmonths to talk my way into the union and I joined a group of these filmmakers as a cutting-room runner. I learned a great deal by watching andscreening rushes, assemblies, rough-cuts and final prints of the latestdocumentaries – much influenced by luminaries such as HumphreyJennings, John Grierson, Jill Craigie and Paul Rotha. This soon led to filmediting, scripting and finally to directing.

Sadly, I have never kept a diary but I have an attic full of letters, scripts,press cuttings, brochures and tons of photographs. This motley collection,plus a fairly crisp memory of the years gone by, has made it possible forme to catalogue – I trust with not too many inaccuracies – the mainincidents of a fairly eventful life. By 1955, with a good number ofdocumentaries under my belt which I had written, edited and directed, I gota call from a colleague: “Why don’t you have a go at television? It soundslike a lot of fun”. And I did.

The complete verson of A Life Rewound,120,000 words and 230 illustrartions,is published by Bank House Books

www.bankhousebooks.com

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The Start of ITV

Those of us lucky enough to be in at the beginning were embarking on agreat adventure. There was excitement in the air, and we felt compelledto take the plunge – we dived in at the deep end. There was no yardstickto measure our work by, it was all so new. There were not many aroundat Associated-Rediffusion to show you how to do it. We just got on with it.No matter how good or dreadful the programme, the chances of not havingseen or done anything like it before were considerable. That really was theexcitement at the time.

Soon our dramas, documentaries and news coverage were starting to havean impact on the BBC, causing television historians and pundits to declarea year or two later, that the competition presented by ITV motivated andinspired the BBC to develop and achieve its worldwide reputation as theleading purveyor of television.

At the time some outsiders might have thought that programme-makingwas a bit of an experiment – not for us, though – the reality was the pressureto get on and to stay on the air. We endeavoured to throw light on somethingnew and intriguing, using freshly recruited writers, directors, andtechnicians, plus the latest film and television cameras, in an untried manner

These memoirs trace the output of a fairly eclectic range of programmesby just one practitioner – but I was certainly not alone – there were quite afew of us who can claim similar experiences in our sharedadventures.

– often breaking some of the traditional rules. That was the challenge.

I include here twelve examples of my many programmes,with brief descriptions.

Rediffusion went on the air for the firsttime. The new independent televisioncompanies took on huge risks instarting up from scratch, and havingto sustain a permanent televisionservice, competing with the BBC.

2nd September 1955. Associated -

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1956Fan Fever

Fan worship and hysteria – a group of young fans at a pop concert –a very early TV investigation into human behaviour – exploring anovel style of film–making. For ITV it was all so very new.

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1959Tyranny – The Years of Adolf Hitler

ITV's first one-hour documentary was made only 14 years after the end of WorldWar 2. Kenneth Harris interviewed Alan Bullock, Sefton Delmer and Lord Strangin the studio. At the time it achieved the top ITV audience rating.

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New Statesman –Tom Driberg:“Oblivious of the camera, theyscreamed, writhed, gasped,beat their pretty but clammybrows, suffered the deliciousagonies of divine possession.All this made vital television.It was refreshing to see oncommercial television sovigorous and objective asocial document.”

Munich – interviewing Hitler’s sister Paula Wolf

This was a ‘live’ programme withfilmed inserts I secretly shot inMunich with Hitler's sister, PaulaWolf, his adjutant, his pilot, andhis chauffeur, who claimed thathe had incinerated the bodies ofHitler and Eva Braun outsidetheir Berlin bunker. These pre-filmed interviews were thoughtlost, but were rediscovered in2005 and, with some stills I tookat the time, are the only recordof the existence of this uniquematerial.

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1959The Turn of the Screw

This original 4-camera ‘live’ television studio production of Benjamin Britten'sopera was ITV's first, and also marked his first adventure into television.

“What have we done between us?”

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1960The Two Faces of Japan

Another early one-hour documentary – two months filming in Japan to see howdeep the imposed post-war 'Coca-Cola culture' had taken root.

We filmed this only 15 years afterHiroshima. It has by now becomeintriguing archive material in itsown right. We knew so little aboutJapan and this was ITV's firstexperience of this 'far-off island'.For a westerner in 1960 it waslike landing on Mars. After twomonths on location we deliveredto the ITV network a hugeaudience.

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Britten readily agreed to collaboratein my live 1959 television production.He was intrigued by this novelchallenge which inevitably presentedinnovative methods with obvioustechnical risks.

