Peter Handford

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Peter Handford (March 21, 1919 — November 6, 2007) is an Oscar-winning British location sound recordist. He is considered a master and pioneer of this genre of sound recording.[1][2]

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[edit] Life and work

Born into a vicarage family at Four Elms in Kent, England, Handford began work in a junior capacity with London Films at Denham. He honed his sound recording skills during the D-Day landings, where he served with the Army Film Unit of the British Expeditionary Force.[3] His first screen credit was on Black Magic (1949) and in the same year he recorded Under Capricorn for Alfred Hitchcock. In 1972, Hitchcock sought him out to work on Frenzy.

Handford pioneered the use of original synchronous sound recording for David Lean on the 1955 movie Summer Madness, shot on location in Venice, and developed the technique during the British New Wave cinema movement, working on films such as Room at the Top, The Entertainer, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Sons and Lovers, Billy Liar, Tom Jones, Oh! What a Lovely War; and on The Go-Between and other films for Joseph Losey.

He also worked on American productions, including the 1970s railway-based Murder on the Orient Express and The Lady Vanishes, on both of which radio microphones were extensively used. Following Heaven's Gate (1980) he went into semi-retirement, working as a freelancer for Anglia Television, but was recalled to the movie business by Sydney Pollack for the location sound required on Out of Africa in 1985, for which he was awarded the Academy Award for Sound and also a BAFTA. On this film he worked along with Chris Jenkins, Gary Alexander, and Larry Stensvold.

Handford went on to work on Dangerous Liaisons, Gorillas in the Mist and White Hunter Black Heart. His last movie was Havana in 1990.

[edit] Transacord

Handford is also well-known for his recordings of steam locomotives in the 1950s and '60s, during the last days of steam railways in Britain.[4][5] These were issued on the Transacord label, later distributed by Argo, and are archived in the National Railway Museum.

[edit] Family

His second marriage was to actress Helen Fraser whom he first met on location for Billy Liar. He died at Wickham Skeith, Suffolk. He is survived by two daughters from his first marriage.

[edit] Online resources

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sloman, Tony. "Peter Handford: Master of sound location shooting who won an Oscar for 'Out of Africa'", The Independent, 2007-11-30. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  2. ^ Clarke, Andrew. "Obituaries: Peter Handford", Eastern Daily Press, 2007-11-09. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  3. ^ Handford, Peter. Sound Oscars. Association of Motion Picture Sound Newsletter. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  4. ^ Peter Handford & Transacord records. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
  5. ^ Handford, Peter (1980). Sounds of Railways and their Recording. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7631-4. 
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