GEORGE BARNES

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#2: "From This Day Forward" [1945]

#3: With his wife Joan Blondell

GEORGE BARNES

Born: 16 October 1892, Pasadena, Calif., USA, as George Scott Barnes.

Died: 30 May 1953, Los Angeles, Calif., USA.

Career: Having started as a still ph for Thomas H. Ince in 1917, Barnes quickly rose through the ranks to director of photography. In the course of his career he spent time at just about every major studio in Hollywood: Paramount [1919-21], Metro [1924-25], United Artists [1926-31], MGM [1932], Warner Brothers [1933-38], 20th Century-Fox [1940-41], Universal [1942] and RKO [1942-48].

Was a member of the ASC.

Was married [1933-36] to actress Joan Blondell, and was the father of television executive Norman Scott [Barnes] Powell, who was adopted by his mother's second husband, Dick Powell, in February 1938.

Awards [selection]: 'Oscar' AA nom [1927-28] for 'The Devil Dancer', 'The Magic Flame' & 'Sadie Thompson'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1928-29] for 'Our Dancing Daughters'; 'Oscar' AA [1940; b&w] for 'Rebecca'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1945; b&w] for 'Spellbound' & [color] for 'The Spanish Main'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1950; color] for 'Samson and Delilah'.

After more or less routine work for Warners' musicals of the 30's, George Barnes' career gradually became more and more interesting. From his monochrome films two stand out: 'Jane Eyre' and 'Force of Evil', where he created the same dark and brooding atmosphere, which he also probably strived for on his best RKO films, but never quite achieved. Still, apart from Nicholas Musuraca, nobody at RKO was quite as good at making an ordinary set look good or at least interesting with various lighting and shadow effects. [Markku Salmi in 'Film Dope', No. 2, March 1973.]

An artist of great versatility, George S. Barnes was one of the masters of Hollywood cinematography, his handsome, stylish work best served in visually lush melodramas like 'Rebecca', 'Jane Eyre', and 'Frenchman's Creek'. Barnes excelled in many genres - musicals, westerns, or science-fiction - but could also create a darker, more realistic visualization for social drama and film noir.

In the silent era, Barnes's finest achievements included 'Janice Meredith', a Revolutionary War drama in the Griffith style; the Valentino vehicle 'The Son of the Sheik', with its softly lit interiors and exhilarating desert photography of Arab horsemen; and 'The Winning of Barbara Worth', highlighted by a climactic and still impressive flood sequence.

Barnes became Samuel Goldwyn's number one cameraman in 1925 with 'The Dark Angel', and his exquisite visuals became a Goldwyn hallmark in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was responsible for the studio's important romantic team Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, both in their solo vehicles and their tandem efforts. Barnes's assistant and eventual co-photographer on the Goldwyn films was Gregg Toland, who learned cinematography under Barnes's tutelage. Toland's later work on 'Dead End', 'Wuthering Heights', and 'Citizen Kane' shows Barnes's influence in the refinement of deep focus, expressive camera movement, and faultless lighting.

'Bulldog Drummond' exemplifies their artistry together. The film is an early precursor to the James Bond pictures, and allows for a bravura photographic style. Imaginative tracking shots are coupled with William Cameron Menzies's eccentric sets to create a visual feast. Tremendously mobile for one of the first talking pictures, 'Bulldog Drummond' is set almost entirely at night, and Barnes and Toland eschew day-for-night for actual nocturnal exteriors.

Toland succeeded Barnes as Goldwyn's ace cameraman, and Barnes moved on to brief stints at MGM and Fox before settling at Warners. He brought a gritty, realistic look to message movies like 'Massacre', 'Black Legion', and 'Marked Woman', but usually was assigned to musicals. He shot a trio of Busby Berkeley classics and many lesser musicals. Barnes left Warners in 1938 for more rewarding films, and found himself very much in demand.

