As a child of 4-5 I used to spend time at the lakeside home of our landlord. This guy was more like a Grandfather to me but since I was so young, I mostly remember stories about him as told by my older brother who was a teenager at the time. I grew up being told that he was a camera man on the 1933 King Kong but as a kid, I couldn't care less but as an adult with an interest in movies I've recently been trying to verify this story. I couldn't quite remember his name but I thought it was King but I couldn't find a King who worked with cameras on King Kong. I finally broke down and asked my brother what the guy's name was and as soon as I read the email it all flooded back. I remember playing on the floor of his lakeside home. Mostly cinder block constructed but supposedly all layed by landlord. His home was full of furniture from all over the world as well as pieces he made himself.
After some research I realized why the confusion about King Kong. The movie was actually the 1949 "Mighty Joe Young" and our landlord was famed cinematographer, J. Roy Hunt. His career ranged from 1916 to 1953. My brother says he won an Oscar for Beau Geste but although Mr. Hunt was the cinematographer on that film, I've not been able to verify that he ever won an Academy Award.
I now remember stories that Mr. Hunt would tell of being in WWI, WWII and the Korean War though I don't think he served in the military directly. He supposedly was asked by President Eisenhower personally to go into North Korea and spy. He would take film cans and conceal a camera in them and then while filming what the North Koreans would allow, he would use the concealed cameras in the film cans to film things of interest to the US. I don't know if this is true but I do remember an area across from our home that we rented from him would flood and he could not develop that part of the subdivision. A local chemical plant claimed it was the Tennessee Valley Authority's fault and TVA claimed it was the chemical plants fault. My brother was in his living room when he angrily called Bobby Kennedy, then the US Attorney General, and talked to him directly, explaining his predicament. The next morning a government official arrived at our local airport with a copy of a map of the U.S. before it was the U.S. and with this map Mr. Hunt was able to call the TVA with his proof that they owned the land that was causing the flooding. Within 2 weeks there was heavy equipment pushing around dirt across from our house and the problem was resolved. So Mr. Hunt apparently carried some weight and I remember playing around on the dozers parked in the late afternoons so as a 5 year old, I was in heaven with dirt, mud and heavy equipment to play on.
Mr. Hunt would pick up a phone and call people that he knew or had worked for without a second thought. My brother remembers visiting when Mr. Hunt picked up his phone and called Lee Marvin to just chat.
Anyway, it's nice to finally put some facts to my vague childhood memories and to remember a great man to whom I was too young to appreciate his accomplishments and only remember him as Mr. Hunt - our landlord.
After some research I realized why the confusion about King Kong. The movie was actually the 1949 "Mighty Joe Young" and our landlord was famed cinematographer, J. Roy Hunt. His career ranged from 1916 to 1953. My brother says he won an Oscar for Beau Geste but although Mr. Hunt was the cinematographer on that film, I've not been able to verify that he ever won an Academy Award.
I now remember stories that Mr. Hunt would tell of being in WWI, WWII and the Korean War though I don't think he served in the military directly. He supposedly was asked by President Eisenhower personally to go into North Korea and spy. He would take film cans and conceal a camera in them and then while filming what the North Koreans would allow, he would use the concealed cameras in the film cans to film things of interest to the US. I don't know if this is true but I do remember an area across from our home that we rented from him would flood and he could not develop that part of the subdivision. A local chemical plant claimed it was the Tennessee Valley Authority's fault and TVA claimed it was the chemical plants fault. My brother was in his living room when he angrily called Bobby Kennedy, then the US Attorney General, and talked to him directly, explaining his predicament. The next morning a government official arrived at our local airport with a copy of a map of the U.S. before it was the U.S. and with this map Mr. Hunt was able to call the TVA with his proof that they owned the land that was causing the flooding. Within 2 weeks there was heavy equipment pushing around dirt across from our house and the problem was resolved. So Mr. Hunt apparently carried some weight and I remember playing around on the dozers parked in the late afternoons so as a 5 year old, I was in heaven with dirt, mud and heavy equipment to play on.
Mr. Hunt would pick up a phone and call people that he knew or had worked for without a second thought. My brother remembers visiting when Mr. Hunt picked up his phone and called Lee Marvin to just chat.
Anyway, it's nice to finally put some facts to my vague childhood memories and to remember a great man to whom I was too young to appreciate his accomplishments and only remember him as Mr. Hunt - our landlord.
