LEE GARMES

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#3: [Right] with prod/dir Alexander Korda

LEE GARMES

Born: 27 May 1898, Peoria, Illinois, USA, as Lee Dewey Garmes.

Died: 31 August 1978, Los Angeles, Calif., USA.

Education: North Denver High School, Colorado.

Career: Entered the film industry in September 1916. 'I got a job as a painter's assistant in the paint department at the old Thomas H. Ince Studios. Henry Hathaway and I were property boys together, at Inceville, where Sunset Boulevard comes into the ocean. The New York Motion Picture Company had leased this land and put Tom Ince in charge of it.' Was c.asst & c.op to doph John Leezer for a year and a half. Worked as c.op on the Carter DeHaven Comedies, the Chester Comedies, the Model Comedies and the Snooky Comedies. Became doph on a series of Gale Henry 2-reelers.

In 1972, Garmes [& Laurence Merrick, Steve Snyder, Burt Topper, Anthony Cardoza, a.o.] formed The Independent Screen Producers Association [ISPA] to provide a film market and voice for independent producers. He was also the executive managing editor and magazine committee chairman of 'Lights Camera Action', the ISPA's official publication which provided a liaison between independent producers, distributors and theatre owners.

Was a member of the ASC [and president, 1960-61] and the DGA.

Was married to actress Ruth Hall.

Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom [1930-31] for 'Morocco'; 'Oscar' AA [1931-32] for 'Shanghai Express'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1944; b&w; shared] for 'Since You Went Away'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1959; color] for 'The Big Fisherman'.

GO TO FILMS

'If I had to choose one film from Lee Garmes' superlative career that best illustrates his great flair for improvisation and ingenuity, it would be the relatively unknown 'Zoo in Budapest'. This fairly ordinary story of two starry-eyed young lovers is lifted right out of the formulary rut by its [marvelously studio re-created] tiergarten setting and Garmes' mobile camerawork. Utilizing to the full the jungle-like backgrounds, showing a rare subtlety with the play of light and shadow and employing impressionistic sound effects superbly, the film is a real treat. Of course, as a Hollywood cameraman, Garmes had to take on any subject and in any style. Whilst he did this with ease, it is also consistently evident that he never ceased to experiment in his lighting and always succeeded in that most difficult of photographer's jobs, finding exactly the right visual texture for each movie: from the documentary realism of 'Detective Story' to the big-budget look of 'The Big Fisherman' his judgment was phenomenal.' [David Badder in 'Film Dope', No. 18, September 1979.]

'Gone With the Wind': 'A cable from Selznick reached Lee Garmes in London, where he'd been working for several months with Alexander Korda on a project now in a state of collapse – 'Cyrano de Bergerac', to star Charles Laughton. By coincidence, Garmes [who was going to direct it] had just tested Vivien Leigh for Roxanne. Disagreements between Korda and Laughton caused the film to be abandoned. Garmes remembers that Selznick's cable astonished him, since he was convinced – from all the publicity that had reached him at a distance – that 'Gone With the Wind' must at least have started shooting. After his agent checked that it was not so, Garmes returned to Hollywood a day too late to film the burning of Atlanta, with which production began. He then worked on the picture for 7 weeks, after which he had differences of opinion with Selznick and was replaced. Although he shot almost a third of the picture and Vivien Leigh's tests [in December 1938], he received no credit.

The night of the 10th [December 1938], the night of the burning of Atlanta, was cold. Seven Technicolor cameras – all that were available in Hollywood at that time – had been positioned to cover the burning, and the set-ups and lighting were worked out by Ray Rennahan, the cameraman-adviser supplied by Technicolor. George Cukor [the first choice as director] called the first 'Action!' on 'Gone With the Wind'.

On January 26, 1939, principal shooting began with the scene of Scarlett on the porch at Tara, flirting with the Tarleton twins.