Henry King's 'Jesse James' was a tremendous change from the sound-stage musicals, a lavish western adventure filmed in dazzling three-strip Technicolor. Barnes imparts a staggering sense of movement to the proceedings, his exteriors bringing life to the vigorous action. Barnes also did the sequel in Technicolor, 'The Return of Frank James', this time with Fritz Lang directing. The color was just as vibrant, but Lang gave darker meaning to the film, reflected in Barnes's claustrophobic interiors.

Barnes's 1940s work is impeccable. He won an 'Oscar' for Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rebecca', a black-and-white masterpiece. Manderley, the manor house of Daphne du Maurier's novel, was given a brooding, foreboding quality by Barnes's play of light and shadow. He also photographed 'Spellbound' for Hitchcock, famed for the surrealistic Salvador Dali-designed dream sequence, a flashy, disproportionate, bizarre experiment.

Barnes furnished a darker view than was normal for Frank Capra's films. In 'Meet John Doe', he painted the images in starkly defined high contrast, then softened the focus for the climactic rooftop scene in the snow. His later Capras and the Bing Crosby musicals were by necessity much lighter in tone and text. Barnes's films for Leo McCarey during this period were slick studio jobs with a director noted for his straightforward, uncomplicated camera style. Barnes's main challenge in the McCarey films was to give the Hollywood glamour treatment to the stars.

Barnes also distinguished himself with outstanding color work. In his epics for Cecil B. DeMille, the Biblical 'Samson and Delilah', and the circus marathon 'The Greatest Show on Earth', Barnes employed garish colors for the director's showy vision.

A consummate cinematographer, George Barnes had a prolific career exemplified by a high degree of lighting sophistication, an intuitive mastery of deep-focus photography, and a creative sense of composition and camera movement. He helped set the Hollywood standard for studio cinematography, yet could also transcend the limitations of the system and paint artistically lasting works of cinema. [From article by John A. Gallagher on the www.filmreference.com website.]

FILMS [1 reel = c. 10m]
1918	Keys of the Righteous [Jerome Storm] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: Charles J. Stumar; prod Thomas H. Ince Productions, Inc. (THIP)
1918	Naughty, Naughty! [Jerome Storm] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: John S. Stumar; prod Thomas H. Ince Corporation (THIC)
1918	The Biggest Show on Earth [Jerome Storm] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: Charles J. Stumar; prod THIC
1918	Desert Wooing [Jerome Storm] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: Edwin Willat; prod THIC
1918	The Vamp [Jerome Storm] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: John S. Stumar; prod THIC
1918	The Marriage Ring [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: John S. Stumar; prod THIC
1918	Vive la France!/The Cross of Shame [R(oy) William Neill] b&w; 5 reels; cph: John S. Stumar; prod THIC
1918	When Do We Eat? [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: Robert Newhard; prod THIC
1918	Fuss and Feathers [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: Robert Newhard; prod THIC
1918	Dangerous Hours [Fred Niblo] b&w; 7 reels; prod THIC
1919	Happy Though Married [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; ?; ph: Robert Newhard; prod THIC
1919	Partners Three [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIC
1919	The Law of Men/Nemesis [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIC
1919	The Haunted Bedroom [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIC
1919	The Virtuous Thief [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIC
1919	Stepping Out [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIP
1919	What Every Woman Learns [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIC
1919	The Woman in the Suitcase [Fred Niblo] b&w; 6 reels; prod THIP
1920	The False Road [Fred Niblo] b&w; 6 reels; prod THIC
1920	Hairpins [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIC
1920	Her Husband's Friend [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIC
1920	Silk Hosiery [Fred Niblo] b&w; 5 reels; prod THIP
1921	The Beautiful Gambler [William Worthington] b&w; 5 reels; prod Universal Film Manufacturing Company (UFMC)
1921	The Heart Line [Frederick A. Thom(p)son] b&w; 6 reels; prod Leah Baird Productions
1921	The Bronze Bell [James W. Horne] b&w; 6 reels; prod THIC
1921	Opened Shutters [William Worthington] b&w; 5 reels; prod UFMC
1922	Woman, Wake Up! [Marcus Harrison] b&w; 6 reels; prod Florence Vidor Productions (FVP)
1922	The Real Adventure [King Vidor] b&w; 5 reels; prod Cameo Pictures/FVP
1922	Dusk to Dawn [King Vidor] b&w; 6 reels; prod FVP
1922	Conquering the Woman [King Vidor] b&w; 6 reels; prod King W. Vidor Productions
1922	Peg o' My Heart [King Vidor] b&w; 8 reels; prod Metro Pictures Corporation (MPC)
1923	Alice Adams/Foolish Daughters [Rowland V. Lee] b&w; 6 reels; prod Encore Pictures
1923	The Love Piker [E. Mason Hopper] b&w; 7 reels; prod Cosmopolitan Productions (CP)
1923	Desire [Rowland V. Lee] b&w; 7 reels; prod MPC
1924	Yolanda [Robert G. Vignola] b&w; 11 reels; cph: Ira H. Morgan; prod CP
1924	Janice Meredith/The Beautiful Rebel [E. Mason Hopper] b&w; 11 reels; cph: Ira H. Morgan; prod CP
1925	Zander the Great [George Hill] b&w; 8 reels; cph: Harold Wenstrom; prod Cosmopolitan Pictures
1925	The Teaser [William A. Seiter] b&w; 7 reels; prod Universal-Jewel (Universal Pictures Corporation)
1925	The Dark Angel [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 8 reels; prod Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.

