The next talk I attended on the Sunday morning was ‘The
Early Years of A.P. Films’. The guest panel consisted of director, David Elliot
and puppeteers, Mary Turner and Judith Shutt. Director Des Saunders was scheduled to attend,
however ill health meant he was unable
to appear.
The talk, with two of AP Films original puppeteers, not
surprisingly had a strong bias towards puppetry, with replicas of Lady Penelope
and Colonel White sharing the stage.
David appeared with White, who ironically he’d presumably
have never met, having left A
P films (or Century 21 as it would have been by then) before Captain Scarlet
started.
Mary Turner started with A P Films way back during the
filming of Four Feather Falls, working with the late Christine Glanville, who
was the person in charge of A P Films puppet section.
Everybody on the panel had the greatest respect for
Christine, not only for her skills as a puppeteer but also for her infinite
patience and pleasant nature. This
publicity photo shows Mary with Christine on the left.
Mary was the original sculptress for Lady Penelope, who, as
many of you will know based the puppet on Sylvia Anderson.
Judith Shutt whose family were all professional puppeteers
in the fifties joined A P films during the filming of Fireball XL5. She left
the company following Thunderbird 6. Her
brother, Ernest, known as Plugg also joined the team during the filming of
Thunderbirds and went on to work in film special effects.
While my interest in
Gerry Anderson’s productions are primarily models and special effects
it’s right and proper to be reminded of the skills and dedication of the A P Film
puppeteers.
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