Cukor followed the opening with other episodes: the birth of Melanie's child, and the scene with the Union deserter who appears at Tara and is shot by Scarlett. After this he completed the first scene with Clark Gable, when Rhett brings Scarlett the present of a Paris hat. Then he moved to the set of the Atlanta Bazaar, and began the first day's shooting of the ball. At the end of it, when he'd been working on the picture for two and a half weeks, Selznick fired Cukor [in February; Clark Gable was never happy with the choice of Cukor, who had the reputation of being a 'women's director'].

The production had to close down. Victor Fleming, a 'man's director', replaced George Cukor and shooting resumed on 2 March.

Three weeks after the picture resumed shooting, another important head fell. Lee Garmes was conferring with production designer William Cameron Menzies on an elaborate shot in which Scarlett makes her way through the hundreds of Confederate wounded at the Atlanta railroad station. By the time everything was ready, Garmes had been taken off the picture. Viewing and reviewing the dailies, Selznick had come to the conclusion that his cameraman's use of color was too 'neutral' for his taste.

'We were using a new type of film,' Garmes has explained, 'with softer tones, softer quality, but David had been accustomed to working with picture postcard colors. He tried to blame me because the picture was looking too quiet in texture. I like the look; I thought it was wonderful.'

In the first half hour of the picture, above all in the scene at the Wilkes barbecue, Garmes's images subtly blend tones and shades, rather than primary colors, and are far ahead of anything else being done at the time, yet it was the Twelve Oaks sequence that Selznick particularly complained about in a memo to Fleming and production manager Raymond Klune: 'We should have seen beautiful reds and blues and yellows and greens in costumes so designed that the audience would have gasped at their beauty.' [He told Garmes later that he realized he had been wrong about this.] According to the Technicolor adviser Ray Rennahan, Garmes's lighting was 'softer' and 'flatter' than the style Selznick wanted. Rennahan's own preference was for more sharpness, and he recommended a cameraman, Ernest Haller, who was fortunately ready to take over at a day's notice. Haller had never done a color film before, but with Rennahan's guidance he achieved a greater 'definition', and Selznick expressed himself pleased with the result.

Director Fleming left the picture on April 26 because of a 'nervous collapse'. There was enough work to occupy a second unit for a few days, and the famous crane shot of the Atlanta wounded was now ready to be made. William Cameron Menzies and Ray Rennahan executed it during Fleming's absence.

Sam Wood replaced Victor Fleming. From the time that Sam Wood took over, Selznick became explicitly the creator of the film, in all but name its director and writer as well as producer.

Fleming 'recovered' after 2 weeks, and it is characteristic that Selznick brought him back while still retaining Sam Wood. Menzies now coordinated the visual aspects of every sequence [directed by Fleming or Wood] even more closely. On June 27 Fleming shot the last scene of the picture. By July 1 some final scenes with bit players had been completed, and shooting was officially over. In the last week of August a retake of the opening porch scene [directed by Sam Wood] ended the production period. [The porch scene in the final film was composed partly of Cukor's original scene and partly of retakes by Fleming and the director of special effects, Jack Cosgrove, shot by Lee Garmes and Ernest Haller.]

Ray Rennahan has estimated that Victor Fleming actually directed 40% of 'Gone With the Wind'; Raymond Klune puts it at 'possibly' as high as 50%. [Average 45%.] Sam Wood directed 15%, William Cameron Menzies directed 15% [e.g. the scene where Scarlett leaves the hospital and walks out to the street as the bombardment begins, and Scarlett's journey back to Tara with Prissy, Melanie and the baby], George Cukor directed 5%, chief 2ud Reeves Eason directed 2% and various 2nd units, process shots, etc. make up for 18%.

Ernest Haller received sole credit, although Lee Garmes was responsible for most of the first hour of the picture, and all Cukor scenes. He also photographed the Wilkes barbecue with the introduction of Rhett [one of the high points of Garmes's camerawork]. All sequences with William Cameron Menzies were done with Ray Rennahan, who also created the master shots for the burning of Atlanta.' [Gavin Lambert in 'The Making of Gone With the Wind', 1973.]

