Articles & Texticles

Continuing a series about Art Directors in the British film industry up to 1948, when the book containing these articles was published.

This chapter deals with Fred Pusey (1909 – 1983)

Pusey went over to Brazil and up the River Amazon to collect data for a film entitled ‘End of the River’; then turned to a vastly different subject, the historical backgrounds to `Esther Waters’ for Ian Dalrymple, re-creating the Victorian atmosphere of the 1860’s.

Esther Waters Conté, Wessex Films 1948
(Please click these thumbnails to enlarge them)

Interestingly, Peter Proud was production designer and director on this picture.

Esther Waters Pen & wash, Wessex Films 1948

Esther Waters Pen & wash, Wessex Films 1948

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After five years’ practice in an architect’s office Fred Pusey decided he had had enough and in 1930 got a job as an Assistant Art Director with British and Dominion Films at a period when `quickies’ were being turned out one a month.
This was good experience and after working as Art Director on a film for Basil Dean he went back to the job of assistant with Vincent Korda with whom he had ample opportunity of learning the job under one of the ablest masters.

Vincent Korda had a great regard for Pusey, who worked with him on ‘Things to Come’, ‘Four Feathers,’ and ‘The Drum’. An opportunity came along for him to design on his own and he designed the sets for a number of films including ‘Land Without Music’ and a film for Omnia entitled ‘The Challenge’ which showed him to be a very capable young designer.

This was followed by two films for Michael Powell, ‘Spy in Black’ and `Q-Planes’, and then at Vincent Korda’s request he joined him again to help with the ‘Thief of Baghdad’- but towards the end of this he left to join Micky Powell again as Art Director on ‘49th Parallel’, on which film Dave Rawnsley was also working.

During the war, Pusey became Officer in charge of Production, S.E.A.C. Film Unit, and soon became aware of ‘the power of the film as a medium to aid international understanding and destroy the fictitious barriers between the various religions and political groups, particularly between East and West’.

In 1946, after working with Rawnsley on his schemes for streamlining film production, Pusey went over to Brazil and up the River Amazon to collect data for a film entitled ‘End of the River’; then turned to a vastly different subject, the historical backgrounds to `Esther Waters’ for Ian Dalrymple, re-creating the Victorian atmosphere of the 1860’s.

Pusey has recently been working with Bill Lane as his sketch artist, preferring to concentrate on the planned approach to set design for though a very able black-and-white artist, he feels very reticent about his ability in that direction.

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(Excerpted from: “Art & Design In The British Film” A Pictorial Directory of British Art Directors and their work. Compiled by Edward Carrick, 1947 )

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