After the broadcast Sir KennethClark, Chairman of The Arts Councilof Great Britain, wrote: "As a work ofart I think it is the best thing themedium has ever produced."

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1960 – 63This Week

ITV’s weekly long-running Current Affairs programme.

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Brian Connell was the presenter.We had a large team of reportersincluding Desmond Wilcox, JeremyThorpe, James Cameron, PaulJohnson, Bryan Magee.

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Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in the This Week Studio for arare live 30 minute interview.

With Cyril Bennett as editor weproduced over 100 editions.

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1964Black Marries White – the Last Barrier

A highly controversial documentary featuring several couples, each one with ablack husband and a white wife. This was a rare, early example of televisiondealing with race relations.

A novel technique was tried.I persuaded husband and wife toengage in conversation and argumentwith each other. The only wordsspoken were by the mixed couplesthemselves. The programme'scontents and its surprising styleattracted a huge TV audience withpredictably mixed reactions. The resultwas controversial. sometimes moving,often disturbing.

“If one day Beverly comes home fromschool and said to you ‘Daddy why dothey call me a nigger girl?’ – what would

you say to her?”

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1965The State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill

The BBC had always been the sole broadcaster of State Occasions but nowAssociated-Rediffusion on behalf of the whole ITV Network took up the challengeand went on the air with this award-winning outside-broadcast.

For five hours, employing 45 cameras, andwith the pre-recorded voices of LaurenceOlivier, Paul Schofield, Joseph Harsh andChurchill’s himself, we created word-pictures investing the occasion with a clearrecall of what he had stood for and stoodagainst. It was a celebration of the man towhom London and the whole nation wassaying farewell.

With finger on the ‘omnibus talkback’button, speaking to 45 cameramen.

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This Documentary features the London Symphony Orchestraand highlights the dedication of the men who make the music.

1965LSO The Music Men

Knussen's 12 year-old son Oliver.

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This film shows what it takes tobelong to a group of hard-workingorchestral musicians as seen throughthe eyes of its principal bass player,Stuart Knussen, proud member of theLondon Symphony Orchestra. This isan impressionistic picture of adedicated bunch of very talentedmusicians. It features Colin Davis,Istvan Kertesz and Knussen's 12-year-old son Oliver, a buddingcomposer. The documentary style ofthis all-filmed programme includes agreat deal of music-making. There isno narration.

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This portrait of Europe in the 20th

Century provides a fascinatingbackdrop to the Century’s upheavalson this continent. Two major acts ofcontinental conflagration, two majorGerman defeats, the holocaust, theCommon Market, the Cold War andbeyond. The ‘Mighty Continent’presents a broad sweep of history,politics and the arts, with a solidgrounding starting in the year 1900 –a story that is being constantlyredefined.

1965 – 69The Life and Times of Lord Mountbatten

Twelve programmes made for Rediffusion Television. After his retirementin 1965 we filmed Lord Mountbatten in key locations which featured in hislife including Malta, Burma, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.

Burma: the ruins of Fort Dufferin inMandalay. The Earl Mountbatten of Burma

explains its capture by the 14th Army

With Peter Ustinov and my BBC crew filming theBerlin Wall in the Bernauer Strasse

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This portrait of Europe in the 20th

Century was three years in the makingand was filmed in ten EuropeanCountries, providing a fascinatingbackdrop to the century’s upheavalson this continent. Two major acts ofconflagration, two major Germandefeats, the Holocaust, the CommonMarket, the Cold War and beyond.‘The Mighty Continent’ presented abroad sweep of history, politics and thearts, with a solid grounding starting inthe year 1900 – a story that is beingconstantly redefined.

This series is a TV history and abiography with a sharp autobiographicaledge. For historian John Terraine,writing this script of a young NavalCadet, dashing Destroyer Captain,Chief of Combined Operations,Supreme Allied Commander South EastAsia, India’s last Viceroy, Chief of theDefence Staff, was a huge task.

The rich mixture of location filmingwith Mountbatten, a mass of archivefootage, and the participation of overthirty eye-witnesses has left a valuablehistorical legacy.

A TV history of Europe from 1900 to 1975 in thirteen episodes for BBC-1,written and narrated by John Terraine and embellished by Peter Ustinov

with on-screen anecdotes

1971 – 73The Mighty Continent

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1978 – 79Women of Courage

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This quartet of remarkable women came from Norway, Poland, Britain andGermany, sharing an instinctive compulsion to fight the Nazis. With greatmodesty they recall their clandestine experiences. Unsung heroines.

