GEORGE J. FOLSEY

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#1: With Bob Weide [left] - photo by Whyaduck Productions

#2: [Right] with actress Lana Turner

GEORGE J. FOLSEY

Born: 2 July 1898, Brooklyn, N.Y., USA, as George Joseph Folsey.

Died: 1 November 1988, Santa Monica, Calif., USA.

Career: Entered the film industry in 1913 as an office boy at the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company in New York City. Around 1914 he was offered the position of c.asst working with H. Lyman Broening. At the age of 19, he became 2nd cameraman [shooting a second negative for overseas release]. When the first doph left, dir Kenneth Webb asked him to finish shooting 'Her Bridal Night', starring Alice Brady. Brady was satisfied and offered him a contract to photograph her future pictures. Became contract doph for Associated First National and worked in their East and West Coast studios. From 1929-32 he ph several films in the Paramount Astoria Studios in Long Island. Joined MGM in Hollywood.

Was a member [and president, 1956-57] of the ASC since 1927.

His son George Jr. [born 1939] is a film editor & producer.

Appeared in the doc's 'You Can't Fool a Camera' [1941; 11m; ph: Jackson Rose], 'Hollywood [: A Celebration of the American Silent Film]' [1980, Kevin Brownlow & David Gill; 13-part tv-series] & 'The Marx Brothers In a Nutshell' [1982, Richard Patterson].

Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom [1932-33] for 'Reunion in Vienna'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1934] for 'Operator 13'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1936] for 'The Gorgeous Hussy'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1943; color] for 'Thousands Cheer'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1944; b&w] for 'The White Cliffs of Dover'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1944; color] for 'Meet Me in St. Louis'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1946; b&w] for 'The Green Years'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1947; b&w] for 'Green Dolphin Street'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1952; color] for 'Million Dollar Mermaid'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1953; color] for 'All the Brothers Were Valiant'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1954; b&w] for 'Executive Suite'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1954; color] for 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'; 'George' Award [1957] for 'The Letter'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1963; b&w] for 'The Balcony'; 'Emmy' Award [1968-69] for 'Here's Peggy Fleming'; ASC Lifetime Achievement Award [1988].

George Folsey had a career that was a model example of the class-A craftsman who stuck to one studio. Unfortunately the studio was MGM, a place never known for adventurous photography. Nevertheless, he did succeed more often than most [in collaboration with, e.g. Frank Borzage and Vincente Minnelli] to achieve a satisfying divergence from the toneless norm. [Markku Salmi in 'Film Dope', #16, February 1979.]

Robert Z. Leonard - ? - George Folsey - photo Thys Ockersen Archive

George Folsey, a motion picture industry office boy at age 14 and a cameraman at 19 who retired six decades later with 13 Academy Award nominations and one 'Emmy' for his photographic labors, is dead at the age of 90. Folsey died Tuesday at St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica.

Folsey, born in Brooklyn, was running errands as a teenager at the old Lasky Players New York headquarters. Jobs were so scarce at the time that he opted to be employed rather than complete high school and gravitated toward the technical end of the embryonic motion picture industry. Within a year he was an assistant cameraman and four years later, had earned his first film credit as a camera operator.

He earned a reputation as a pioneer in the area of subtle lighting, abandoning the harsh contrasts found in the early silent and sound films.

Folsey's first pictures include the fabled 'Applause', Rouben Mamoulian's 1929 tragic story of a vaudeville star who loses the affection of her daughter. Folsey's camera was praised by the journal The Arts as 'an omniscient, omnipresent eye that slides easily over the links of the story and emphasizes only the true and the relevant.'

Folsey's photography ran the gamut from the first two Marx Brothers wacky tours de force ['The Cocoanuts' and 'Animal Crackers'] to several of Metro Goldwyn Mayer's melodic extravaganzas, including 'Meet Me in St. Louis'.

In 1957, Folsey was one of 15 men awarded a special 'George Eastman Medal of Honor'. That year the Kodak company singled out a handful of cameramen and photographic executives for what was then considered the highest prize in cinematography ever awarded outside the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Harry Wolf, president of the American Society of Cinematographers, which last year gave Folsey its Lifetime Achievement Award, observed that 'when Folsey was winning all these [13 'Oscar'] nominations, Hollywood was producing 500 to 600 feature films a year. There were many other great cinematographers working during that time so it was an extraordinary achievement.'

