ARTHUR C. MILLER

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#4: [Left] Pathé Studios [1913]

ARTHUR C. MILLER

Born: 8 July 1895, Roslyn, Long Island, N.Y., USA, as Arthur Charles Miller.

Died: 13 July 1970, Hollywood, Calif., USA.

Career: In 1908, after a brief career as a professional jockey, he was hired as a laboratory asst for Fred J. Balshofer's Crescent Film Company. When Balshofer went to Los Angeles, Miller stayed in New York and worked as c.asst and lab tech for the Reliance Motion Picture Company. In 1912 he joined Pathé Frères as a newsreel [for Pathé News Weekly] and studio cameraman. In 1915 he went to work for the Esperanto Film Company of Detroit and later the Astra Film Corporation [Louis J. Gasnier]. In 1916 he became a member of the New York Cinema Camera Club. [This club merged with the California Cinema Camera Club ('Static Club') in 1918 to form the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in January 1919]. In 1917 he came under a personal 8-year contract to dir George Fitzmaurice. In 1918 he accompanied Fitzmaurice to Hollywood and started working for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. Went to London to help establish the Famous Players Studios at Islington. Worked under contract for directors William A. Seiter and Raoul Walsh and joined Fox Studios [later 20th Century-Fox] in 1931 [until 1950]. At Fox he ph 12 films with child star Shirley Temple. 'I had trouble with Fox when Zanuck went to Europe, mainly contract problems; they refused to pay for my six-week vacation a year. They claimed they'd wired Zanuck and he'd supported the refusal; but I thought it was a lie. I said, 'All right, we'll just part friends.' And we did. [...] I was supposed to do 'The African Queen', and I went to get the shots for various diseases. And through the examination the fellow found tuberculosis in my right lung. So I went home and went to bed for a year. The doctor said, 'Do you have to work?' I said 'No.' And he told me I'd live longer if I didn't work again.' He returned to limited participation in the film industry, but not as a working cinematographer.

Was a member and president [1954-56] of the ASC.

In 1966, he and Charles G. Clarke dir the doc 'Milestones of the Movies' for the ASC.

Miller and Fred J. Balshofer [1877-1969] wrote the book 'One Reel a Week' [1967; descriptions of early filmmaking in New Jersey].

His brother William 'Bill' J. Miller [1893-19??] was a doph and one of the founders of the International Photographers of the Motion Picture Industry [later Local 644] in New York in 1926

Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom [1939; b&w] for 'The Rains Came'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1940; color; shared] for 'The Blue Bird'; 'Oscar' AA [1941; b&w] for 'How Green Was My Valley'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1942; b&w] for 'This Above All'; 'Oscar' AA [1943; b&w] for 'The Song of Bernadette'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1945; b&w] for 'The Keys of the Kingdom'; 'Oscar' AA [1946; b&w] for 'Anna and the King of Siam'.

Arthur C. Miller: 'The basic principle I have had in making pictures was to make them look like real life, and then emphasize the visuals slightly. If we had a restaurant with white tiles in a scene I'd show it even more white and shining on the screen. I'd make everything as sharp and clear as possible. Of course, an audience's eyes can't adjust from dark scenes to bright ones immediately, so in order to consider the pupil of the eye I would always work a gradual change of light when you came into the restaurant. From daylight to a brilliant interior with soft shades of grey in between.

'I was never a soft-focus man. I like the focus very hard. I liked crisp, sharp, solid images. As deep as I could carry the focus, I'd carry it, well before 'Citizen Kane'. There were no secrets in our crew, at 20th, in the good days. When we used an effect everyone knew exactly what the diffusion was, the intensity of each arc. And we'd work right in with the electricians... I had the same gaffer for eighteen years and in the end we'd just have to look at each other and we knew what we were going to do. There was no need for words; we were like a lot of dummies all through shooting.' [From interview in 'Hollywood Cameramen' by Charles Higham, Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1970.]

