American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1942)

AM^,lK?s« l roject Ujoiif f ictiireS ON f|t'^^f$ <'I-A^^ BEADED AJMHiSCREEN (Reg U 17 VEKYONE "sits up and takes no*-^ tice" when you start showing your home movies and color slides on a Da-Lite Glass-Beaded Screen. Its specially processed surface sharpens details and adds breath-taking realism to every scene. The fabric is specially processed to slay white and pliable. Because dust and dirt accumulate on any screen over a period of years, Da-Lite does not give a life-time guarantee of permanent whiteness, for to do so would be meaningless. This famous Glass-Beaded fabric, the result of 33 years of screen manufacturing experience, is available in: 9 CONVENIENT MOUNTINGS including the Da-Lite Chjillenger shown above. Although widely imitated, the Ghallenger remains unchallenged for its ease of operation and sturdy, rigid construction. The Ghallenger is the first and only screen with square tubing in tripod and extension rod that can be raised to desired height in one opi-ration, without requiring separate adjustments of <-ase or fabric to maintain correct screen proportions. Ask for a demonstration at your dealer's today and you will understand why a recent survey by a lending photographic magazine shows that its readers own more I)a-Lite Screens than all other makes combined. Write for literature. DA-LITE SCREEN CO., INC. Dept. 5 AC, 2711 No. Crawford Ave., Chicaqo, III. J2ua/ii^ Saleend jfi^ Photography of the Month (Continued from Page 209) or film editor is somewhat at fault, for too frequently overly close angles are used on action which could be better told in long-shots, with possibly an occasional, brief close-up, but without the intermediate angles which are too often used. THIS TIME FOR KEEPS Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Production. Director of Photography: Charles Lawton, A.S.C. Charles Lawton has done more impressive photographic jobs than this, but never any that were better suited to their vehicle. There's nothing to the story but lightly pleasant entertainment, and Lawton very wisely keeps his camera from trying to glamorize things, or to use tricks of lighting and composition to magnify the mood of what are actually mere young lovers' tiffs. It is in ordinary little pictures like this, however, that the amateur and the maker of commercial films can learn more about lighting than he can from the much more pretentious "A's," for in pictures like this, the cinematographer is working in sets closely keyed to reality, and is seeking to get over an impression of reality rather than any particular dramatic mood. From this viewpoint, "This Time For Keeps," like many another well-photographed program picture, is what we would call really profitable filmfare for the camera-minded — and diverting, as well. TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Production. Director of Photography: Clyde De Vinna, A.S.C. Photographically as well as dramatically, MGM's "Tarzan" pictures are cast pretty well in the same mold. Clyde De Vinna's treatment of this one maintains excellently the pattern of visual pictorialism set by the earlier films in the series. However, we'll admit that we'd like to see one of these "Tarzan" epics done with more bona-fide exteriors (rather than studio-made ones, with real scenery, rather than painted backings, as a background for Tarzan's heroics) so that DeVinna's surpassing skill at pictorializing real exteriors could have full play. The treatment of the climaxing action is an interesting piece of cutting, though we personally thought much of this action was too greatly undercranked to give the most convincing effect. a taxi and escort Louise Huff — one of the reigning lovelies of 1914 — to her Long Island home! "I so earnestly wanted to make good with the Lasky Company that I tried to learn everything possible about what I was doing. I won't say I literally followed the example of the Admiralty Lord in 'Pinafore,' and 'cleaned the windows and swept the floor, and polished up the handle of the big front door' — but I came as close to it as possible. I learned how to run the elevator (as well as errands!), to operate the switchboard, and everything else I could think of to make myself indispensable. "Finally there came an opportunity to go permanently out on the set as assistant to one of the cameramen. Assistant cameramen were a very new luxury in those pioneer days. Originally, the cameraman had to do all the work; but one day one of the Lasky 'aces' had an accident, and couldn't carry his camera. So he asked for — and got — an assistant. Soon, all the others demanded assistants, too, on the grounds that if ]ie had one, they deserved one, too. "Anyway, there I was, a full-fledged assistant cameraman. It was my first introduction to photography, and somehow I took to it instinctively. I'd hate to say how may nights I stayed at the studio helping my boss — or any other cameraman who happened to be working late — shoot titles, develop stills, make prints, check and repair cameras, and so on. I started making pictures on my own hook, too; bought a big 4x5 plate camera, and photographed everything I could think of — landscapes, portraits, still-lifes, and everything else — developing and printing my own pictures, and bringing the results to the various cameramen with whom I might be working for criticism. "Oddly enough, that picture-making RUBY CAMERA EXCHANGE Rents . . . Sells . . . Exchanges Everything You Need for the PRODUCTION & PROJECTION of Motion Pictures Provided by a Veteran Organization of Specialists 35 nrtm 16 nnm. 33 7/eaAd George Folsey (Continued from Page 204) boy or maybe just a fresh kid. And I still remember how grown-up I felt when one afternoon they told me off to take IN BUSINESS SINCE 1910 729 Seventh Ave., New York City Cable Address: RUBYCAM 230 May, 1942 American Cinematographer