Folsey recently recalled the day as a youth when he was visiting a museum and saw the 18th-Century French painter Jean Ingres' painting 'of a young boy stepping out of a bed with a lot of draperies and curtains blowing and soft, suffused, absolutely beautiful light... This seriously affected my concept of how light should look.'

Folsey is survived by his wife, Angela, a son, George Jr., the producer, and two grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be said Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood. [From obituary by Burt A. Folkart, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, November 04, 1988.]

FILMS [1 reel = c. 10m]
1919	Her Bridal Night [Kenneth Webb] b&w; 5 reels; cph: Jacques Montéran; started as c.asst, but took over from J. Montéran, who was called to France on business; prod Select Pictures Corporation
1919	The Fear Market [Kenneth Webb] b&w; 5 reels; prod Realart Pictures Corporation (RPC)
1920	Sinners [Kenneth Webb] b&w; 5 reels; prod RPC
1920	The Stolen Kiss [Kenneth Webb] b&w; 5 reels; prod RPC
1920	The Frisky Mrs. Johnson [Edward Dillon] b&w; 5 reels; prod Famous Players-Lasky Corporation (FPLC)
1920	The Education of Elizabeth [Edward Dillon] b&w; 5 reels; prod FPLC
1921	The Price of Possession [Hugh Ford] b&w; 5 reels; prod Famous Players-Lasky British Producers
1921	Sheltered Daughters [Edward Dillon] b&w; 5 reels; prod RPC
1921	A Heart to Let [Edward Dillon] b&w; 5 reels; prod RPC
1921	Room and Board [Alan Crosland] b&w; 5 reels; prod RPC
1921	The Case of Becky [Chester M. Franklin] b&w; 6 reels; prod RPC
1922	Nancy From Nowhere [Chester M. Franklin] b&w; 5 reels; prod RPC
1922	A Game Chicken [Chester M. Franklin] b&w; 5 reels; prod RPC
1922	Slim Shoulders [Alan Crosland] b&w; 6 reels; prod Tilford Cinema Studios
1922	What's Wrong with the Women? [Roy William Neill] b&w; prod Daniel Carson Goodman Corporation
1922	M.A.R.S./The Man From Mars [Roy William Neill] Teleview/b&w; prod Herman Holland Productions (as Teleview Corporation); notable for using the 3-D process called Teleview similar to today's alternating frame 3-D systems; shown in 3-D only at the Selwyn theater in New York City, it was previewed as 'Mars Calling' at a trade and press screening on 13 October 1922, premiered as 'M.A.R.S.' on 27 December 1922; a 2-D version was distributed as 'Radio-Mania'
1922	Radio-Mania [Roy William Neill] b&w; re-edited version of 'M.A.R.S.'; prod Herman Holland Productions (as Teleview Corporation)
1923	The Bright Shawl [John S. Robertson] b&w; prod Inspiration Pictures (IP); made in Cuba
1923	The Fighting Blade [John S. Robertson] b&w; prod IP
1923	Twenty-One [John S. Robertson] b&w; prod IP
1924	The Enchanted Cottage [John S. Robertson] b&w; prod IP
1924	Born Rich [William Nigh] b&w; prod Garrick Pictures
1925	The Necessary Evil [George Archainbaud] b&w; prod First National Pictures, Inc. (FN)
1925	The Half-Way Girl [John Francis Dillon] b&w; prod FN
1925	Scarlet Saint [George Archainbaud] b&w; prod FN
1926	Too Much Money [John Francis Dillon] b&w; prod FN
1926	The Savage [Fred Newmeyer] b&w; prod FN
1926	Ladies at Play/Loose Ankles [Alfred E. Green] b&w; prod FN
1927	Orchids and Ermine [Alfred Santell] b&w; prod John McCormick Prods (JMP)
1927	See You In Jail [Joseph Henabery] b&w; 6 reels; prod Ray Rockett Prods
1927	Naughty But Nice [Millard Webb] b&w; prod JMP
1927	American Beauty/The Beautiful Fraud [Richard Wallace] b&w; prod FN
1927	No Place to Go/Her Primitive Mate [Mervyn LeRoy] b&w; prod Henry Hobart Prods
1927	Her Wild Oat [Marshall Neilan] b&w; prod FN
1928	Lady Be Good [Richard Wallace] b&w; prod FN
1928	The Butter and Egg Man/Actress and Angel [Richard Wallace] b&w; prod FN
1928	The Hole in the Wall [Robert Florey] b&w
1929	Pusher-in-the-Face [Robert Florey] b&w; short/28m
1929	The Letter [Jean de Limur] b&w; 6 reels; silent & sound versions; prod Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation (PFLC)
1929	Gentlemen of the Press [Millard Webb] b&w