#1: [Right] with dir Clarence Brown - "The Eagle"

#2: [Top] with Rudolph Valentino [left] and Clarence Brown + daughter

1925	The Eagle [Clarence Brown] b&w; 7 reels; uncred cph: Devereaux Jennings; prod Art Finance Corporation
1926	Mademoiselle Modiste [Robert Z. Leonard] b&w; 7 reels; prod Corinne Griffith Productions
1926	The Son of the Sheik [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 7 reels; the last film of Rudolph Valentino; prod Feature Productions

1926	The Winning of Barbara Worth [Henry King] b&w; 9 reels; cph: Thomas Brannigan (as Thomas E. Branigan); tech efx: Ned Herbert Mann; prod Samuel Goldwyn, Inc. (SGI)
1926	The Night of Love [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 8 reels; cph: Thomas Brannigan; prod SGI
1927	Venus of Venice [Marshall Neilan] b&w; 7 reels; prod Constance Talmadge Productions
1927	The Magic Flame [Henry King] b&w; 9 reels; prod SGI
1927	The Devil Dancer [Fred Niblo (finished film); (uncred) Alfred Raboch (started film) & Lynn Shores (replaced Raboch)] b&w; 8 reels; cph: Thomas Brannigan; prod SGI
1927	Sadie Thompson [Raoul Walsh] b&w; 9 reels; cph: Oliver Marsh & Robert Kurrle; restored in 1987 (with mus score); prod Gloria Swanson Productions, Inc.
1928	Two Lovers [Fred Niblo] b&w; 9 reels; silent & sound (mus score + sound efx) versions; prod SGI
1928	Our Dancing Daughters [Harry Beaumont] b&w; 9 reels; silent & sound (mus score + sound efx) versions; prod CP
1928	The Awakening [Victor Fleming] b&w; 9 reels; silent & sound (mus score + sound efx) versions; prod SGI
1928	The Rescue [Herbert Brenon] b&w; 9 reels; cph: Joseph F. Biroc & James Wong Howe; silent & sound (mus score + sound efx) versions; prod SGI
1929	This Is Heaven [Alfred Santell] b&w; cph: Gregg Toland
1929	Bulldog Drummond [F. Richard Jones & (assoc dir) A. Leslie Pearce] b&w; cph: Gregg Toland
1929	The Trespasser [Edmund Goulding] b&w; cph: Gregg Toland
1929	Condemned/Condemned to Devil's Island [Wesley Ruggles] b&w; cph: Gregg Toland
1930	Raffles [George Fitzmaurice (replaced Harry d'Arrast who was fired] b&w; cph: Gregg Toland
1930	What a Widow! [Allan Dwan] b&w
1930	A Lady's Morals/The Soul Kiss/Jenny Lind [Sidney Franklin] b&w
1930	One Heavenly Night [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; cph: Gregg Toland
1930	The Devil to Pay! [George Fitzmaurice (replaced Irving Cummings after a few days)] b&w; cph: Gregg Toland
1931	Five and Ten/Daughter of Luxury [(uncred) Robert Z. Leonard] b&w
1931	The Unholy Garden [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; uncred cph: Gregg Toland; a 'Hollywood Reporter' news item noted that the photography was uneven throughout the film and speculated that the retakes were done by a photographer other than George Barnes, who received onscreen credit; Gregg Toland is credited as co-photographer, and it is possible that he shot the additional scenes [From the TCM website]
1931	Street Scene [King Vidor] b&w; in a modern interview, director King Vidor stated that cinematographer Gregg Toland, not George Barnes, who is credited on screen, worked with him on the production [From the TCM website]
1931	The Greeks Had a Word for Them/Three Broadway Girls [Lowell Sherman & (retakes) Harry Beaumont] b&w

