Peter Handford

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. [cite news|author=Sloman, Tony|title=Peter Handford: Master of sound location shooting who won an Oscar for 'Out of Africa'|work=The Independent|date=2007-11-30
url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3209847.ece|accessdate=2007-12-20] [cite news|author=Clarke, Andrew|title=Obituaries: Peter Handford|work=Eastern Daily Press|date=2007-11-09
url=http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/obituaries/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=Obits&tBrand=EDPONLINE&tCategory=OBITS&itemid=NOED09%20Nov%202007%2007%3A57%3A33%3A733|accessdate=2007-12-20]

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. [cite web|author=Handford, Peter|title=Sound Oscars|work=Association of Motion Picture Sound Newsletter|url=http://www.amps.net/newsletters/issue29/29_sound_oscars.htm|accessdate=2007-12-21] 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.

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. [cite web|title=Peter Handford & Transacord records|url=http://www.steamindex.com/library/handford.htm|accessdate=2008-01-06] [cite book|author=Handford, Peter|title=Sounds of Railways and their Recording|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|date=1980|isbn=0-7153-7631-4] These were issued on the Transacord label, later distributed by Argo, and are archived in the National Railway Museum.

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.

Online resources

*
*
* cite news|author=Sloman, Tony|title=Peter Handford: Master of sound location shooting who won an Oscar for 'Out of Africa'|work=The Independent|date=2007-11-30
url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3209847.ece|accessdate=2007-12-20

References