[L>R] co-dir Joseph Santley - Zeppo Marx - Groucho Marx - George Folsey - Chico Marx

Harpo Marx - co-dir Robert Florey

1929	The Cocoanuts [Robert Florey & (song & dance numbers) Joseph Santley] b&w
1929	Night Club [Robert Florey] b&w; 3 reels
1929	Applause/Every Day Is Sunday [Rouben Mamoulian] b&w; silent & sound versions; prod PFLC
1929	The Battle of Paris/The Gay Lady [Robert Florey] b&w
1929	Glorifying the American Girl/Glorifying the Show Girl [Millard Webb & (revue dir) John W. Harkrider] b&w + color seq; silent & sound versions; prod PFLC
1929	The Laughing Lady [Victor Schertzinger] b&w; silent & sound versions; prod PFLC

[Right] with actor Maurice Chevalier - "The Big Pond"

1930	The Big Pond [Hobart Henley] b&w
1930	La grande mare [Hobart Henley] b&w; French-language version of 'The Big Pond'
1930	Animal Crackers [Victor Heerman] b&w
1930	Dangerous Nan McGrew [Malcolm St. Clair] b&w
1930	Laughter [Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast] b&w
1930	The Royal Family of Broadway/Theatre Royal [George Cukor & Cyril Gardner] b&w
1930	Stolen Heaven [George Abbott] b&w
1930	Honor Among Lovers [Dorothy Arzner] b&w
1931	The Smiling Lieutenant [Ernst Lubitsch] b&w
1931	Secrets of a Secretary [George Abbott] b&w
1931	My Sin [George Abbott] b&w
1931	The Cheat [George Abbott] b&w
1932	The Wiser Sex [Berthold Viertel] b&w; uncred cph: Joseph Ruttenberg
1932	The Misleading Lady [Stuart Walker] b&w; filmed at the Paramount Studio in Astoria, Long Island; studio was closed after this film was finished
1932	The Big Broadcast [Frank Tuttle] b&w
1932	The Animal Kingdom/A Woman in His House [Edward H. Griffith & (uncred add scenes) George Cukor] b&w; ph add scenes: Henry Gerrard
1932	Men Must Fight [Edgar Selwyn] b&w
1933	Reunion in Vienna [Sidney Franklin] b&w
1933	Storm at Daybreak [Richard Boleslawski] b&w
1933	Stage Mother [Charles Brabin] b&w
1933	Going Hollywood/Cinderella's Fella [Raoul Walsh] b&w
1933	Men in White [Richard Boleslawski] b&w
1934	Operator 13/Spy 13 [Richard Boleslawski] b&w
1934	Chained [Clarence Brown] b&w
1934	Forsaking All Others [W.S. Van Dyke] b&w; cph: Gregg Toland
1934	Reckless [Victor Fleming] b&w
1935	Age of Indiscretion [Edward Ludwig] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Ernest Haller
1935	Page Miss Glory [Mervyn LeRoy] b&w
1935	I Live My Life [W.S. Van Dyke] b&w; uncred cph: William Daniels
1935	Kind Lady/House of Menace [George B. Seitz] b&w
1936	Hearts Divided [Frank Borzage] b&w
1936	The Great Ziegfeld [Robert Z. Leonard] b&w; cph Ziegfeld Roof numbers; ph: Oliver T. Marsh
1936	The Gorgeous Hussy [Clarence Brown] b&w
1936	Parnell [John M. Stahl] b&w; uncred cph; ph Karl Freund (replaced G. Folsey)
1936	The Last of Mrs. Cheyney [Richard Boleslawski; (uncred) Dorothy Arzner & George Fitzmaurice] b&w

[Left] with dir Dorothy Arzner and actors George Zucco & Joan Crawford

"The Bride Wore Red"