In the midst of the swirling maelstrom of propaganda for 'Electronic Cinema', a group of distinguished cinematographers met in the friendly confines of the ASC clubhouse. During the spirited conversation about movies, jobs, and the stock market, one revered and much-honored D.P. mentioned that he had just finished shooting a feature on videotape and found the experience so satisfying that he 'hoped never to see another piece of film.' No, this was not John Bailey, ASC, discussing his digital photography of 'The Anniversary Party'. This gathering took place in 1972, and it was Lee Garmes, ASC, who shocked his colleagues with this heretical announcement. The movie that caused Garmes to embrace video is a little known study of teenage suicide entitled 'Why?'. The venerable Garmes was a master cinematographer with an Oscar on his mantle and over 100 feature films on his resume. His credits include such classics as 'Morocco' and 'Shanghai Express', both films highlighted by Josef Von Sternberg's bravura direction of Marlene Dietrich. Garmes photographed the first twelve weeks of 'Gone with the Wind' but remains uncredited for his artful and moody manipulation of the difficult Technicolor process. Mr. Lee Garmes was the ultimate 'film guy,' a 'cameraman's cameraman' who began his career hand cranking black-and-white nitrate film before movies learned how to talk. Yet he was passionately advocating videotape as an 'acquisition' medium for feature motion picture production. This little gathering took place almost thirty years ago. As the philosopher said, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same.' [From article by Russ Alsobrook in ICG Magazine, September 2001.]

FILMS [1 reel = c. 10m]
1923	Fighting Blood [Mal St. Clair, Henry Lehrman & Alfred Santell] b&w; series of 24 shorts (2 reels) with George O'Hara; ph 12 shorts dir by M. St. Clair: 'The Knight in Gale', 'The Knight That Failed', 'Six Second Smith', 'Two Stones with One Bird', 'Some Punches and Judy', 'Gall of the Wild', 'The End of a Perfect Fray', 'When Gale and Hurricane Meet', 'Judy Punch', etc.; prod Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation
1924	The Telephone Girl [Mal St. Clair & Percy Pembroke] b&w; series of 12 shorts (2 reels) with Alberta Vaughn; ph shorts dir by M. St. Clair: #1 'Julius Sees Her', #2 'When Knighthood Was in Tower', #3 'Money to Burns', #4 'Sherlock's Home', #5 'King Leary', #6 'William Tells', #7 'For the Love of Mike', #8 'Square Sex' & #9 'Bee's Knees'; prod Film Booking Offices of America (FBO)
1924	Find Your Man [Malcolm St. Clair] b&w; prod Warner Brothers
*1924*	The Lighthouse by the Sea [Malcolm St. Clair] started the film, but was fired and replaced by ph H. Lyman Broening
1925	The Pacemakers/Pacemaker Comedies [Wesley Ruggles] b&w; series of 12 shorts (2 reels); prod FBO
1925	Crack o' Dawn [Albert S. Rogell] b&w; 5 reels; prod Harry J. Brown Prods
1925	Goat Getter [Albert S. Rogell] b&w; 5 reels; prod Harry J. Brown Prods
1925	Keep Smiling [Albert Austin & Gilbert Pratt] b&w; 6 reels; cph: James Diamond & Barney McGill; prod Monte Banks Pictures
1926	The Grand Duchess and the Waiter [Malcolm St. Clair] b&w; prod Famous Players-Lasky Film Corporation (FPLFC); 'This was my first feature film at the Paramount Studios. We did the whole picture in tones of grey; the sets and the furniture alike. The studio wasn't happy with it, and sent it to New York, which returned it and asked for certain retakes.' *
1926	A Social Celebrity [Malcolm St. Clair] b&w; 6 reels; prod FPLFC
1926	The Carnival Girl [Cullen Tate] b&w; 5 reels; prod Associated Exhibitors
1926	The Palm Beach Girl [Erle C. Kenton] b&w; prod FPLFC
1926	The Show Off [Malcolm St. Clair] b&w; prod FPLFC
1926	The Popular Sin [Malcolm St. Clair] b&w; prod FPLFC
1927	The Garden of Allah [Rex Ingram] b&w; cph: Monroe Bennett & Marcel Lucien; prod Rex Ingram/MGM; filmed in Nice, France, and North Africa; 'We had a new lighting cameraman, Lee Garmes, an exciting talent, one of the new type of cameramen who no longer thought in terms of painterly and theatrical compositions and lighting but of the style of the film as a whole, moving in on the departments of design and direction, making sure that their voices would be heard in any major decision. Lee Garmes arrived. We were all curious to see him for great things were expected of his collaboration with Rex. Lee was young, round-faced, cheerful, and looked more like a politician than a lighting genius. But he was a lighting genius, particularly in the sympathetic lighting of his close-ups. And he was fast and sure of himself.' [Michael Powell in 'A Life in Movies, An Autobiography', 1986.] 'Ingram was a perfectionist, who kept hounding me and hounding me to follow the style of John F. Seitz, who had been with him before; Johnny didn't use any rim-lights or backlights, anything like that. He had a north-light effect on his faces, and Rex wanted that; I gave it to him, and I fell in love with north light, and used it as my signature.' *
1927	Rose of the Golden West [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; prod First National Pictures (FN)
1927	The Private Life of Helen of Troy/Helen of Troy [Alexander Korda (replaced George Fitzmaurice)] b&w; cph: Sid Hickox; prod FN
1927	The Love Mart [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; prod FN
1928	The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come/Kentucky Courage [Alfred Santell] b&w; prod FN
1928	Yellow Lily [Alexander Korda] b&w; 'The film is technically unimpressive. The lighting is poor, and the only camera movement in the entire film is an awkward and out-of-place back-tracking shot at the very end.' [Karol Kulik in 'Alexander Korda - The Man Who Could Work Miracles', 1975.]; prod FN
1928	The Barker [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; silent & sound (some seq) versions; prod FN
1928	Waterfront [William A. Seiter] b&w; silent & sound (some seq) versions; prod FN
1928	Love and the Devil [Alexander Korda] b&w; silent & sound (efx & music) versions; prod FN
1929	His Captive Woman [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; silent & sound (talking seq, efx & music) versions; prod FN
1929	Prisoners [William A. Seiter] b&w; silent & sound versions; prod Walter Morosco Prod.
1929	Say It with Songs [Lloyd Bacon] b&w; silent & sound versions; prod Warner Brothers
1929	The Great Divide [Reginald Barker] b&w; cph: Alvin Knechtel; silent & sound versions; prod FN