1931	Polly of the Circus [Alfred Santell] b&w; 69m
1932	The Wet Parade [(uncred) Victor Fleming] b&w
1932	Society Girl [Sidney Lanfield] b&w; 67m
1932	Blondie of the Follies [Edmund Goulding] b&w
1932	Sherlock Holmes [William K. Howard] b&w; 68m
1932	Broadway Bad/Her Reputation [Sidney Lanfield] b&w; 61m
1933	Peg o' My Heart [(uncred) Robert Z. Leonard] b&w
1933	Goodbye Again [Michael Curtiz (replaced assigned dir Robert Florey)] b&w; 66m
1933	Footlight Parade [Lloyd Bacon & (mus numbers) Busby Berkeley] b&w; uncred cph: Sol Polito
1933	Havana Widows [Ray Enright] b&w; 62m
1933	Massacre [Alan Crosland] b&w; 70m
1933	Gambling Lady [Archie Mayo] b&w; 66m
1934	Smarty/Hit Me Again [Robert Florey] b&w; 65m
1934	He Was Her Man [Lloyd Bacon] b&w; 70m

1934	Dames [Ray Enright & (mus numbers) Busby Berkeley] b&w; cph: Sid Hickox & Sol Polito
1934	Kansas City Princess [William Keighley] b&w; 64m
1934	Flirtation Walk [Frank Borzage] b&w; cph: Sol Polito
1934	Gold Diggers of 1935 [Busby Berkeley] b&w; filmed 1934-35
1935	In Caliente/Viva Senorita [Lloyd Bacon & (mus numbers) Busby Berkeley] b&w; cph: Sol Polito; filmed 1934 (a few days)-35
1935	Traveling Saleslady [Ray Enright] b&w; 63m; 'Variety' notes that the film was photographed with a new type of camera developed by Warner Bros., which resulted in greater definition of players against the background and a greater depth of field
1935	Broadway Gondolier [Lloyd Bacon] b&w
1935	The Irish in Us [Lloyd Bacon] b&w
1935	I Live for Love/I Live for You [Busby Berkeley & (uncred retakes) William McGann] b&w; 64m
1935	Stars Over Broadway [William Keighley; (mus numbers) Busby Berkeley & Bobby Connolly] b&w
1935	The Singing Kid [William Keighley & (uncred) Busby Berkeley] b&w; filmed 1935-36
1936	Love Begins at 20/All One Night [Frank McDonald] b&w; 58m
1936	Cain and Mabel [Lloyd Bacon] b&w
1936	Black Legion [Archie Mayo & (uncred) Michael Curtiz] b&w; sfx: Fred Jackman Jr. & H.F. Koenekamp
1936	Marked Woman [Lloyd Bacon & (uncred fill-in while L. Bacon was on his honeymoon) Michael Curtiz] b&w; sfx: James Gibbons & Robert Burks
1937	The Prince and the Pauper [William Keighley & (uncred fill-in while W. Keighley was ill) William Dieterle] b&w (also computer colorized version); uncred fill-in ph (while S. Polito was ill); ph: Sol Polito
1937	Ever Since Eve [Lloyd Bacon] b&w
1937	Varsity Show [William Keighley] b&w; ph finale (dir by Busby Berkeley); ph: Sol Polito
