Peter Proud (born Ralph Priestman Proud, 6 May 1913, Glasgow - 1989, London) was a British film art director.[1] He made a major contribution to wartime camouflage and deception operations in the Western Desert, especially in the siege of Tobruk.
In 1928, Proud left school at age 15 and started work at the Elstree film studios on Alfred Hitchcock films including Murder! (1930) and Rich and Strange.[2] In 1932 he joined Gaumont British as assistant designer to Alfred Junge. The British Film Institute's Raymond Durgnat described him as an "ace production designer".[3]
In 1935 he moved to Gainsborough Pictures,[4] and in 1936 he became an art director at Warner Bros., where he worked on Michael Powell's film Something Always Happens.[1] [2]
Proud worked as a camouflage officer under Geoffrey Barkas in the Western Desert in the Second World War, and was responsible for effective camouflage and deception in the Siege of Tobruk.[5] [6] With Steven Sykes, he created the dummy port at Ras al Hilal to divert enemy attention from the Eighth Army's vital supply ports.[7] He was a creative camoufleur, inventing the "Net Gun Pit", a quickly-erected structure of netting and canvas, that from the air closely resembled an anti-aircraft gun in a sandbagged pit.[2] [8]
After the war, Proud ran his own production company. He worked on the TV series The Buccaneers and The Adventures of Robin Hood at Nettlefold Studios.[2] [9] [10]
Proud worked, mainly as art director, on films including:[1]