1929	Disraeli [: The Noble Ladies of Scandal] [Alfred E. Green] b&w; silent & sound versions; prod Warner Brothers
1929	Lilies of the Field [Alexander Korda] b&w; silent & sound versions; prod FN
1930	The Other Tomorrow [Lloyd Bacon] b&w; silent & sound versions; prod FN
1930	Spring Is Here [John Francis Dillon] b&w
1930	The Song of the Flame [Alan Crosland] c; uncred ph Paris: John Alton
1930	Whoopee! [Thornton Freeland] c; cph: Ray Rennahan & Gregg Toland
1930	Bright Lights/Adventures in Africa [Michael Curtiz] c; cph: Charles Schoenbaum
1930	Morocco [Josef von Sternberg] b&w; uncred addph: Lucien Ballard; 'Unfortunately I didn't have sufficient time to make tests of Marlene Dietrich. I lit her with a sidelight, a half-tone, so that one half of her face was bright and the other half was in shadow. I looked at the first day's work and I thought, 'My god, I can't do this, it's exactly what Bill Daniels is doing with Garbo.' We couldn't, of course, have two Garbo's! So, without saying anything to Jo, I changed to the north-light effect. He had no suggestions for changes, he went ahead and let me do what I wanted. The Dietrich face was my creation.' *
1930	City Streets [Rouben Mamoulian] b&w
1930	Fighting Caravans/Blazing Arrows [Otto Brower & David Burton] b&w; cph: Henry Gerrard
1930	Kiss Me Again/Toast of the Legion [William A. Seiter] c; cph: Alfred Gilks
1930	Dishonored [Josef von Sternberg] b&w
1931	Confessions of a Co-Ed/Her Dilemma [David Burton & Dudley Murphy] b&w
1931	An American Tragedy [Josef von Sternberg] b&w

