WILLIAM C. MELLOR

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#1: "The Best of Everything" [1959]

#2: [Right] with dir George Stevens [center] - "The Diary of Anne Frank" [1958]

#3: With actress Debbie Reynolds - "Give a Girl a Break" [1953]

WILLIAM C. MELLOR

Born: 29 June 1903, Missouri, USA.

Died: 30 April 1963, Los Angeles, Calif., USA, during prod of 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'.

Career: Entered the film industry ca. 1925, joining the Paramount laboratory. Became c.op with Victor Milner's crew. Worked as doph on 'B' pictures while continuing to work as c.op on 'A' prod. Left Paramount in 1943 and joined the US Army Photographic Section. During 1944-45, he was part of George Stevens' 'special coverage unit', assigned to record the progress of the US Army in Europe. Most of the footage went into various doc's and newsreels. [Following the death of Stevens, about 5 hours of 16mm color film was discovered. This was edited into the tv-doc 'D-Day to Berlin' (1985).] After WWII under contract to MGM [1950-53] and 20th Century Fox [1957-62].

Was a member of the ASC.

Awards: 'Oscar' AA [1951; b&w] & Golden Globe nom [1952] for 'A Place in the Sun'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1957] for 'Peyton Place'; 'Oscar' AA [1959; b&w] for 'The Diary of Anne Frank'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1965; color; shared] for 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'.

WWII was the watershed for William C. Mellor. Before it, during his Paramount studio days, his credits were gradually becoming classier but the results were in no way distinct from the norm. Meeting George Stevens and working for him during 1944-45 changed it all. Possibly because of his war time experience, MGM started assigning Mellor to location work which was just then becoming fashionable. Which brings us to 1951 - Mellor's finest year, the year of 'A Place in the Sun' and 'Westward the Women'. Though both are visually perfect, it seems incredible that the same man could have shot both. 'A Place in the Sun', with its soft diffused lighting, lingering close-ups and romantic angles, the camera absolutely in love with Clift and Taylor, looks now [alongside 'Giant', another Mellor] like Stevens' greatest achievement. 'Westward the Women' on the other hand is all about harshness, nothing is lingered on, certainly not close-ups, people become part of the rugged landscape, angles are just practical and you almost feel the heat and sweat. When you add two other bravura location works from the 50s, 'The Naked Spur' and 'Bad Day at Black Rock', Mellor can be seen along with Paul Vogel and the creators of sundry musicals as the best antidote to the usual 'flat' look of MGM product. 'Bad Day at Black Rock' remains his most accomplished widescreen work; during his subsequent Fox contract Mellor did practically nothing but CinemaScope films; they were perfectly adequate but the spirit of 1951 never came again. [Markku Salmi in 'Film Dope', #42, October 1989.]

FILMS
1934	Elmer and Elsie [Gilbert Pratt] b&w; 65m
1934	[Zane Grey's] Wagon Wheels/Caravans West [Charles Barton] b&w; 56m; a 9-minute excerpt was released in 1953 on 16mm for the home movie market
1934	Enter Madame! [Elliott Nugent] b&w; cph: Theodor Sparkuhl
1934	[Zane Grey's] Home on the Range [Arthur Jacobson] b&w; 54m
1934	Wings in the Dark [James Flood] b&w; aph: Dewey Wrigley
1935	Car 99 [Charles Barton] b&w; 67m
1935	Without Regret [Harold Young] b&w
1935	Collegiate/Charm School [Ralph Murphy] b&w
1935	Woman Trap [Harold Young] b&w; 63m
1935	Sky Parade [Otho Lovering] b&w; cph: Alfred Gilks
1936	Poppy [A. Edward Sutherland] b&w
1936	A Son Comes Home [E.A. Dupont] b&w
1936	College Holiday [Frank Tuttle] b&w; cph: Theodor Sparkuhl; spec pfx: Farciot Edouart
1936	Champagne Waltz [A. Edward Sutherland] b&w; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings & Art Smith
1937	Make Way for Tomorrow [Leo McCarey] b&w; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings
1937	Exclusive [Alexander Hall] b&w
1937	Thrill of a Lifetime [George Archainbaud] b&w
1937	Romance in the Dark [H.C. Potter] b&w
1937	Bulldog Drummond Comes Back [Louis King] b&w; 64m; ep 8-part 'Bulldog Drummond'-series (Paramount, 1937-39)
1937	Stolen Heaven [Andrew L. Stone] b&w
1938	Bulldog Drummond in Africa [Louis King] b&w; 58m; ep 8-part 'Bulldog Drummond'-series (Paramount, 1937-39)
1938	Ride a Crooked Mile/Escape from Yesterday [Alfred E. Green] b&w; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1938	Ambush [Kurt Neumann] b&w; 60m; uncred cph (?): Harry Fischbeck
1938	Hotel Imperial [Robert Florey] b&w; 67m; prod was started in 1936 with dir Henry Hathaway, but was shut down
1938	Undercover Doctor [Louis King] b&w; 67m
1939	The Magnificent Fraud [Robert Florey] b&w
1939	Disputed Passage [Frank Borzage] b&w
1939	$1,000 a Touchdown [James Hogan] b&w
1939	Typhoon/The Big Haircut [Louis King] c; assoc ph: Allen M. Davey; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; optical ph: Paul K. Lerpae
1939	Road to Singapore [Victor Schertzinger] b&w; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1939	The Great McGinty/Down Went McGinty [Preston Sturges] b&w; filmed December 1939-January 1940 & April 1940
1940	Comin' Round the Mountain [George Archainbaud] b&w; 63m

