The Grandeur and Gift that is the Silver Screen
The Passing of Joe Dunton, (1945-2025)

Joe Dunton in Bradford, March 2011 and one of his favorite movie stars, the lovely Sophia. Image by Thomas Hauerslev

"The Grandeur and Gift that is the Silver Screen"

Thus Joe Dunton described the industry that he loved and dedicated his illustrious life to.

It was a pleasure to enjoy the company of Joe Dunton. He was very approachable and ready to share his immense knowledge of the Art and Science of Cinema with those inside and outside the Industry in which he achieved such greatness and renown.

• Go to Joe Dunton Q/A
• Go to The Making of "Dance Craze"
• Go to Speech for Joe Dunton

He first made his mark alongside Mark Lester who starred as Oliver! in the greatest British musical of them all. He pioneered the groundbreaking video assist system for the Mitchell 35 the flagship camera for film production. This was of invaluable help to Sir Carol Reed and his team in giving immediate playback as opposed to waiting for the “rushes” overnight. The stunning perfection of production numbers such as “Who will buy?” where over 400 dancers were choreographed, owed a great deal to this pioneering development.

His collaboration with Stanley Kubrick, who valued his immense innovative skills, was legendary, running from "A Clockwork Orange" to the last Great Kubrick Masterpiece, "Eyes Wide Shut". Together they changed the world of cinema.

Many more brilliant inventions followed, the heated camera eyepiece, the Ladderpad, the May Bazooka, the Mitchell Vitesse geared head and the video assist for the Louma Crane, which won David Samuelson the Oscar. Joe Dunton Cameras Ltd produced the world’s first Film and HD Camera. He later became a leading light at Panavision, at the pinnacle of the industry. His awards included: The MBE, Lifetime Achievement Award from Cine Gear Expo the Society of Camera Operators and the prestigious BAFTA.

He set up the well attended BSC Expo, the leading annual industry exhibition. On top of all that, he directed a Masterpiece - "Dance Craze", that glorious evocation of a golden age of exuberant youth and its creative expression in Popular Dance Music. It has a freshness and immediacy which resonates to this day. The time has surely come for “Dance Craze” to be issued in 4K Bluray for a wider audience to love and enjoy and as a fitting memorial to this great man.