1931	Scarface [, the Shame of the Nation] [Howard Hawks & (co-dir) Richard Rosson] b&w; 4 versions; cph: L.W. O'Connell; process ph: Howard Anderson
1931	Shanghai Express [Josef von Sternberg] b&w; uncred 2uc: James Wong Howe
1932	Strange Interlude/Strange Interval [Robert Z. Leonard] b&w
1932	Smilin' Through [Sidney Franklin] b&w
1932	Call Her Savage [John Francis Dillon] b&w
1932	The Face in the Sky [Harry Lachman] b&w
1933	Zoo in Budapest [Rowland V. Lee] b&w; 'This was a very big challenge to me, and it shot Loretta Young to stardom. With the aid of a gardener I knew, I went out and bought tall, short and medium-sized lacy plants, all we could find; and I placed these things in front of the camera for every composition. I hid telephone-poles with bamboo tied together with wire; the whole picture gave the impression of taking place in a rich tracery of leaves and fronds and stalks.' *
1933	My Lips Betray [John G. Blystone] b&w
1933	Shanghai Madness [John G. Blystone] b&w
1933	I Am Suzanne [Rowland V. Lee] b&w
1933	George White's Scandals [(prod conceived, created & dir by) George White, (story dir by) Thornton Freeland & (mus numbers dir by) Harry Lachman] b&w; cph: George Schneiderman
1934	Crime Without Passion [Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur & (assoc dir) Lee Garmes] b&w; spec efx: Slavko Vorkapich; 'I directed about 60-70 per cent of the picture; we'd start at nine a.m. and some days Hecht was there, some days MacArthur; they'd start working on the picture at eleven a.m.! So they relied on me. They set the style of how they wanted the dialogue done, and I would direct the whole physical side of it.' *
1935	The Scoundrel [Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur & (assoc dir) Lee Garmes] b&w
1935	Once in a Blue Moon [Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur & (assoc dir) Lee Garmes] b&w; 65m
1935	Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty [Lee Garmes] b&w; short/20m; cph: Bernard Browne
1936	Conquest of the Air [(uncred) Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies, a.o.] b&w; 46m, 60m & 71m versions; uncred cph; ph: Wilkie Cooper, Hans Schneeberger & George Noble; shot 1936-38; released 1940; 'By 1936 Zoltan Korda, Lee Garmes and William Cameron Menzies had already directed and photographed much of the film, although it wasn't until 1938 that the film was put together for the first time. Donald Taylor and Alexander Shaw undertook to complete a sixty-minute compilation of the material which incorporated new footage filmed by Wilkie Cooper, Hans Schneeberger, and George Noble and edited by Richard Q. MacNaughten. In January 1939 this version had a limited press showing, but it was shelved before it could be released. Late in 1939 Charles Frend, the British editor and director, salvaged the film from Korda's vaults and added a narration and more documentary footage. This seventy-one-minute version was trade shown in May 1940.' [Karol Kulik in 'Alexander Korda - The Man Who Could Work Miracles', 1975.]
1936	Dreaming Lips [Paul Czinner & Lee Garmes] b&w; or ph Roy Clark; + co-prod/tech superv; remake of 'Der träumende Mund' (1932, Paul Czinner; ph: Jules Kruger)
1937	The Sky's the Limit [Lee Garmes & Jack Buchanan] b&w; cph: Henry Harris
1939	Gone With the Wind [George Cukor (replaced by Victor Fleming)] c; principal dram ph started on January 26, 1939; replaced by ph Ernest Haller; 'I was in London working for Korda when I got a cablegram from Selznick asking me to photograph it. I cut my salary almost in half to do it. When I got to Hollywood I realized the picture hadn't been started - except for the Atlanta fire, shot by Ray Rennahan - nor Vivien Leigh set. I did tests of her and she was hired. I worked with George Cukor... it wasn't his fault that George was fired. It was David's. I worked for about ten or twelve weeks. We were using a new type of film, with softer tones, softer quality. David tried to blame me because the picture was looking too quiet in texture. I did about a third of the picture; chronologically almost everything up to Melanie having the baby, except the fire. I prepared the big shot of the dead lying in the railway yard, but I didn't shoot it, I was off the picture by then. I never got screen credit.' * [see above] [see Ernest Haller]
1940	Angels Over Broadway [Ben Hecht & Lee Garmes] b&w

