Variety (Jan 1940)

44 PICTURES Thirty-fourth VARIETY Anniversary Wednesday, January 3, 1940 RATING THE CAMERAMEN Hollywood, Jan. 1. With studio economies and prac- tice of reducing shooting schedules on big productions instituted during the year; the ace cameramen, with few exceptions, found little oppor- tunity to smack through with out- standing jobs in the photographic line. Over all, quality of photog- raphy has greatly improved during 1939. The faster and finer grain neg- atives of Eastman, together with general acceptance of new and more sensitive photoelectric exposure me- ters, gave impetus to raising quality of cameraman's work all around. But studio economies necessitated that the contract cameramen, most of whom had been accustomed to stand- ing by waiting for the big pictures to get to the starting line, take the rank and file of pictures in turn. Six of this year's top 10 are there because of consistent assignments on A productions. Tony Gaudio re- mains the standby of Warners, rec- ognized for his exceptional photog- raphy under any and all conditions, and had several top productions to work on during the year. Joe Rut- tenberg and George Fplsey have con- tinued their fine standards at Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer and split most of the big ones on that lot between them. Gregg Toland had the advan- tage of shooting Samuel Goldwyn productions, all of which wore made I with plenty of time and attention to ■ general production quality. Theodor I Spaikuhl rolled into the first 10 for his photography on "Be.iu Geste' and I 'Rulers of the Sea,' two of Para- mount's big. ones for the ye.Tr. Ru- dolph Mate is credited with 'Love Top Specialists SPECIAL EFFECTS, PHOCESS AND BACKGROUND SHOTS Farciot Eduoart—Paramount Gordon Jennings—Paramount. Byron Hnskins—Warners. Vernon Walker—RKO. Fred Scrsen—20th-Fox. Jack Cosgrove—Selznik. AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY Elmer Dyer. Charles Marshall. EXTERIORS Archie Stout. Wilfrid Cline (Technicolor). Affair' and 'The Real Glory,' while Ernest Haller's photographic direc- tion of 'Gone With the Wind' Is one of the finest jobs of the year. Jo- seph Valentine, who has been in the select 10 for the two previous years, photographed the Deanna Durbin features and other A's at Universal, Rudolph Mate has a hankering to get into a post of either director or producer and is aiming towards that ; goal. Karl Frcund may also take i another crack at directing this year although he still ranks as a top cameraman. Hal Mohr, who attempt- ed a short .stretch nt directing, got back behind the camera to photo- graph 'Destry Rides Again.' Stuart Thompson was the only cinematographer during the " year drawing promotion from a second to first. Russell Harlan, photo!<raph- ing the Hopalong Cas-sidy features for Harry Sherman, gained attention for his exceptional exteriors which did much to lift the values of the pictures through sceiric beauty and camera effects. Harry Stradling and Fred A. Young, two of the top cameramen in England, arrived in Hollywood dur- ing the year and found no trouble in gettmg local assignments. Stradling photographed 'Pygmalion' In London, while Young handled camera direc- tion on the Herbert Wilcox-Anne Neagle features, and 'Mr. Chips.' Yoimg came here in the spring to collaborate on photography of 'Nurse Edith Caveir with Joe August. Special effects and process engi- neers distinguished themselves dur- ing the year with some outstanding work in their fields. Farciot Edouart's process shots for 'Rulers of the Sea' and 'Geronimo' were most effective, and saved Paramount thousands of First 10 Cameramen (Listed Alphabetically) George Folscy Joe Huttenberg Tony Gaudio Leon Shamroy Bert Glennon Theodor Spnrkuhl Ernest Haller Gregg Toland Rudolph Mate Joseph Valentine SECOND TEN Joe August William Daniels James Wong Howe Charles Lang, Jr. Peverell Morley George Barnes Karl Freund Merritt Gerstad Ray June Oliver Marsh Victor Milner Ernest Palmer Sol PoUto Karl Stniss Ted TetzlaS THIBD TEN Arthur Miller John Seltz Leo Tovar Sid Wagner Joseph Walker dollars through his short-cutting magic. Byron Haskins at Warners provided a consistently high quality of process and background work, which included such shots for Tech- nicolor productions. Fred Sersen of 20th-Fox provided some most effec- tive special effects for 'The llains Came,' while Jack Cosgrove's wiz- ardry Is studded throughout Selz- nick'B 'Gone With the Wind.' Aerial camera experts, Dyer and Marsholl, had less work the past year thaii formerly, due mainly to prac- tice of studios In utilizing process background shots for air photog- raphy, (except for long shots and stunts), Archie Stout continued as top exterior specialist, handling sec- ond groups of several units, including 'Real Glory' and 'Rebecca.' Wilfrid Cline rated attention as Technicolor exterior expert through his outdoor photography on second tmiis of 'Gone With the Wind' and other color pro- ductions. CHARLES BOYER RONALD COLMAN