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The Norwegian:Brought out andsaved 37 Jewishchildren from Nazi-occupied Prague.Finally escapedacross a frozen laketo Sweden.

She survived.

The Pole:Secret radio operatorparachuted intoGerman-occupiedWarsaw. Caught,tortured andsentenced to death.

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1978 – 79Kitty - Return to Auschwitz

Thirty-five years after her miraculous survival, Kitty Hart returned with herson. Her emotional reactions on going back to Auschwitz-Birkenau,desperate to tell him what happened, were recorded using a techniquewhich was both innovative and startling.

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This 90-minute film, shot in 1978, differsfrom others dealing with the Holocaustbecause of its style, best described as‘observational’. I did not speak to Kitty onceduring the three days we were filming – shewas oblivious of the camera. We simplyfollowed her. With memories flooding backshe impatiently described to her son everyminute detail of what happened to her thirty-five years earlier. Time and again shesurprised him, and us, with the most dreadfulrevelations. The raw and uncompromisingstyle of this award-winning film established acruel truth about Auschwitz-Birkenau whichis unchallengeable.

The German:Helped to save thelives of 1200Scandinaviancaptives in Germancamps. Twicearrested.

She survived.

The Brit:Fearlessly ran anescape line in Francefor shot-down Alliedairmen. Shotescaping, arrestedand sentenced todeath.

She survived.

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Afterthoughts

No one could have guessed, when faced with competition, how the BBCwould react to the launch of ITV in 1955. The Corporation was confidentthat its broadcasting ethos was secure – fierce public arguments in thepress and in Parliament broke out. But these were not the talking pointsin Associated-Rediffusion’s club bar – we were much too busy satisfyingthe voracious appetite of a brand-new national network, helping to sustaina daily diet of programmes.

It was in this climate that I started making programmes – and took thechance in those early few years to contribute to both mass and minorityaudience programmes that some thought could only be made by the BBC.In 1959, the peak-time documentary Tyranny – the Years of Adolf Hitlerand the opera The Turn of the Screw typify these early examples.

I have often wondered what made me tick at the time. There was noyardstick to go by; there was hardly any time to watch other people’sprogrammes – video recording had yet to be invented. The documentariesI had been making before 1955 suddenly seemed dated. Now the chanceswere that you could achieve something entirely new – such was theprimitive state of the medium.

Over the years I have directed a great variety of programmes, about 200,and I hope that A Life Rewound might be of interest especially to mediastudents who may wish to find out more about the background and thegrowing pains of this extraordinary industry – as recalled in the book versionof these memoirs.

It is now seventy years since I started as a rewind-boy in the projection boxof the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road. Needless to say, it never occurredto me at the time that one day I might sit down, put pen to paper, andchronicle these events – but I have now done with rewinding.

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The photographs reproduced in these Memoirs are by courtesy of the following:Associated-Rediffusion Television

BBC TelevisionBritish Academy of Film and Television Arts

Broadlands ArchiveEMI Films

Granada TelevisionImperial War Museum

Royal Television SocietyYorkshire Television

AcknowledgementsMy thanks go to Clare Colvin, Archivist of the Royal Television Society and to

Murray Weston, Director of the British Universities Film & Video Council who gavevaluable advice adapting these Memoirs to the electronic medium.

Copyright © 2010 Peter MorleyThe Right of Peter Morley to be identified as the author ofthis work has been asserted by the author in accordance

with the Copyright, Designs and Patents act of 1988

I want to pay tribute to everyone who has assisted in the task of helping to identify thesephotographs and wish to stress that every effort has been made to establish the owners’ rights.If there are any regrettable omissions or mistaken attributions I will be pleased to rectify them.

Awards

1963 BAFTA Current Affairs Award – This Week

1965 BAFTA Outside Broadcasts Award – Churchill State Funeral

1965 Cannes Grand Prix – Churchill State Funeral

1969 Royal Television Society Silver Medal – Mountbatten Series

1973 Columbia Film Festival Award – The Mighty Continent

1978 Sapporo Documentary Award – Women of Courage

1978 Kitty – Return to Auschwitz:Royal Television Society Documentary AwardBerlin Prix FuturaWorld Television Tokyo PrizeClarion Award - Best US Network ProgrammeCommonwealth Film & Television Award

A Life Rewound (120.000 words and over 230 illustrations)is published by Bank House Books. It is available fromwww.bankhousebooks.com and all good bookshops.