1940	Jungle Book [Zoltan Korda] c; assoc ph: W. Howard Greene; + uncred assoc prod
1941	Lydia/Illusions [Julien Duvivier] b&w; + assoc prod; remake of 'Un carnet de bal' (1937, J. Duvivier; ph: Michel Kelber)
1942	Footlight Serenade [Gregory Ratoff] b&w
1942	Forever and a Day/The Changing World [Frank Lloyd (London blitz seq), Robert Stevenson, René Clair ('1897' seq; replaced Alfred Hitchcock), Victor Saville, Cedric Hardwicke, Herbert Wilcox & Edmund Goulding] b&w; uncred ph; other (uncred) ph: Robert De Grasse, Russell Metty & Nicholas Musuraca; spec pfx: Vernon L. Walker; filmed May 1941-January 1943
1942	Flight for Freedom [Lothar Mendes] b&w; uncred cph (replaced L. Garmes, who was called back to his studio to prepare for 'China Girl'): Frank Redman; spec pfx: Vernon L. Walker
1942	China Girl [Henry Hathaway] b&w
*1943*	Stormy Weather [Andrew Stone] b&w; started the film, but replaced by ph Leon Shamroy
*1943*	Jack London/[The Adventures of] [The Life of] [The Story of] Jack London [Alfred Santell] originally scheduled as ph, but prod was shot by John W. Boyle
1943	None Shall Escape [André De Toth] b&w
1943	Since You Went Away [John Cromwell; (uncred) Tay Garnett (crowd seq), Eddie Cline (comedy seq) & David O. Selznick (fill-in for 4 days)] b&w; finished the film; uncred cph: Stanley Cortez (replaced George Barnes, who started the film); spec pfx: Jack Cosgrove & Clarence Slifer; montages: André De Toth; filmed 1943-44; 'Stanley Cortez was on the film and he and the director, John Cromwell, didn't get along. Maybe Stanley was taking too much time over the shots, I'm not sure. (...) Stanley found it very hard to cope with these walls (of the set) that couldn't be moved because he hadn't had enough experience (he had originally been my operator). Finally, he was called away to war, so I came in and finished the film.' *
1944	Guest in the House/Satan in Skirts [John Brahm & (uncred; started the film, but fell ill) Lewis Milestone] b&w
1944	Love Letters [William Dieterle] b&w; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1945	Paris Underground/Madame Pimpernel [Gregory Ratoff] b&w; uncred cph: Edward Cronjager
1945	Young Widow/The Naughty Widow [Edwin L. Marin; (uncred) William Dieterle & André De Toth] b&w
1945	Specter of the Rose [Ben Hecht & Lee Garmes] b&w; + co-prod
1945	The Searching Wind [William Dieterle] b&w; spec optical efx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1946	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty [Norman Z. Leonard] c; spec pfx: John P. Fulton
1946	Duel in the Sun [King Vidor & (uncred; finished the film) William Dieterle] c; cph: Ray Rennahan & Hal Rosson; addph: Charles P. Boyle & Allen M. Davey; spec pfx: Jack Cosgrove & Clarence Slifer; 'Selznick had fired two cameramen - he was up to his old tricks again, and had argued with them over the physical presentation - and I did about 60-70 per cent of the picture. All of the interiors were mine. We were retaking the barbecue picnic scene with the lanterns under the trees on the last day of shooting and just as we got two kids up in the tree watching, we got word that the Japanese had surrendered, and the war was over.'; filmed March 1945-September 1946 *
1946	The Paradine Case [Alfred Hitchcock] b&w; fill-in ph: Charles P. Boyle
1947	Nightmare Alley [Edmund Goulding] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1947	Portrait of Jennie/Jennie/Tidal Wave [William Dieterle] b&w + tinted + c (finale); uncred cph (finished film after the death of J. August); ph: Joseph H. August; 2u ice skating seq ph: Don Malkames
1948	Caught [Max Ophüls & (uncred fill-in) John Berry] b&w
1948	Roseanna McCoy [Irving Reis & (uncred retakes) Nicholas Ray] b&w; uncred cph: Floyd Crosby; Gregg Toland was scheduled as doph, but died before start of prod