FILMS [1 reel = c. 10m]
190?	A Skate on Skates & Troublesome Baby [Fred J. Balshofer] b&w; a split reel (two - x 350 ft - separate films on one reel)
1908	Young Heroes of the West [Fred J. Balshofer] b&w
190?	Fink's Holiday [Fred J. Balshofer] b&w
190?	It Won't Do to Hit a Lady [Fred J. Balshofer] b&w
1911	A Heroine of '76 [Edwin S. Porter, Phillips Smalley & Lois Weber] b&w; 1 reel; prod Rex Motion Picture Manufacturing Company (the company's first prod)
1913	The Adventures of Kathlyn [Francis J. Grandon] b&w; 13-part serial; other ph: Robert L. Carson; this was the first true motion picture serial (not series!); prod Selig Polyscope Company
1913	The Perils of Pauline [Louis J. Gasnier (superv) & Donald MacKenzie] b&w; 20-part serial; other ph: ?; A. Miller replaced the original ph, because Gasnier was impressed by his newsreel footage of Niagara Falls; released in Europe in 9 ep; prod Pathé/Wharton Inc.
1914	The Hazards of Helen [J.P. McGowan (#1-48) & James Davis (#49-119)] b&w; 119-part serial, 1914-16; other ph: ?; prod Kalem Company
1914	The Exploits of Elaine [Louis J. Gasnier, George B. Seitz & Leopold Wharton] b&w; 14-part serial; prod Wharton Inc.
1915	The New Exploits of Elaine [Louis J. Gasnier, Leopold & Theodore Wharton] b&w; 10-part serial; prod Wharton Inc.
1915	The Romance of Elaine [George B. Seitz, Leopold & Theodore Wharton] b&w; 12-part serial; other ph: Levi Bacon & Robin Townley; prod Wharton Inc.
1915	Doll House Baby [Cora Adams] b&w; prod Esperanto Film Company
1915	Toot, the Tailor [E. Mason Hopper] b&w; prod Astra Film Corporation
1915	At Bay [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; prod Pathé
	Ph 34 serials between 1916-19
1916	New York [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; prod Pathé
1916	Big Jim Garrity [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; prod Pathé
1916	Arms and the Woman [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; prod Astra Film Corporation (all films until 1919)
1916	The Romantic Journey [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; cred by the AFI to doph Harold Louis Miller
1916	Kick In [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; cph: John W. Boyle; remade in 1922
1917	The Hunting of the Hawk [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1917	The Recoil [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1917	The Iron Heart [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1917	Blind Man's Luck [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1917	Sylvia of the Secret Service [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1917	The On-the-Square-Girl/Fifth Avenue [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1917	Stranded in Arcady [Frank Crane] b&w; 5 reels
1917	The Mark of Cain [George Fitzmaurice (other sources: Frank Crane)] b&w; 5 reels
1917	Vengeance Is Mine [Frank Crane] b&w; 5 reels; cred by the AFI to doph Harry Wood (= probably the 2nd cameraman)
1917	Convict 993 [William Parke] b&w; 5 reels
1918	The Naulahka [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 6 reels
1918	The Hillcrest Mystery [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1918	The House of Hate [George B. Seitz] b&w; 20-part serial; other ph: Harry Hardy
1918	A Japanese Nightingale [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; cph: Percy Hilburn
1918	The Narrow Path [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; cred by the AFI to doph Percy Hilburn
1919	Common Clay [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; as Charles Miller
1919	The Cry of the Weak [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1919	The Profiteers [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1919	Our Better Selves [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; A. Miller's last film for the Astra Film Corporation
1919	The Avalanche [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; prod Famous Players-Lasky Corporation (all films until 1923)
1919	The Witness for the Defense [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels; cred by the AFI to doph Hal Young
1919	A Society Exile [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 6 reels
1919	Counterfeit [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 5 reels
1919	On with the Dance [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; cph: Georges Benoît
1919	His House in Order [Hugh Ford] b&w; 5 reels
1920	Lady Rose's Daughter [Hugh Ford] b&w; 5 reels
1920	The Right to Love [George Fitzmaurice] b&w

[Right/glasses] with dir George Fitzmaurice [next to him] - "Idols of Clay"

1920	Idols of Clay [George Fitzmaurice] b&w
1920	Paying the Piper/Money Mad [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 6 reels
1921	Experience [George Fitzmaurice] b&w
1921	Forever/Peter Ibbetson/The Great Romance [George Fitzmaurice] b&w
1921	Three Live Ghosts [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; 6 reels

With dir George Fitzmaurice [left] - "To Have and to Hold"