Dir Louis King [right/sitting], William Mellor [above King/white shirt] and Dorothy Lamour [left]

"Moon Over Burma"

1940	Moon Over Burma [Louis King] b&w
1940	Reaching for the Sun [William A. Wellman] b&w; 2uc: Dewey Wrigley; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1940	Las Vegas Nights [: The Last Frontier Town]/The Gay City [Ralph Murphy] b&w
1941	The Great Man's Lady [William A. Wellman] b&w; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings
1941	Birth of the Blues [Victor Schertzinger] b&w
1941	Beyond the Blue Horizon [Alfred Santell & (uncred add scenes) William Clemens] c; cph: Charles P. Boyle

1941	The Fleet's In [Victor Schertzinger & (uncred fill-in after V. Schertzinger died) Ralph Murphy] b&w
1941	My Favorite Blonde [Sidney Lanfield] b&w; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1942	Road to Morocco [David Butler] b&w; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1942	Wake Island [John Farrow] b&w; cph: Theodor Sparkuhl; 2uc: Harry Hallenberger; aph: Elmer Dyer & Wallace Kelley; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1942	Commandos Strike at Dawn [John Farrow] b&w
1942	Dixie [A. Edward Sutherland] c; 2uc: Loyal Griggs; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1946	Double Rhythm [George B. Templeton] c; mus short/19m; ep of series 'Musical Parade'
1946	Abie's Irish Rose [A. Edward Sutherland] b&w; spec pfx: Roy Seawright
1946	Blaze of Noon [John Farrow] b&w; aph: Tom Tutwiler; spec pfx: Devereaux Jennings & Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart
1947	The Senator Was Indiscreet/Mr. Ashton Was Indiscreet [George S. Kaufman] b&w; spph: David S. Horsley
1947	Man-Eater of Kumaon [Byron Haskin] b&w
1948	Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven/The Girl from Texas [William Castle] b&w
1948	Love Happy/Kleptomaniacs [David Miller & (uncred) Leo McCarey] b&w
1948	Too Late for Tears/Killer Bait [Byron Haskin] b&w
1949	A Place in the Sun [George Stevens] b&w; uncred retakes ph (2 weeks): John F. Seitz; spec pfx: Gordon Jennings; process ph: Farciot Edouart & Loyal Griggs

[Left/standing] with [seated] William Wellman, James Whitmore

and Nancy Davis - "The Next Voice You Hear..."

1950	The Next Voice You Hear... [William A. Wellman] b&w; 2uc: Harold Lipstein
1950	It's a Big Country [: An American Anthology] [Clarence Brown, Don Hartman, John Sturges, Richard Thorpe, Charles Vidor, Don Weis & William A. Wellman] b&w; 8 seg (but seg #3 was cut from the film); other ph: John Alton, Ray June & Joseph Ruttenberg
1950	Across the Wide Missouri [William A. Wellman] c; 2uc: Harold Lipstein
1950	Soldiers Three [Tay Garnett] b&w
1951	The Unknown Man/The Bradley Mason Story [Richard Thorpe & (fill-in) Gerald Mayer] b&w
1951	Westward the Women [William A. Wellman] b&w
1951	Skirts Ahoy! [Sidney Lanfield] c
1951	Carbine Williams [Richard Thorpe] b&w
1952	My Man and I [William A. Wellman] b&w
1952	The Naked Spur [Anthony Mann] c
1952	Give a Girl a Break [Stanley Donen] c
1953	The Affairs of Dobie Gillis [Don Weis] b&w
1953	Big Leaguer [Robert Aldrich] b&w; uncred cph: Harold Lipstein
1953	Alaska Seas [Jerry Hopper] b&w; spec pfx: John P. Fulton; process ph: Farciot Edouart & W. Wallace Kelley
1954	Bad Day at Black Rock [John Sturges] cs/c
1954	Oklahoma! [Fred Zinnemann] tao70 & cs/c; uncred cph (stood in while R. Surtees was ill); ph: Robert Surtees
1955	The Last Frontier/Savage Wilderness [Anthony Mann] cs/c

