Monty Berman

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Nestor Montague "Monty" Berman (1912—14 June 2006) was a British cinematographer and film producer.

Berman began his film career as a camera assistant at Twickenham Film Studios when he was 17. He became a camera operator in 1934, working for the Associated British Picture Corporation at Teddington Studios, and later for the comedy producers Ealing Studios.^[1]

During World War II Berman served in an army film unit and post-war, in 1948, he co-founded, with Robert S. Baker, the company Tempean Films which produced more than 30 thriller B-movies in the 1950s.

By 1962 it had become clear that the era of the B-movie was ending and Berman and Baker obtained the television rights to Leslie Charteris's The Saint adventure stories.^[2]

Unable to sell the rights on to Associated-Rediffusion, then Britain's largest commercial television company, Berman turned to Lew Grade's ITC.^[1] This company was at that time a sister company to ATV, one of the other commercial television companies in the UK, and had access to important export markets.^[3] This allowed The Saint to do well in both Britain and in other markets.^[4]

This success led to Berman creating in more ITC productions, including later cult hits The Baron, The Champions, Department S and its sequel Jason King and Berman's last rating hit, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Berman's final creation was 1972's The Adventurer.^[5]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Vallance, David. "Monty Berman", The Independent (subscription required), Independent News and Media, 2006-08-04, pp. 42-43. Retrieved on 2006-08-04. (in English)
^ Gaughan, Gavin (2006-08-14). Monty Berman. GuardianUnlimited: Film. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
^ Brockman, David (Undated). The Forgotten ATV. Television House: The Widespread World of Rediffusion. Transdiffusion Broadcasting System. Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
^ Bodenheimer, Dan (2004). The Saint on TV. The Saintly Bible. The Saint Club. Retrieved on 2006-08-20.
^ Internet Movie Database entry for Monty Berman, accessed 20 August 2006