Battle to give ‘forgotten’ Belfast film-maker his place in history

A nephew of an east Belfast man, who rose to the top of the film-making world in the golden age of cinema, is determined his illustrious relative’s achievements are fully recognised in his home country.
Brian Desmond Hurst (right) directing Alec Guinness and Murial Pavlow on the set of Malta Story in 1953Brian Desmond Hurst (right) directing Alec Guinness and Murial Pavlow on the set of Malta Story in 1953
Brian Desmond Hurst (right) directing Alec Guinness and Murial Pavlow on the set of Malta Story in 1953

Despite having set both Richard Attenborough and Roger Moore on the road to stardom, Brian Desmond Hurst, who produced and directed the 1951 classic Scrooge, is not an instantly recognisable name in Northern Ireland.

Hurst’s own life story is a triumph over adversity tale that would in itself be worthy of the big screen.

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A shipyard worker’s son orphaned at a young age, the 19-year-old linen worker would volunteer during the first week of the Great War and faced the full horrors of the slaughter at Gallipoli with the Royal Irish Rifles.

As great-nephew Allan Esler Smith explains, Hurst’s love of art would take him to New York, via Toronto and Paris, where he was given a break into the world of film by the legendary John Ford.

“He left Belfast in 1920 to study art in Toronto and from there went to study in Paris. He then went to study in New York and became an artist,” Mr Smith said.

“He managed to sell a painting to John Ford who then gave him a job in set design. The pair got on like a house on fire and Brian went on to appear in front of the camera as an extra in a [1928] film called Hangman’s House. When you watch the film and see Brian, he is standing beside John Wayne who was also an extra.

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“When he used to come over to Bangor to see us a Christmas when I was young, I used to think he was winding me up with all the people he could name-check. That would have been a regular occurrence between about 1971 and when he died, aged 91, in 1986.”

Brian Desmond Hurst (right) with John Ford on the set of Dangerous Exile in 1957. Courtesy of Allan Esler SmithBrian Desmond Hurst (right) with John Ford on the set of Dangerous Exile in 1957. Courtesy of Allan Esler Smith
Brian Desmond Hurst (right) with John Ford on the set of Dangerous Exile in 1957. Courtesy of Allan Esler Smith

As well as giving Richard Attenborough his first accredited role in a movie, Hurst took a young Roger Moore under his wing and even paid for him to attend RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London. However, Hurst made his name directing war films and, in 1945, Hurst took 200 veterans of the ill-fated battle for Arnhem back to the dutch town to make the film Theirs is the Glory.

Born Hans Hurst on a Newtownards Road backstreet in the shadow of the Harland & Wolff shipyard, Brian Desmond Hurst would eventually grow old in London’s up-market Belgravia but had no love for the trappings of wealth.

His first school was New Road Elementary which was in the building now occupied by the Constitutional (Con) Club on the Newtownards Road.

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“He came in with nothing and he left with nothing. He just gave everything away,” Mr Smith said.

Brian Desmond Hurst. Image courtesy of Allan WarrenBrian Desmond Hurst. Image courtesy of Allan Warren
Brian Desmond Hurst. Image courtesy of Allan Warren

“If somebody admired a painting he just gave it to them – including an original Picasso that he just gave away.”

In 2009 Mr Smith, a forensic accountant, managed to get the Hurst estate established and was then able to pull together all of the available archive material.

“His name was in the wilderness so, back in 2009, I got a bit fed up with this.

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“The big film studio down at Titanic, the one with the yellow and black stripes opened in 2012, is actually called the Hurst Sound Stage but even that is not that well known,” Mr Smith added.

Theirs is the Glory book coverTheirs is the Glory book cover
Theirs is the Glory book cover

In 2016, Mr Smith co-wrote a book with military historian David Truesdale called ‘Theirs is the Glory – Arnhem, Hurst and Conflict on Film.’

Roger Moore, who would go on to find fame and fortune in the James Bond role, never forgot the debt of gratitude he owed to Hurst and was more than happy to write the foreword for Theirs is the Glory.

“In researching the world of Hurst I was really taken by his war film output, and how that crossed over into his own experience as a fighter in the First World War,” Mr Smith said.

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A new book on Hurst’s prolific film career will be released in February 2021. ‘Hurst on Film’ by Caitlin Smith and Stephen Wyatt, chronicles the film-maker’s life and career “based on interviews conducted by Wyatt with Hurst in the mid 1970s”.

Stephen Wyatt has woven together around a thousand images from the vast Hurst archive designed by Caitlin Smith.

Wyatt is an award-winning writer for radio, television and theatre and Caitlin Smith is a fashion, marketing and brand specialist.

Hurst on Film book cover - by Caitlin Smith and Stephen WyattHurst on Film book cover - by Caitlin Smith and Stephen Wyatt
Hurst on Film book cover - by Caitlin Smith and Stephen Wyatt

The Hurst Estate has provided access to its full archive for the purposes of this book which runs to over 500 pages and covers the films made by Hurst in three continents over four decades.

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