Lee M. Hill full name Leighton McLeod Hill (13 March 1907 – 5 June 1952) was a New Zealand film-maker and cinematographer. He was born in Carterton, attended Carterton School and

Dannevirke Dannevirke ( "Earthworks (archaeology), work of the Danes", a reference to Danevirke; mi, Taniwaka, lit= or ''Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua'', the area where the town is), is a rural service town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New ...

High School, and died in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Career

Hill worked for J. E. Vinsen for ten years and as a freelance. He also worked with

Rudall Hayward Rudall Charles Victor Hayward (4 July 1900 – 29 May 1974) was a pioneer New Zealand filmmaker from the 1920s to the 1970s, who directed seven feature films and numerous others. Biography Hayward was born in Wolverhampton, England, and died i ...

in the 1920s, making local "community comedies", but later made some himself in competition with Hayward e.g. ''Frances of Fielding''. He was an Army photographer in the 2NZEF in World War II, being captured at Sidi Aziz in 1941 and spent several years as a German prisoner-of-war. Towards the end of the war he was in Oflag IX A/Z at

Rotenburg an der Fulda Rotenburg an der Fulda (officially ''Rotenburg a.d. Fulda'') is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda (river), Fulda. Geography Location The town lies south of the S ...

, where he showed German silent films to prisoners. When the camp was marched east in 1945 he took a series of photographs of the march. Examples of these are in the Turnbull Collection, New Zealand. After the war, Hill was associated with Apex Films Ltd and his own Television Films Ltd. He took over the Vogue Theatre in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, but died suddenly, leaving a wife and family. In an interview about the filming of '' Down on the Farm'', '' Phar Lap's Son'' and '' The Wagon and the Star'',

Ronald Sinclair Ronald Sinclair (21 January 1924 – 22 November 1992), born Richard Arthur Hould and sometimes credited as Ra Hould or Ron Sinclair, was a child actor from New Zealand, turned film editor. Early years Sinclair was the son of Arthur Hould and ...

said: "It was Lee Hill that all of us relied on for guiding us in the production. He came to New Zealand from Hollywood, with a Hollywood background to put to use. Such background was considered vital, and Hill was highly revered by all of us because of the experience he brought with him."Helen Martin & Sam Edwards, ''New Zealand Film 1912-1996'', Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1997, p. 47.

Filmography (partial)

*'' The Bush Cinderella'' (1928) General assistant *'' Down on the Farm'' (1935) Director of photography (New Zealand's first "talkie") *'' Phar Lap's Son'' (1935) Technical advisor *'' The Wagon and the Star'' (1936) Casting

References

Biography at NZ Film Archive

''Frances of Fielding'' at NZ Film Archive
*Obituary in ''Evening Post'', 6 July 1952 *Green, Peter "The March East 1945: the final days of Oflag IX A/H and A/Z", History Press, 2012 1907 births 1952 deaths People from Carterton, New Zealand New Zealand cinematographers New Zealand military personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany New Zealand prisoners of war in World War II {{NewZealand-film-bio-stub