1937	The Barrier [Lesley Selander] b&w
1937	The Beloved Brat/A Dangerous Age [Arthur Lubin] b&w; 62m
1937	Hollywood Hotel [Busby Berkeley] b&w; ph mus numbers; ph: Charles Rosher
1937	Love, Honor and Behave [Stanley Logan] b&w
1938	Gold Diggers in Paris/The Gay Impostors [Ray Enright] b&w; ph mus numbers (dir by Busby Berkeley); ph: Sol Polito
1938	Devil's Island [William Clemens] b&w; 62m
1938	Jesse James [Henry King & (uncred fill-in while H. King was ill) Irving Cummings] c; cph: W. Howard Greene; pfx: William Mittlestedt & Ben Southland
1939	Stanley and Livingstone [Henry King] b&w; ph Safari seq (dir by Otto Brower): Sidney Wagner; sfx: Louis J. Witte; process ph: Sol Halperin; sfx: Louis J. Witte
1939	Second Fiddle [Sidney Lanfield (replaced William A. Seiter)] b&w; uncred fill-in ph (while L. Shamroy was hospitalized); ph: Leon Shamroy
1939	Here I Am a Stranger [Roy Del Ruth & (first week) William A. Seiter] b&w; uncred cph (with dir W.A. Seiter); ph: Arthur Miller
1939	Our Neighbors - The Carters [Ralph Murphy] b&w
1939	Parole Fixer [Robert Florey] b&w; 68m; ?; ph: Harry Fischbeck

1939	Rebecca [Alfred Hitchcock] b&w; uncred 2uc: Archie Stout & Lloyd Knechtel; sfx: Jack Cosgrove; prod David O. Selznick first wanted Harry Stradling or Gregg Toland as doph
1939	Free, Blonde and 21 [Ricardo Cortez] b&w; 67m; filmed 1939-40
1940	Maryland [Henry King] c; assoc ph: Ray Rennahan
1940	The Girl from Avenue A [Otto Brower] b&w; cph: Lucien Andriot
1940	The Return of Frank James [Fritz Lang] c; assoc ph: William V. Skall
1940	Meet John Doe [Frank Capra] b&w; sfx: Jack Cosgrove; montages: Slavko Vorkapich & (uncred) Don Siegel; add shooting in 1941
1940	Hudson's Bay [Irving Pichel] b&w; cph: J. Peverell Marley
1940	That Uncertain Feeling [Ernst Lubitsch] b&w; uncred cph: Merritt Gerstad
1941	Sex Hygiene [John Ford (dram seq) & Otto Brower (medical footage)] b&w; training film/26m; ; cph: Charles G. Clarke; prod The Signal Corps
1941	Lydia [Julien Duvivier] b&w; ?; ph (+ assoc prod): Lee Garmes
1941	Ladies in Retirement [Charles Vidor] b&w
1941	Unholy Partners [Mervyn LeRoy] b&w
1941	Remember the Day [Henry King] b&w
1941	Rings on Her Fingers [Rouben Mamoulian] b&w; filmed 1941-42
1942	Broadway [William A. Seiter] b&w
1942	Once Upon a Honeymoon [Leo McCarey] b&w; sfx: Vernon L. Walker; montages: Douglas Travers
1942	Nightmare [Tim Whelan] b&w
1942	Mr. Lucky [H.C. Potter] b&w; sfx: Vernon L. Walker; filmed 1942-43