1937	The Bride Wore Red [Dorothy Arzner] b&w
1937	Mannequin [Frank Borzage] b&w
1937	Arsène Lupin Returns [George Fitzmaurice] b&w
1938	Marie Antoinette [W.S. Van Dyke II (replaced Sidney Franklin)] b&w (sepia); co-uncred cph; ph: William Daniels
1938	Hold That Kiss [Edwin L. Marin] b&w
1938	The Shining Hour [Frank Borzage] b&w
1938	Fast and Loose [Edwin L. Marin] b&w
1939	Society Lawyer [Edwin L. Marin] b&w

1939	Lady of the Tropics [Jack Conway] b&w; uncred cph: Norbert Brodine
1939	Fast and Furious [Busby Berkeley] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Ray June
1939	Remember? [Norman Z. McLeod] b&w; uncred cph: Ray June
1940	Two Girls on Broadway/Choose Your Partner [S. Sylvan Simon] b&w
1940	Third Finger, Left Hand [Robert Z. Leonard] b&w
1940	Gallant Sons [George B. Seitz] b&w; uncred cph (replaced S. Wagner, who fell ill); ph: Sidney Wagner
1940	Come Live with Me [Clarence Brown] b&w; cph: Charles Lawton Jr.
1940	Free and Easy [George Sidney & (uncred retakes) Edward Buzzell] b&w; 56m; cph: Charles Lawton Jr.
1940	The Trial of Mary Dugan [Norman Z. McLeod] b&w
1941	Rage in Heaven [W.S. Van Dyke II (replaced Robert B. Sinclair, who fell ill) & (uncred retakes) Richard Thorpe] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Oliver T. Marsh
1941	Lady Be Good [Norman Z. McLeod (replaced Busby Berkeley, who was 'demoted' to dance dir)] b&w; cph: Oliver T. Marsh
1941	Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day/Mary Names the Day [Harold S. Bucquet] b&w; 8th film in 15-part 'Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie'-series (MGM, 1938-47)
1941	Married Bachelor [Edward Buzzell & (uncred) Norman Taurog] b&w
1941	Panama Hattie [Norman Z. McLeod] b&w; uncred cph: Sidney Wagner; filmed July-October 1941 & April-May 1942 (add scenes & retakes dir by Roy Del Ruth & Vincente Minnelli)
1941	Rio Rita [S. Sylvan Simon] b&w
1942	Grand Central Murder [S. Sylvan Simon] b&w
1942	Seven Sweethearts/Tulip Time [Frank Borzage] b&w
1942	Andy Hardy's Double Life [George B. Seitz] b&w; cph: John Mescall; 13th film in 16-part 'Andy Hardy'-series (MGM, 1937-46 & 1958)
1942	Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant [Willis Goldbeck] b&w; 11th film in 15-part 'Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie'-series (MGM, 1938-47)
1942	Three Hearts for Julia [Richard Thorpe] b&w
1942	Thousands Cheer [George Sidney] c
1943	A Guy Named Joe [Victor Fleming] b&w; cph: Karl Freund
1943	The White Cliffs of Dover [Clarence Brown] b&w
1943	Meet Me in St. Louis [Vincente Minnelli] c; ph 'The Trolley Song' seq: Harold Rosson
1944	Ziegfeld Follies [of 1944 (preview, 1944)] [of 1946 (road show premiere, 1945)] [Vincente Minnelli (replaced George Sidney) & (uncred) Roy Del Ruth & Norman Taurog (add scenes & retakes, 1945)] c; cph: Charles Rosher (finale 'There's Beauty Everywhere'), Ray June & Sidney Wagner; puppet seq ph: William Ferrari; filmed March-August 1944 & January 1945
1944	The Clock/Under the Clock [Vincente Minnelli (replaced Fred Zinnemann who started the film in August)] b&w; background shooting New York: Harold Lipstein
1945	The Harvey Girls [George Sidney] c
1945	The Green Years [Victor Saville] b&w
1945	Till the Clouds Roll By [Richard Whorf (dram seq; replaced Henry Koster, who replaced Busby Berkeley), Robert Alton (mus numbers), Vincente Minnelli (uncred Judy Garland numbers - October-November 1945) & George Sidney (uncred finale)] c; cph: Harry Stradling Sr. (scenes dir by R. Whorf - March-May 1946)
1946	The Secret Heart [Robert Z. Leonard] b&w
1946	Green Dolphin Street [Victor Saville] b&w
1947	If Winter Comes [Victor Saville] b&w
1947	State of the Union/The World and His Wife [Frank Capra] b&w; sfx ph: A. Arnold Gillespie
1948	Take Me Out to the Ball Game/Everybody's Cheering [Busby Berkeley; (mus numbers) Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen] c
1948	The Great Sinner [Robert Siodmak] b&w
1949	Malaya/East of the Rising Sun [Richard Thorpe] b&w