1955	Giant [George Stevens] c; 2uc: Edwin DuPar; uncred addph 2u: Ted McCord; 'Lenser William C. Mellor deserves some sort of award for his work. He has achieved stunning effects and the film benefits immeasurably from his realism. His camera has captured here some of the most impressive vistas seen on the screen to date.' (Variety, 1956)
1955	Johnny Concho [Don McGuire] b&w
1956	The Miracle of Todd-AO [Juan C. Hutchison] tao (65mm/5perf/30fps-to-70mm)/c; doc/11m; cph: Haskell Boggs, Ray Fernstrom & Gayne Rescher
1956	Back from Eternity [John Farrow] RKO-Scope/b&w
1956	Love in the Afternoon [Billy Wilder] b&w
1957	Peyton Place [Mark Robson] cs/c; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott
1957	Sing Boy Sing [Henry Ephron] cs/b&w; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott
1958	The Diary of Anne Frank [George Stevens] cs/b&w; ph loc scenes (dir by George Stevens Jr.): Jack Cardiff; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott
1958	Compulsion [Richard Fleischer] cs/b&w
1959	Woman Obsessed [Henry Hathaway] cs/c

With Joan Crawford - "The Best of Everything"

1959	The Best of Everything [Jean Negulesco] cs/c
1959	Crack in the Mirror [Richard Fleischer] cs/b&w
1959	Let's Make Love [George Cukor] cs/c; uncred cph (stood in while D.L. Fapp was ill); ph: Daniel L. Fapp
1960	One Foot in Hell/The Last Man [James B. Clark] cs/c
1960	The Big Gamble [Richard Fleischer] cs/c; ph African action seq (dir by Elmo Williams): Henri Persin
1960	Wild in the Country [Philip Dunne] cs/c
1961	State Fair [José Ferrer] cs/c; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott & Emil Kosa Jr.

Maureen O'Hara - WM - Henry Koster

"Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation"

1961	Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation [Henry Koster] cs/c; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott
1962	The Greatest Story Ever Told [George Stevens; (uncred) David Lean & Jean Negulesco] up70/c; 141m, 199m & 225m; cph: Loyal Griggs; spec pfx: A. Arnold Gillespie, Robert R. Hoag, J. McMillan Johnson & Clarence Slifer; started as a 3-strip Cinerama prod; filmed 1962-64

TELEVISION
1952	The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet [8 ep dir by Ozzie Nelson] 435-part sitcom series, 1952-66 (ABC-tv); 1st season/b&w, 1952-53
1953	The Bing Crosby Show [Fred De Cordova] B. Crosby's first variety special/60m (incl commercials)/b&w; for CBS-tv (3 January 1954)
1953	The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet [20 ep dir by Ozzie Nelson] 2nd season/b&w, 1953-54; see 1952
1954	The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet [15 ep dir by Ozzie Nelson] 3rd season/b&w, 1954-55; see 1952
1963	Vacation Playhouse [ep #1 'A Love Affair Just for Three' dir by Norman Z. McLeod] 50-part series (of comedy, adventure and mystery pilots for proposed series that had not been sold)/b&w-c, 1963-67; 1st season, 1963 (10 ep); for CBS-tv
1985	D-Day to Berlin [prod: Paul Woolwich; written/presented by Robert Harris] doc/c/60m; a Newsnight Special for BBC1-tv; made from footage shot by W. Mellor, George Stevens, a.o. under dir George Stevens during 1944-45; the footage was also used in the doc (46m) 'George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin' (1994, George Stevens Jr.; ph 1994 seg: Erich Roland) and other doc's

FILMS AS CAMERA OPERATOR [uncredited]
1929	The Love Parade [Ernst Lubitsch] co-c.op; ph: Victor Milner
1929	The Marriage Playground [Lothar Mendes] c.asst; ph: Victor Milner
1931	Tarnished Lady [George Cukor] co-c.op; ph: Larry Williams
1931	I Take This Woman [Marion Gering] ph: Victor Milner
1931	Broken Lullaby [Ernst Lubitsch] co-2nd cam; ph: Victor Milner
1931	One Hour with You [Ernst Lubitsch & (dialogue dir) George Cukor] co-c.op; ph: Victor Milner; also French language version 'Une heure près de toi'
1932	This Is the Night [Frank Tuttle] co-c.op; ph: Victor Milner
1932	Love Me Tonight [Rouben Mamoulian] ph: Victor Milner
1932	Under-Cover Man [James Flood] ph: Victor Milner
1932	Luxury Liner [Lothar Mendes] ph: Victor Milner
1933	The Song of Songs [Rouben Mamoulian] ph: Victor Milner
1933	This Day and Age [Cecil B. DeMille] co-c.op; ph: J. Peverell Marley
1933	One Sunday Afternoon [Stephen Roberts] co-c.op; ph: Victor Milner & (uncred) Karl Struss
1933	Design for Living [Ernst Lubitsch] ph: Victor Milner
1933	Bolero [Wesley Ruggles] co-c.op; ph: Leo Tover
1934	Wharf Angel [William Cameron Menzies & George Somnes] ph: Victor Milner
1934	Cleopatra [Cecil B. DeMille] co-c.op; ph: Victor Milner
1935	The Crusades [Cecil B. DeMille] co-c.op; ph: Victor Milner