John Wayne, George Waggner & LG - "The Fighting Kentuckian"

1949	The Fighting Kentuckian/A Strange Caravan [George Waggner] b&w
1949	My Foolish Heart [Mark Robson] b&w; spec pfx: John P. Fulton

With Ann Blyth & Phyllis Kirk - "Our Very Own"

1949	Our Very Own [David Miller] b&w
1949	The Furies [Anthony Mann] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Victor Milner; loc ph: Irmin Roberts
1950	My Friend Irma Goes West [Hal Walker] b&w
1950	Saturday's Hero/Idols in the Dust [David Miller] b&w
1950	That's My Boy [Hal Walker] b&w
1951	Detective Story [William Wyler] b&w; uncred cph (last 3 weeks): John F. Seitz; 'It was a raw, harsh picture. I prepared the picture with Willie Wyler; we only had a thirty-six day schedule. I told him if he gave me my head there would be no problem in such a tight schedule. I told him to find a stage with smooth floors at Paramount. I told him I'd use the crab dolly; he'd never used it before, and he was delighted with the idea of a camera he could move wherever he wanted it. 'Jeez,' he said, 'that will be fantastic.' And I told him to rehearse the actors while I rehearsed the camera and lights at the same time. Willie had a ball with the crab dolly! We came in six days under schedule, a record for him.' *
1951	Thunder in the East [Charles Vidor] b&w; replaced John F. Seitz, who ph the first 2 weeks
1951	Actor's and Sin/[Ben Hecht's] ACTOR'S blood AND woman of SIN [Ben Hecht & Lee Garmes] b&w; 2 seg: 'Actor's Blood' & 'Woman of Sin'
1951	The Captive City [Robert Wise] b&w
1951	The Lusty Men [Nicholas Ray] b&w

From the trailer

1953	Hannah Lee [: An American Primitive]/Outlaw Territory [Lee Garmes & John Ireland] 2-D & 3-D/c; + co-prod
1954	Land of the Pharaohs [Howard Hawks] cs/c; cph: Russell Harlan; 'I found working with CinemaScope a horror. Shallow focus, very wide angles, everyone lining up: awful. There was no definition at all. The Panavision lenses were far, far superior, and nowadays they have largely replaced CinemaScope. Close-ups used to give fat faces.' *
1954	Abdulla the Great/Abdullah's Harem [Gregory Ratoff] c
1954	The Desperate Hours [William Wyler] vv/b&w
1955	Man with the Gun/Deadly Peacemaker/The Trouble Shooter [Richard Wilson] b&w
1955	The Bottom of the Bottle/Beyond the River [Henry Hathaway] cs/c; flood scene ph: Leon Shamroy; spec pfx: Ray Kellogg
1956	D-Day the Sixth of June [Henry Koster] cs/c; spec pfx: Ray Kellogg
1956	The Sharkfighters [Jerry Hopper] cs/c
1956	The Big Boodle/A Night in Havana [Richard Wilson] b&w
1957	Never Love a Stranger [Robert Stevens] b&w
1958	The Big Fisherman [Frank Borzage] sp70 (+ 35mm scope)/c
1959	Happy Anniversary [David Miller] b&w
1961	Misty [James B. Clark] cs/c; cph: Leo Tover
1961	The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse [Vincente Minnelli] p/c; uncred ph scenes with the Four Horsemen; ph: Milton Krasner
*1962*	Ten Girls Ago [Harold Daniels] cs/c; cph: Jackson M. Samuels; filmed in March; unreleased
1962	[Hemingway's] Adventures of a Young Man [Martin Ritt] cs/c; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott & Emil Kosa Jr.
1964	Lady in a Cage [Walter Grauman] b&w; spec pfx: Paul K. Lerpae
1966	A Big Hand for the Little Lady/Big Deal at Dodge City [Fielder Cook] c
1967	How to Save a Marriage... and Ruin Your Life [Fielder Cook] p/c
1971	Why? [Les Kaluza & Victor Stoloff] v-to-35mm/c; short/3m
1973	Why? [Victor Stoloff] v-to-35mm/c; 87m; rehearsal cameramen: Robert S. Birchard & Rob Rule; comm by Technicolor as an experiment in transferring video to film
* From interview in 'Hollywood Cameramen' by Charles Higham (1970)