1949	Adam's Rib [George Cukor] b&w; sfx ph: A. Arnold Gillespie
1949	The Big Hangover [Norman Krasna] b&w
1950	A Life of Her Own [George Cukor] b&w; 108m & 150m
1950	Vengeance Valley [Richard Thorpe] c
1950	Mr. Imperium/You Belong to My Heart [Don Hartman] c; add mus seq shot in January 1951
1950	Night Into Morning [Fletcher Markle] b&w
1951	The Law and the Lady [Edwin Knopf] b&w
1951	Shadow in the Sky [Fred M. Wilcox] b&w
1951	The Man with a Cloak [Fletcher Markle] b&w
1951	Lovely to Look At [Mervyn LeRoy & (uncred fashion show seq) Vincente Minnelli] c
1952	Million Dollar Mermaid/The One Piece Bathing Suit [Mervyn LeRoy] c
*1952*	The Band Wagon [Vincente Minnelli] c; started the film, but was blamed for delays and replaced by Harry Jackson
1953	All the Brothers Were Valiant [Richard Thorpe] c
1953	Tennessee Champ [Fred M. Wilcox] c
1953	Executive Suite [Robert Wise] b&w
1953	Men of the Fighting Lady/Panther Squadron [Andrew Marton] c
1953	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers [Stanley Donen] cs (+ 70bu)/c
1954	Deep in My Heart [Stanley Donen] c
1954	Hit the Deck [Roy Rowland] cs/c
1954	The Cobweb [Vincente Minnelli] cs/c
1955	Forbidden Planet [Fred M. Wilcox] cs/c

1955	The Battle of Gettysburg [Herman Hoffman] cs/c; doc/30m
1956	The Fastest Gun Alive [Russell Rouse] b&w
1956	These Wilder Years [Roy Rowland] b&w
1956	The Power and the Prize [Henry Koster] cs/b&w
*1957*	The Seventh Sin [Ronald Neame & (uncred; finished film) Vincente Minnelli] started film, but fell ill; replaced by Ray June
1956	House of Numbers [Russell Rouse] cs/b&w
1957	Tip on a Dead Jockey/Time for Action [Richard Thorpe] cs/b&w
1957	Saddle the Wind [Robert Parrish & (uncred) John Sturges] cs/c
1957	The High Cost of Loving [José Ferrer] cs/b&w
1958	Imitation General [George Marshall] cs/b&w
1958	Torpedo Run [Joseph Pevney] c; presented as a CinemaScope prod, but shot with Panavision lenses
1958	Count Your Blessings [Jean Negulesco] cs/c; cph: Milton Krasner
1959	Cash McCall [Joseph Pevney] c
1959	I Passed for White [Fred M. Wilcox] b&w
1961	Anatomy of an Accident [LeRoy Prinz] 16mm/c; doc/26m; sponsored by Bell System
1962	Protection for People [Frederick Stephani] ?; doc/?m
1962	The Balcony [Joseph Strick] b&w
1970	Glass Houses [Alexander Singer] c
1975	That's Entertainment, Part II [Gene Kelly] p/c; ph new seq

TELEVISION
1956	MGM Parade [ep #8 & #17-18 dir by ?] 34-part (x 26m) series, 1955-56; showing clips from current and upcoming releases, serialized (classic) MGM films, interviews, etc.; for ABC-tv
1963	The Fugitive [various] 120-part series/b&w & c (4th season), 1963-67; other ph: Lloyd Ahern, Carl Guthrie, Fred Mandl, a.o.

1966	My Three Sons [ep #217 'Stag at Bay' dir by James V. Kern] 380-part series/b&w & c, 1960-72; 7th season/c, 1966-67
1968	Here's Peggy Fleming [Robert Scheerer] special/60m; for NBC-tv

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT
1915	The Incorrigible Dukane [James Durkin] ph: William F. Wagner; + small part
1916	Snow White [J. Searle Dawley] ph: H. Lyman Broening
1918	Uncle Tom's Cabin [J. Searle Dawley] ph: H. Lyman Broening