1922	To Have and to Hold [George Fitzmaurice] b&w
1922	Kick In [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; remake of film (see 1916)
1923	Bella Donna [George Fitzmaurice] b&w
1923	The Cheat [George Fitzmaurice] b&w
1923	The Eternal City [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; prod Madison Prods (Samuel Goldwyn)
1924	Cytherea/The Forbidden Way [George Fitzmaurice] b&w + c seq (Cuban seq); prod Madison Prods (Samuel Goldwyn)
1924	Tarnish [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; cph: William Tuers; prod Samuel Goldwyn
1924	In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter/So This Is Hollywood [Alfred E. Green] b&w; cph: Harry Hallenberger; prod Samuel Goldwyn
1924	A Thief in Paradise [George Fitzmaurice] b&w; prod George Fitzmaurice Prods presented by Samuel Goldwyn
1925	His Supreme Moment [George Fitzmaurice] b&w + c seq (Moorish harem); prod George Fitzmaurice Prods presented by Samuel Goldwyn
1925	The Coming of Amos [Paul Sloane] b&w; 6 reels; prod Cinema Corporation of America (CCA)
1925	Made for Love [Paul Sloane] b&w; prod CCA
1926	The Volga Boatman [Cecil B. DeMille] b&w; cph: Peverell Marley & Fred Westerberg; prod DeMille Pictures Corporation (all films until 1928)
1926	Eve's Leaves [Paul Sloane] b&w
1926	The Clinging Vine [Paul Sloane] b&w
1926	For Alimony Only [William C. de Mille] b&w
1926	Nobody's Widow [Donald Crisp] b&w
1927	Vanity [Donald Crisp] b&w; 6 reels
1927	The Fighting Eagle/Brigadier Gerard [Donald Crisp] b&w
1927	The Angel of Broadway [Lois Weber] b&w
1927	The Blue Danube/Honour Above All [Paul Sloane] b&w
1928	Hold 'Em Yale/At Yale [Edward H. Griffith] b&w
1928	The Cop [Donald Crisp] b&w
1928	Annapolis/Branded a Coward [Christy Cabanne] b&w; silent & sound (efx + music) version; prod Pathé
1928	The Spieler/The Spellbinder [Tay Garnett] b&w; silent with sound seq; prod Ralph Block Prods
1928	Bellamy Trial [Monta Bell] b&w; silent & sound (several seq) version; prod MGM
1929	Strange Cargo [Arthur Gregor (silent version) & Benjamin Glazer (sound version)] b&w; silent & sound version; prod Pathé
1929	The Flying Fool [Tay Garnett] b&w; silent & sound version; prod Pathé
1929	Sailor's Holiday [Fred Newmeyer] b&w; 6 reels; silent & sound version; prod Pathé
1929	Big News [Gregory La Cava] b&w; silent & sound version; prod Pathé
1929	Oh, Yeah!/No Brakes [Tay Garnett] b&w; silent & sound version; prod Pathé
1929	His First Command [Gregory La Cava] b&w + c seq; cph: John J. Mescall; silent & sound version; prod Pathé
1929	Officer O'Brien [Tay Garnett] b&w; silent & sound version; prod Pathé
1930	The Lady of Scandal/The High Road [Sidney Franklin] b&w; cph: Oliver T. Marsh
1930	The Truth About Youth [William A. Seiter] b&w; 69m
1930	See America Thirst [William J. Craft] b&w; cph: C. Allen Jones; silent & sound version; prod Universal
1931	Father's Son/Boy of Mine [William Beaudine] b&w
1931	Bad Company [Tay Garnett] b&w
1931	The Big Shot/The Optimist [Ralph Murphy] b&w; 66m
1931	Panama Flo [Ralph Murphy] b&w
1931	A Woman Commands/Maria Draga [Paul L. Stein; (add scenes) Harry Joe Brown, Horace Jackson & Val Paul] b&w; uncred ph add scenes (filmed sporadically October-December); ph: Hal Mohr
1932	Young Bride/Veneer/Love Starved [William A. Seiter] b&w
1932	Okay, America!/The Penalty of Fame [Tay Garnett] b&w
1932	Breach of Promise [Paul L. Stein] b&w; 64m
1932	Me and My Gal/Pier 13 [Raoul Walsh] b&w
1933	Sailor's Luck [Raoul Walsh] b&w; 64m
1933	Hello, Sister!/Clipped Wings [Erich von Stroheim; (Coney Island seq) Raoul Walsh; (retakes) Edwin Burke & Alfred Werker] b&w; 62m; ph retakes (filmed February-March); ph: James Wong Howe (filmed August-October 1932 as 'Walking Down Broadway')
1933	Hold Me Tight [David Butler] b&w
1933	The Man Who Dared [: An Imaginative Biography] [Hamilton MacFadden] b&w
1933	The Last Trail [James Tinling] b&w; 60m
1933	My Weakness [David Butler] b&w
1933	The Mad Game [Irving Cummings] b&w
1933	Ever Since Eve [George Marshall] b&w
1933	Bottoms Up [ David Butler] b&w
1934	Handy Andy [David Butler] b&w
1934	Love Time [James Tinling] b&w
1934	The White Parade [Irving Cummings] b&w
1934	Bright Eyes [David Butler] b&w
1934	The Little Colonel [David Butler] b&w-c; color seq ph: William V. Skall
1935	It's a Small World [Irving Cummings] b&w
1935	Black Sheep [Allan Dwan] b&w
1935	Welcome Home [James Tinling] b&w
1935	Paddy O'Day [Lewis Seiler] b&w
1936	White Fang [David Butler] b&w
1936	36 Hours to Kill/Thirty-six Hours to Live [Eugene Forde] b&w; 65m
1936	Pigskin Parade/Harmony Parade [David Butler] b&w
1936	Stowaway [William A. Seiter] b&w
1937	Wee Willie Winkie [John Ford] b&w
1937	Heidi [Allan Dwan] b&w
1937	Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm [Allan Dwan] b&w
1937	The Baroness and the Butler [Walter Lang] b&w; uncred cph: Robert Planck
1938	Little Miss Broadway [Irving Cummings] b&w
1938	Just Around the Corner [Irving Cummings] b&w
1938	Submarine Patrol [John Ford] b&w
1938	The Little Princess [Walter Lang & (uncred) William A. Seiter] c; cph: William V. Skall
1939	Susannah of the Mounties [William A. Seiter (replaced Walter Lang, who fell ill)] b&w
1939	Young Mr. Lincoln [John Ford] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Bert Glennon

