Allan wrote: “Brian came from humble beginnings and forged his way through personal family tragedies and the slaughter at Gallipoli to walk with the greats of film direction and innovation in the 20th Century. Brian led a full and exciting life and took a great interest in people. His eye for talent brought out the best in many young actors and actresses that went on to achieve ‘legend’ status.”
Brian Desmond Hurst is indeed Northern Ireland’s greatest 20th century film director. He directed Scrooge (1951), his version of Dicken's A Christmas Carol,which is perhaps his most lasting popular film, Malta Story (1953) and Theirs Is the Glory (1946), the biggest grossing Second World War movie in the UK for over a decade. He also directed the first British film noir On the Night of the Fire (1939) and what is possibly Ireland’s frst feature-length ‘talkie’ Irish Hearts (1934).
Following this I proceeded to the Queen's Film Theatre, where the Belfast Film Festival joined in the celebrations by featuring two of Brian’s films A Letter From Ulster (1943) and Theirs is the Glory (1946).The culmination of the evening’s celebrations was the unveiling of a Directors Guild of Great Britain blue plaque by Redmond Morris, Ireland’s current leading film-maker who was inspired into film making by his father, John Ford and Brian’s efforts to ignite a film industry across the island.
Brian lived a bohemian and often controversial life and mixed socially with Noel Coward, WB Yeats, Henry de Vere Talbot Clifton and John Ford, in sharp contrast to his humble beginnings. Born Hans Hurst in Ribble Street in East Belfast on 12 February 1895, his mother died when he was only 4 and his father when he was 16. He left school at 14 to work at the Bloomfield linen factory. In 1914 he enlisted in the 6th Royal Irish Rifles and a year later survived the battalion’s cruel slaughter on the slopes of Gallipoli. As Chaiman of the Somme Association I visited the battlefields with HRH The Duke of Gloucester and President Mary McAleese last year.
After the war a government grant of £100 and a boat passage allowed Brian to move to Toronto, Canada where he studied at the Ontario College of Art & Design. Later he trained at the L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. With his artist skills now realised Brian secured his first job as a set designer in Hollywood in 1928 where his work was spotted by John Ford. They went on to become the greatest of friends and under Ford’s tutelage Brian moved into directing.
Returning to the UK in 1933 as a film director and settling in Belgravia, Brian then worked with the greats of world cinema – Dirk Bogarde, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Attenborough, James Mason and Roger Moore. Indeed, Brian gave three of this illustrious list their first credited film role. Between 1935 and 1962 he produced or directed over 30 films, including adaptatiopns of plays by J.M. Synge. His film Ourselves Alone (1936),set during the Irish War of Independence, was censored in the south and banned completely in Northern Ireland and Tell Tale Heart(1934) was too horrible to show in many cinemas.
In A Letter From Ulster , Brian and fellow Ulsterman and Assistant Director William MacQuitty created a film promoting a sense of community between the people of Northern Ireland and over one hundred thousand troops from the USA based in Northern Ireland at the time. The Arnhem epic Theirs is the Glory is often seen as the companion to A Bridge Too Far and is favoured by many experts on the subject of the Battle of Arnhem. The two films were compared in the battlefield magazine Against All Odds (published in October 2010) and the comparison is stark and revealing:
“A Bridge Too Far is a slow moving epic, well worth a viewing with some authentic scenes, but is unconvincing in its portrayal of the battle of Oosterbeek…Theirs is the Glory is the only feature film currently released that accurately portrays the events at Oosterbeek in atmospheric and chronoligical terms, despite its jerky portrayal of events. This is a film to watch.” The reality of the battle is brought home by the selective close up shots that Hurst arranged especially when you look into the eyes of the actors. Those eyes had seen the real battle. Uniquely Brian
dispensed with Rank’s idea of using their lead actor and instead he took 200 members of the 1st Airborne back to Arnhem to direct and ‘remake’ their role in the Battle of Arnhem.
Brian said “The film is my favourite because of the wonderful experience of working with soldiers, and because it is a true documentary reconstruction of the event. I say without modesty it is one of the best war films ever made”. Perhaps Brian was thinking back to his experiences at Gallipoli when making the film and it spurred him on to ensure the men of Arnhem were remembered? As is usual with Hurst films he gives a role to folk from ‘back home’ and in Theirs is the Glory two of the actors we see are Jack Bateman from County Down and Tommy Scullion from Ballymena.
His last film Playboy of the Western World was released in 1962. He died in London on 26th September 1986.
“Brian Desmond Hurst gave me my first break in acting, for which I shall be forever grateful. He
introduced me to a great many important actors and directors, offered sage advice and set me on a path
which I have enjoyed immensely. I salute him”. Sir Roger Moore
“Soldier, Artist, Patriot, Director, Producer, Collector, and, most of all a Great Friend and companion who
brought joy and laughter wherever he went. We will always cherish our friendship and memories of
Brian”. Dan Ford for the Ford family
“It is with enormous pleasure that we are able to dedicate the fourth Directors Guild Blue Plaque to
Brian Desmond Hurst, a director of enormous talent, whose memory we are thrilled to be able to honour
in this way.” Simon Campbell-Jones of the Directors Guild Trust
“Brian Desmond Hurst epitomises great directing; he brought the experiences of his life unflinchingly to
his work with the eye of the artist, the heart of of soldier and the soul of an Irishman.”Ivor Benjamin, Chair, Directors Guild of Great Britain