TELEVISION
1957	Calamity Jane [Frank McDonald] unsold/unaired pilot/b&w/30m
1960	Mountain Man [Louis King] unsold/unaired pilot/b&w/30m
1961	The Defenders [ep #1 'The Quality of Mercy' dir by Buzz Kulik] 132-part courtroom drama series/b&w, 1961-65 (CBS-tv); 1st season, 1961-62
1963	The Lieutenant [ep #5 'A Very Private Affair' dir by Buzz Kulik] 29-part US Forces drama series/b&w, 1963-64 (NBC-tv)

FILMS AS CAMERA OPERATOR
1918	The Hope Chest [Elmer Clifton] ph: John Leezer
1919	Chicken Ala King [Eddie Lyons & Lee Moran] ph: ?; ep of the 'Gale Henry Comedies' (2 reels)
1919	I'll Get Him Yet [Elmer Clifton] ph: John Leezer
1919	Nugget Nell [Elmer Clifton] ph: John Leezer
1919	Nobody Home/Out of Luck [Elmer Clifton] ph: John Leezer
1921	Sweet Cookie [Ward Hayes; short] ph: ?

FILMS & TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR
1934	The Nephews of Paris [short] ph: ?
1934	Crime Without Passion [assoc dir; + ph] see Films
1935	The Scoundrel [assoc dir; + ph] see Films
1935	Once in a Blue Moon [assoc dir; + ph] see Films
1935	Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty [+ cph] see Films
1936	Dreaming Lips [co-d; + co-prod/tech superv/ph] see Films
1937	The Sky's the Limit [co-d; + cph] see Films
*1938*	[Bernard Shaw's] Pygmalion [Anthony Asquith & Leslie Howard] L. Garmes was scheduled to direct, but George Bernard Shaw objected; ph by Harry Stradling Sr.
*1938*	Cyrano de Bergerac [prod: Alexander Korda; Cyrano to be played by Charles Laughton] in development since 1936; prod cancelled
1940	Angels Over Broadway [co-d; + ph] see Films
1945	Specter of the Rose [co-d; + co-prod/ph] see Films
1951	Actor's and Sin/[Ben Hecht's] ACTOR'S blood AND woman of SIN [co-d; + ph] see Films
1953	Hannah Lee [: An American Primitive]/Outlaw Territory [co-d; + co-prod/ph] see Films
195?	Pygmalion [tv-pilot; + prod] ph: ?

MISCELLANEOUS
1937	The Lilac Domino [Frederic Zelnik] assoc prod; ph: Roy Clark & Bryan Langley
1939	Beyond Tomorrow/Beyond Christmas [A. Edward Sutherland] prod; ph: Lester White

"Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys"

1978

Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys [Anthony Bowers] uncred co-prod; ph: Michael Mileham