1939	The Rains Came [Clarence Brown] b&w; uncred cph: Bert Glennon (started film, but was replaced by A. Miller); sfx scenes staged by: Fred Sersen; Clarence Brown was from Metro on loan to Fox and he didn't want the cameraman they had given him. He wasn't 'brilliant' enough. Bert Glennon was his name. Zanuck said to me, 'Tomorrow at noon, walk in to the set with your own gaffer, your own regular crew.' They had been shooting the great scene of the Maharani's dinner-party; Brown wanted the whole thing to shine. And Glennon had made it shadowy and soft. So I walked in at noon, and Brown said to me, 'The trouble is we aren't getting enough light, enough brilliant sharpness, and I hope you and I can get along.' And we did, and Glennon walked off.' *
1939	Here I Am a Stranger [Roy Del Ruth & (first week) William A. Seiter] b&w; uncred cph (with W.A. Seiter): George Barnes
1939	The Blue Bird [Walter Lang] b&w-c; assoc ph: Ray Rennahan
1939	Johnny Apollo [Henry Hathaway] b&w
1940	On Their Own [Otto Brower] b&w; 65m
1940	Young People [Allan Dwan] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Edward Cronjager
1940	Brigham Young [: Frontiersman] [Henry Hathaway] b&w
1940	The Mark of Zorro [Rouben Mamoulian] b&w; 'I liked Mamoulian, he let me alone and didn't bother me; you can't go wrong with a man like that. A great deal of the 'locations' in old Spanish California were in fact studio; I used powerful sun arcs to simulate sunlight, and once again the shadows cast were very hard.' *
1940	Tobacco Road [John Ford] b&w; 'And now you're talking about the director I liked working with better than anybody in the industry. You'd only talk, I think you might say, fifty words to him in a day; you had a communication with him so great you could sense what he wanted. He knew nothing of lighting; he never once looked in the camera when we worked together.' *
1941	Man Hunt [Fritz Lang] b&w
1941	The Men in Her Life [Gregory Ratoff] b&w; cph: Harry Stradling (took over from A. Miller, who was recalled to Fox to film 'How Green Was My Valley') & (uncred) Philip Tannura

[Right] with dir John Ford [leaning top/left], c.asst Paul Lockwood & c.op

Joseph LaShelle [white hat] - "How Green Was My Valley"

