0016 John Mills

Sir John Mills, aged nearly 70, in the cameo role of ‘Michael,’ on Ryan’s Daughter, filmed in 1970 on Noordhoek’s Long Beach

 

In 1948, while in the Navy, I saw a film which was to have a lasting effect on my life.

 

It was Boulting’s production of Scott of the Antarctic with Sir John Mills playing my school-boy hero Robert Falcon Scott, the legendary British polar explorer. Although I was still a young man, I had already been to the Southern ocean, to Marion Island, and latitudes beyond. I had experienced first hand, and could identify with, what is so poignantly portrayed in the film. Perhaps because of all this, Sir John became forever, my real, live “Scott.”

 

Little did I know, all those years ago, that I would one day not only have the honour to meet him, get to know him a little, but also photograph him.

 

In 1965, because I needed a break from stills photography I joined SATOUR as their chief photographer and some years later, in 1970, I happened to be on assignment in Cape Town for the organisation. I’d also heard that, co-incidentally, my other hero, the great film director David Lean, was in town making the movie Ryan’s Daughter at Noordhoek’s Long Beach.

 

As I had just finished my other SATOUR assignment, I decided to get some pictures of the filming for our publicity journalist. After meeting with the film’s publicist, I was escourted onto the set to, at last, meet the great Mr. Lean.

 

As we approached three men who were having a discussion with their backs to us, one of whom I recognised as Lean, the publicist tapped David lightly and said, “ Excuse me David, this is Bob Martin, SATOUR’s photographer, who is going to do a few pictures on the set for his head-office in Pretoria, I hope that’s OK?”

 

The man I’d not recognised turned around and beamed, “Hey Bob, what are you doing here? What a surprise!” It was none other than my good old friend on Zulu, Charles Parker the famous prosthetic makeup specialist who, after we’d ‘wrapped’ Zulu, I’d not seen for seven years. Charlie was, I learned, on the picture to do John Mills’ special makeup as ‘Michael’ (the village simpleton in the film.) It was so good to see him, especially as he went on to re-introduce me to David, rather flamboyantly. “This guy, David, is one of the best stills-men I’ve ever worked with,” said Charlie.

 

I am unashamed to admit that I actually blushed. It was a very good feeling and I will never forget it, or dear Charlie, who has now sadly passed on.

 

I had arrived when their filming was all but complete, except for the odd ‘inter-cut’ shot but, because they were running overtime on their schedule, their unit stills camera man had had to go back to the UK to start work on another film.

 

“Would you like a job for a week” said David Lean, my hero of Lawrence of Arabia”.

“Would I?” I said.

 

After I’d arranged my leave from SATOUR, I hung around the set shooting the odd pictures they needed and Sir John and I became friends during that somewhat surreal week. He was a warm person and I, in turn, warmed towards him immediately. He and his lovely wife Hailey-Bell, were, however, not only warm, but gentle.

 

I got to take three or four pictures of my boyhood hero, the ‘real’ Scott of the Antarctic, during that week, including this one. Only this time he was in the cameo role of ‘Michael,’ in Ryan’s Daughter.

 

It was good enough for me.

 

Done