Hugh St Clair Stewart MBE (14 December 1910 – 31 May 2011) was a British film editor and producer. He filmed Bergen-Belsen concentration camp following its liberation in April 1945 and has been called "one of the most significant producers of British comedy films in the twentieth century."
Film editor
Born in Falmouth, England, Stewart was educated first at Clayesmore School and then at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was taught and influenced by F.R. Leavis. He entered the film industry in the early 1930s. He trained as a film editor at Gaumont-British, initially cutting together out-takes from Marry Me (1932) and working as assembly cutter on The Constant Nymph that same year. His first film as editor was Forbidden Territory (1934). Among the films he cut were Evergreen (1934), Alfred Hitchcock's original version of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Dark Journey (1937), Action for Slander (1937), South Riding (1938), St. Martin's Lane (1938), and The Spy in Black (1939).
World War II
During World War II, Stewart was commissioned into the Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU) in 1940 and in 1942 led No. 2 AFPU during the Allied landings in Tunisia. The following year he edited film footage from the fighting into the documentary Desert Victory. In 1944 he co-directed Tunisian Victory with Frank Capra and John Houston, although much of that film was shot in the United States. Stewart went on to lead No. 5 AFPU, covering the D-Day landings, the Battle for Caen and the Rhine Crossing.
Stewart insisted on filming Bergen-Belsen concentration camp following its liberation, with its piles of bodies being bulldozed into mass graves, its overcrowded barrack blocks and pitifully emaciated survivors. He was awarded a military MBE and demobilized with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Film producer
After World War II, Stewart became a film producer, beginning with Trottie True (1949). He began to produce the films of comedian Norman Wisdom, from Man of the Moment (1955) onwards, and the comedy duo of Morecambe and Wise. Although he went into semi-retirement in the late 1960s, he produced several films for the Children's Film Foundation, including All at Sea (1970), Mr. Horatio Knibbles (1971), and High Rise Donkey (1980).
Personal life
He was married to Frances Curl and they had four children.
He died on 31 May 2011, at the age of 100.
Selected filmography
Year Title Editor Producer 1934 Forbidden Territory The Man Who Knew Too Much 1935 Charing Cross Road 1936Soft Lights and Sweet Music Sporting Love 1937 Action for Slander Dark Journey Storm in a Teacup 1938 South Riding St. Martin's Lane 1939 Q Planes The Lion Has Wings The Spy in Black 1940 Ten Days in Paris 1946 Gaiety George 1947 An Ideal Husband 1949 Trottie True 1951 Night Without Stars 1954 Up to His Neck 1955 Man of the Moment 1956 Up in the World 1957 Just My Luck 1958 Innocent Sinners The Square Peg 1959 Follow a Star 1960 Make Mine Mink The Bulldog Breed In the Doghouse 1962 On the Beat 1963 A Stitch in Time 1965 The Intelligence Men The Early Bird 1966 That Riviera Touch 1967 The Magnificent Two 1980 High Rise Donkey
References
Listing from the British Cinema History Research Project
External links
Obituary in The Telegraph