1943	Jane Eyre [Robert Stevenson] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1943	Mardi Gras [Hugh Bennett] c; mus short/19m; cph: Harry Hallenberger; ep 6-part Paramount series 'Musical Parade'
1943	Frenchman's Creek [Mitchell Leisen] c; uncred cph: Charles Lang; uncred 3uc: Karl Struss; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart; David O. Selznick did suggest Stanley Cortez as doph
1943	Since You Went Away [John Cromwell, (fill-in for 4 days) David O. Selznick; (crowd seq) Tay Garnett & (comedy seq) Eddie Cline] b&w; uncred (fired after 2 weeks); uncred cph: Stanley Cortez (replaced G. Barnes), Lee Garmes (with dir T. Garnett) & Robert Bruce; spec pfx: Jack Cosgrove & Clarence Slifer; montages: André De Toth; filmed 1943-44
1944	None But the Lonely Heart [Clifford Odets] b&w; sfx: Vernon L. Walker

"Spellbound"

1944	Spellbound [Alfred Hitchcock] tinted (few frames) & b&w; uncred 2nd cam (dream seq): Rex Wimpy; sfx: Jack Cosgrove & Clarence Slifer
1944	The Spanish Main [Frank Borzage] c; sfx: Vernon L. Walker; filmed 1944-45
1945	The Bells of St. Mary's [Leo McCarey] b&w; sfx: Vernon L. Walker
1945	From This Day Forward [John Berry] b&w; vfx: Russell A. Cully; sfx: Vernon L. Walker; optical efx: Linwood Dunn
1945	Sister Kenny [Dudley Nichols] b&w; sfx: Vernon L. Walker; optical efx: Linwood Dunn; filmed 1945-46
1946	Sinbad, the Sailor [Richard Wallace] c; sfx: Vernon L. Walker & Harold Wellman
1946	The Emperor Waltz [Billy Wilder; (fill-in for a few days) Doane Harrison] c; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1947	Mourning Becomes Electra [Dudley Nichols] b&w; sfx: Vernon L. Walker & Russell A. Cully
1947	Good Sam [Leo McCarey] b&w; sfx: Russell A. Cully; add shooting in January 1948
1948	The Boy with Green Hair [Joseph Losey] c
1948	No Minor Vices [Lewis Milestone] b&w

1948	Force of Evil [Abraham Polonsky] b&w
1948	Samson and Delilah [Cecil B. DeMille] c; Holy Land ph (shot in North Africa): Dewey Wrigley; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings (dir), Paul K. Lerpae & Devereaux Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart & Wallace Kelley; filmed 1948-49; see Gordon Jennings
1949	The File on Thelma Jordon [Robert Siodmak] b&w; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1949	Riding High [Frank Capra] b&w; cph: Ernest Laszlo; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1949	Let's Dance [Norman Z. McLeod] c; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1949	Mr. Music [Richard Haydn] b&w; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1950	Something to Live For [George Stevens] b&w; process ph: Farciot Edouart & Wallace Kelley
1950	Here Comes the Groom [Frank Capra] b&w; sfx: Gordon Jennings & Paul Lerpae; process ph: Farciot Edouart; filmed 1950-51
1951	The Greatest Show on Earth [Cecil B. DeMille] c; addph: J. Peverell Marley & Wallace Kelley; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings, Paul K. Lerpae & Devereaux Jennings
1951	Somebody Loves Me [Irving Brecher] c; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings
1951	Just for You [Elliott Nugent] c; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings & Paul Lerpae; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1952	The War of the Worlds [Byron Haskin] b&w-c; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings, Wallace Kelley, Paul Lerpae, Jan Domela, a.o.; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1952	Road to Bali/The Road to Hollywood [Hal Walker] c; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings & Paul K. Lerpae; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1952	Little Boy Lost [George Seaton] b&w; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart & Loyal Griggs

MISCELLANEOUS
1917	Flare-Up Sal [Roy William Neill] co-c.asst; ph: John S. Stumar; prod Thomas H. Ince Corporation (THIC)