Tony Rose, FACI

For many of us Tony Rose was "Mr. Movies". As editor of Britain's top magazine for amateurs, MovieMaker, with colleagues Ivan Watson and John Wright he presided over what seems now like a golden age of Standard-8mm and Super-8mm. Through the magazine he spread his enthusiasm for amateur film making, always encouraging, cajoling and seeking to raise standards. What he wrote, however controversial it might be at the time, was always received with respect because he was himself a distinguished amateur film maker.

He enjoyed being in charge of the Ten Best competition which was in friendly rivalry with the IAC Festival in those days. Many entrants enjoyed the facility for having their films passed on directly from Ten Best judging to IAC judging. The Ten Best awards ceremony was often a glittering occasion at venues like London's National Film Theatre with a film star or celebrity to hand over the trophies.

He also introduced thousands of people to the wonders of Audio-Visual presentations, taking The Kodak Colour Show to venues all over Britain where powerful slide projectors and high quality sound systems demonstrated the impact such shows achieve. Though the Royal Photographic Society and serious amateur photographers had long been developing such performances Tony's shows brought them to the mass audience who picked up a ticket at their local photo-processing shop when they collected their holiday snaps.

He was a popular speaker at club and regional events, a frequent judge at all levels of competition and a tireless champion of amateur film to the film appreciation societies.

His early work with High Wycombe Film Society (one of several groups which combined film making and film appreciation) was on 16mm. We recall with delight Coming Shortly (1954) a spoof of overblown cinema trailers. It is probably, however, for Paper Boat that he will be best remembered as a film maker. In the IAC Golden Jubilee Moving Picture Show (tape FT7 in the IAC Library) he presented extracts from that production with commentary on the process of making it.

There have been many outstanding people in the 75 years of amateur film making, but none who have made so much impact on movie makers in Britain. We feel our own sense of loss and send our sympathy to his family, for whom he was, of course, far more than a moviemaker.

Tony Rose on Judging

The North Thames Newsletter regional newsletter, edited by David Hughes, quotes Tony writing in Amateur Cine World for 29th December 1966:

"Entertainment ... embraces fun and sentiment, to be sure, but it also embraces tragedy, bitterness and truth. Entertainment ... is what takes you out of yourself; it is what touches the heart or enlivens the mind. The role of the film judge is to seek out entertainment in all its forms. The judge is not a technician who approaches a film with a tape-measure and a list of specifications; he is a human being with all his senses alert. He is not there to find fault but to find inspiration."

On Tony Rose - David Huntley

I well remember Tony Rose as I was one of the youthful members of the High Wycombe Film Society in the early fifties. I appeared in the documentary that the society produced about High Wycombe and I also acted the male lead part in "The Dress" in which the well known character actor, Martin Benson played the shopkeeper.

I am grateful to Mr John Smithson who is an archivist for the old society in High Wycombe today and who provided me with copies of these old movies which I treasure.

Tony Rose was a great inspiration to me and I am sorry I lost touch with him during my travels around the world and only in recent years learned of his passing. From what I remember he was also a speech writer for J. Arthur Rank.

- David Huntley     Aug 2004