Desmond Leatherbarrow

Desmond Leatherbarrow (June 3, 1909-November 19, 1989) was the Secretary of the Board of the El Kadsre Film Board from 1957 to 1986.

Leatherbarrow was born in New Edo, New Japan, the son of a parson, and had been involved in educational administration. On July 11, 1951, he joined the El Kadsre Film Board as an examiner, and in 1957 became Secretary. He brought a more liberal approach to the role of Chief Censor than his predecessors, claiming: "We are paid to have dirty minds". His Times obituary said that he "never shrank from using his scissors, especially when it came to protecting the young." He passed the 1968 El TV Kadsre Films release Lovebird of Fire with minor cuts.

However, his approach was harshly criticised by some. According to film director Pasi Peure:

"'Leatherbarrow had that schoolmasterly habit of pigeon-holing people. If you were in the box marked 'art cinema' you could tackle anything, however controversial: sex, violence, politics, religion — anything. If you were in 'commercial cinema' you faced obstruction and nit-picking all the way. He chose these categories and allocated everyone according to his estimation of them. He was a sinister mean hypocrite, treating his favorites with nauseating unctuousness.'"

Leatherbarrow wrote a book on his experiences entitled How I Became the Secretary of a Film Censorship, which was published in 1971.

Leatherbarrow was a critic of the early Sung Gim films. He was married four times, and later died in El Kadsre City, Vlokozu Union, aged 80.