1941	How Green Was My Valley [John Ford (replaced William Wyler)] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen; filmed June-August; 'I knew he was going to need some [close-ups] so I mentioned it to [John Ford]. 'If you think we need some, then we'll take a few,' he replied. He called over Maureen O'Hara and I decided to make a few on the village set. When I placed a reflector on her face for fill, she squinted her eyes and said it was 'too bright'. So I placed a net over it with the same results. I next tried some lights. She said they were too bright. 'Why don't you take them in the studio against a process screen like Mr. August does at RKO.' Ford was seated nearby watching. 'August is a mechanic. This man is an artist. We don't need any close-ups of her,' he said. I know that he didn't mean what he said because Joe August had made many pictures with him and was a fine cinematographer. It was his way of putting her down. The next day I noticed she was lying out in the sun and opening her eyes toward the sky. Finally I said to [Ford], 'Hasn't this gone on long enough?' Ford replied, 'Go ahead and make some but just like you planned before.' So I made the close-ups of Maureen O'Hara without any trouble.' [From article by George J. Mitchell in 'American Cinematographer', September 1991.]
1941	Son of Fury [: The Story of Benjamin Blake] [John Cromwell] b&w
1941	This Above All [Anatole Litvak] b&w
1942	Tales of Manhattan [Julien Duvivier] b&w; uncred cph (worked 1 day only); ph: Joseph Walker
1942	Iceland/Katina/Love on Ice [H. Bruce Humberstone] b&w; backgrounds ph: Bowie Kennedy

1942	The Ox-Bow Incident/Strange Incident [William A. Wellman] b&w
1942	Immortal Sergeant [John M. Stahl] b&w; uncred cph: Clyde De Vinna
1942	The Moon Is Down [Irving Pichel] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1943	The Song of Bernadette [Henry King] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1943	Lifeboat [Alfred Hitchcock] b&w; uncred cph (became ill after first 2 weeks of filming; replaced by G. MacWilliams); ph: Glen MacWilliams; loc ph: Harry Jackson; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1943	The Purple Heart [Lewis Milestone] b&w
1944	The Keys of the Kingdom [John M. Stahl] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen

With Anne Baxter [left] and Tallulah Bankhead - "A Royal Scandal"

1944	A Royal Scandal/Czarina [Otto Preminger (replaced Ernst Lubitsch, who stayed on as prod and superv of actors' rehearsals)] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1945	Dragonwyck [Joseph L. Mankiewicz (replaced Ernst Lubitsch)] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1945	Anna and the King of Siam [John Cromwell] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1946	The Razor's Edge [Edmund Goulding] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen; 'Goulding's idea of directing was to rehearse all morning and then shoot an entire scene in one take. Zanuck likes to cut. And to edit it all himself. After the first day's work, Zanuck said to me, 'Where are the close-ups?' And I said, 'The close-up is when the fellow turns around and looks up into the camera', and he said, 'Bullshit.' So I told Zanuck to straighten it out. It wasn't too pleasant, and the fact is that Goulding really didn't know who looks left or who looks right in a cutting angle. If he did it all in one go he couldn't be wrong, he thought.' *
1947	Gentleman's Agreement [Elia Kazan] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1947	The Walls of Jericho [John M. Stahl] b&w
1948	A Letter to Three Wives [Joseph L. Mankiewicz] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1949	Whirlpool [Otto Preminger] b&w; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1949	The Gunfighter [Henry King] b&w; title backgrounds ph: Charles G. Clarke; spec pfx: Fred Sersen
1950	The Prowler [Joseph Losey] b&w
*1951*	The African Queen [John Huston] scheduled as doph, but diagnosed with tuberculosis and forced to retire; film ph by Jack Cardiff
* Arthur Miller in 'Hollywood Cameramen' by Charles Higham (1970).

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT
1908	What Poverty Leads To [Fred J. Balshofer] ph: ?
1908	Chancey Proves a Good Detective [Fred J. Balshofer; 1 reel] ph: ?; prod Crescent Film Company
1908	A Desperate Character [Fred J. Balshofer] ph: ?
1909	A Fishermaid's Romance/Romance of a Fishermaid [Fred J. Balshofer; 1 reel] ph: F.J. Balshofer; prod New York Motion Picture Company (NYMPC) ('Bison' Life Motion Pictures)
1909	'Davy' Crockett in Hearts United [Fred J. Balshofer; 1 reel] ph: F.J. Balshofer; prod NYMPC ('Bison')
1909	The Squaw's Revenge [Fred J. Balshofer; 1 reel] ph: F.J. Balshofer; prod NYMPC ('Bison')
1909	A True Indian's Heart/The True Heart of an Indian [Fred J. Balshofer; 1 reel] ph: F.J. Balshofer; prod NYMPC ('Bison')
1910	Russia, the Land of Oppression [Edwin S. Porter; 1 reel] ph: ?; prod Defender Film Company (the company's first release)