Robert Sidney Baker (27 October 1916 – 30 September 2009) was a British film and television producer, who at times was also a

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

and director. Born in London and serving as an artillery man in the British Army, he was posted to North Africa, where he became involved in the army's film and photographic unit, later serving as a combat cameraman in Europe.

Movie career

Despite a prolific film and television career, Baker was principally known for his long-time professional relationship with

Monty Berman Nestor Montague "Monty" Berman (16 August 1913 in Whitechapel, London, England – 14 June 2006 in London, England) was a British cinematographer and film and television producer. Early career Berman began his film career as a camera assistant a ...

, where they founded

Tempean Films Tempean Films was a British film production company formed in 1948 by Robert Baker and Monty Berman. Tempean's output of B movies were distributed by Eros Films. The company later moved into television, adapting Leslie Charteris' series of T ...

, churning out comedies, thrillers, and mysteries. Some of their more popular work included ''

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

The Siege of Sidney Street ''The Siege of Sidney Street'' is a 1960 British historical drama film co-directed by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman. It stars Donald Sinden, Nicole Berger and Kieron Moore. The film dramatises the 1909 Tottenham Outrage - a bungled wages-s ...

The Hellfire Club Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Such clubs, r ...

'', and ''The Secret of Monte Carlo''. Later, he was to be involved with nearly every filmed usage of the

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'', and produced ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is an action-comedy series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the cycle of adventure serie ...

''.

Death

Baker died on 30 September 2009.

Selected filmography

* ''

Melody Club Melody Club is a Swedish band from Växjö formed in January 2000. Their breakthrough came in 2002 with the song ''Palace Station'', which was also a big success in Germany. The band has frequent radio airplay in Sweden, Germany, Japan, Norway and ...

'' (1949) * '' No Trace'' (1950) * ''

13 East Street ''13 East Street'' is a 1952 British crime thriller film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Patrick Holt, Sandra Dorne and Sonia Holm.Mackillop & Sinyard p.180 It was shot at Twickenham Studios with some location shooting around London. T ...

'' (1952) * ''

The Voice of Merrill ''The Voice of Merrill'' is a 1952 British mystery film directed by John Gilling and starring Valerie Hobson, James Robertson Justice and Edward Underdown. ''The Voice of Merrill'' was made by Tempean Films, the company owned by the film's prod ...

'' (1952) * ''

The Steel Key ''The Steel Key'' is a 1953 British thriller film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Terence Morgan, Joan Rice and Raymond Lovell. Premise Adventurer Johnny O'Flynn (Terence Morgan) attempts to track down thieves who have stolen a secret ...

'' (1953) * ''

Double Exposure In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be ide ...

'' (1954) * ''

Sea of Sand ''Sea of Sand'' (released in the US as ''Desert Patrol'') is a 1958 British war film starring Richard Attenborough, John Gregson and Michael Craig (actor), Michael Craig. The film, which was directed by Guy Green (filmmaker), Guy Green, is abou ...

'' (1958)

External links

*
''The Morning After''
ITC fan site

fan site on ''The Saint''
Robert S Baker
- ''The Guardian'' obituary

– ''Daily Telegraph'' obituary ITC Entertainment 1916 births 2009 deaths Military personnel from London British film producers English film producers British cinematographers English cinematographers English television producers British television producers British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery personnel 20th-century English businesspeople {{ITCDistributions-stub