MR. C. F. ESKELL

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 538, 15 December 1928, Page 10 (Supplement)

MR. C. F. ESKELL

UNIVERSAL FILMS Perhaps no man can lay claim to such a varied and colourful career that has fitted him for the position he now occupies as Mr. Clifford Eskell. general manager for Universal Film Manufacturing Co., Ltd., in New Zealand. Mr. Eskell’s father was an eminent dentist and desired his son to follow the same profession. At the Dental College, however, the young fellow, found he had a factulty for sleight-of-hand manipulation, and then came the lure of the footlights. Conjuring, not dentistry, became his profession, and in a very short while his dexterity in this direction carried him away from his native land of Australia. He spent many years in America and England staging his “act” in the leading vaudeville theatres throughout those countries.

During his travels in America, Mr. Eskell was afforded an intimate insight into the motion picture business, then it it’s infancy, and was one of the few who foresaw its immense possibilities. It did not take long to decide that his future lay in pictures, and when he returned once more to his native land, he wasted no time in approaching or e of the progressive picture distributing companies of that time, the Fraser Film Service, with whom he joined. This company, incidentally, was the recognised distribu-

tor of Universal pictures. When Universal actually did open up branches throughout Australasia, Mr. Eskell naturally joined their forces. His keen foresight and extensive knowledge of showmanship quickly earned for him an executive position, and in a very short while he was elevated to a managership. Mr. Eskell has been handling the destinies of Universal pictures in New Zealand for the past six years.