OSWALD MORRIS

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#1: From interview

#2: From interview [1993]

OSWALD MORRIS

Born: 22 November 1915, Ruislip, Middlesex (now the London Borough of Hillingdon), UK, as Oswald ['Ossie'/'Oz'] Norman Morris.

Died: 17 March 2014, Fontmell Magna, Dorset, UK.

Education: Bishopshalt School [Uxbridge County School], Hillingdon, UK [until 1932].

Career: Entered the film industry as gofer/clapper boy at Wembley Studios in October 1932 [until spring 1933]. 'The routine at the studio was that they made a film a week. They started on a Monday, and it had to be finished by the week-end so they could begin the next one. These were the terrible quota quickies, budgeted at a pound a foot.' Subsequently worked at British International Pictures [at Elstree Studios]. Returned to Wembley Studios [taken over by Fox Films] as c.asst in 1933 [until 1938]. Served in the Royal Air Force during WWII. Was pilot of a Lancaster bomber and flew multiple raids over France and Germany. Was transferred to transport planes and made a world tour with Field Marshal Alan Brooke [Chief of the Imperial General Staff] in October-December 1945. In January 1946 he went to work as c.op with Independent Producers at Pinewood Studios. When doph Ronald Neame turned to directing, he got his chance as a doph with 'Golden Salamander'.

Retired in 1979 but returned to the studio to ph 'The Great Muppet Caper' and 'The Dark Crystal' back-to-back in 1980-81.

Was an active and honorary member of the BSC.

Became Honorary Graduate of Brunel University, West London, in 1997.

Received an O.B.E. [Officer of the Order of the British Empire] in 1998.

The National Film and Television School named its new building after Oswald Morris [2009].

His brother, Reginald Herbert Morris [1918-2004], long based in Canada, was a doph.

Wrote his memoirs [with Geoffrey Bull]: 'Huston, We Have a Problem: A Kaleidoscope of Filmmaking Memories' [Scarecrow Press, 2006].

Appeared in the doc's 'Norman Jewison, Filmmaker' [1971, Douglas Jackson; on the making of 'Fiddler on the Roof'], 'Cinema' [1972; ep tv-series dir by Richard Guinea; 30m], 'John Huston [: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick]' [1988, Frank Martin], 'Elstree. Britain's Hollywood' [1989, Chris Mohr], 'Glorious Technicolor' [1998, Peter Jones] & 'Inside: "The Man with the Golden Gun"' [2000, John Cork].

Awards: BSC Award [1953] for 'Moulin Rouge'; BSC Award nom [1956] for 'Moby Dick'; BAFTA Film Award [1964; b&w] for 'The Pumpkin Eater'; BAFTA Film Award [1965; b&w] for 'The Hill'; BSC Award [1966] & BAFTA Film Award [1966; b&w] for 'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'; BSC Award [1967] for 'The Taming of the Shrew'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1968] for 'Oliver!'; 'Oscar' AA [1971], BSC Award [1971] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1972] for 'Fiddler on the Roof'; BAFTA Film Award nom [1973] for 'Sleuth'; BAFTA Film Award nom [1975] for 'The Man Who Would Be King'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1978] for 'The Wiz'; John Alcott Memorial Award [1992]; ASC International Award [2000]; BSC Lifetime Achievement Award [2003].

GO TO FILMS

From video tribute to Sir Sydney Samuelson [2011]

Oswald Morris is one of the most innovative color cinematographers in history; it's just that some of his experiments predated the 1970's when everyone was noticing. Five must sees:

> 'Moulin Rouge' - 3-strip Technicolor shot through fog filters, smoke, and colored lighting to create the textures of a painting by Toulouse-Lautrec;

> 'Moby Dick' - Eastman Color photography but desaturated through unique Technicolor dye transfer process involving making b&w matrices with broad-cut instead of narrow-cut filters, causing separations to contain the other two colors, creating a pastel image when recombined. Then a silver key image was added in a fourth pass;

> 'The Taming of the Shrew' - one of the earlier examples of shadowless soft set lighting to create low-contrast painterly look. Colored soft lights and fog filters;

> 'Fiddler on the Roof' - shot entirely through a brown pantyhose - stretched over the lens and held with a rubber band - for a soft, earthy palette;

> 'The Wiz' - one of the most elaborate uses of colored flashing using a Lightflex device, combined with front-lighting sets and costumes using Scotchlite front-projection material. [David Mullen, May 2005]

With dir John Huston [right]

Oswald Morris was one of the great British cinematographers, innovative, risk-taking and articulate about his work. Always obsessed with movies, he began as a clapper-boy, working on 'quota quickies', rising to camera operator before being called up. Postwar, after service as a bomber pilot, he operated for, amongst others, Guy Green, on such notable films as 'Oliver Twist' (19 years later he would shoot 'Oliver!' for Carol Reed), before getting his first cinematographer credit on 'Golden Salamander' [1949], directed by his old mentor, Ronald Neame.

He rated Green and Neame as major influences, but in the 1950s he quickly established his own parity with them, especially on the films he did with director John Huston, starting with 'Moulin Rouge' [1952]. On this, he experimented with smoke and to get the impression Huston wanted of a film that might have been made by Toulouse-Lautrec, driving Technicolor executives mad in the process. Two years later, Huston set him another challenge: that of making 'Moby Dick' visually recall old etchings and whaling prints.

In another vein, his grainy realist work on René Clement's 'Monsieur Ripois/Knave of Hearts' led Tony Richardson to seek him out for the New Wave films, 'Look Back in Anger' and 'The Entertainer', to which he brought a harsh black-and-white realism, at least on the location-shot sequences.

Almost everything he did was notable, even when the films themselves were not; for instance, he thought 'Equus' [1976] was a 'terrible disappointment' but the way he lights the 'worshipping' sequences of boy with horse have a touch of real magic.

It is a remarkable career from an unpretentious artist who never grew complacent about his art. [Brian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of British Film]

Obituary: Many of [Oswald] Morris's films are landmarks in the history of color cinematography. For 'Moulin Rouge' he used filters to create a style reminiscent of paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec. For 'Fiddler on the Roof', which won him an 'Oscar', he filmed with a silk stocking over the lens to give a sepia effect.

Morris also shot popular favorites such as 'The Guns of Navarone', 'Oliver!' and 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold', and photographed acting luminaries such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Gregory Peck and Humphrey Bogart. He was at the height of his profession for 30 years.

He was born in Hillingdon, West London. His father, a newsagent, would make one-minute films with Ossie [as he was always known] and his brother, Reg, in their garden in Ruislip, under the name of 'Bogside Productions' - so called because filming took place near the outside loo. Morris left school when he was 16 to enter the film industry. By his twenties he had graduated to camera operator.

His career was interrupted by the Second World War.

In 1945, he set about relaunching his career within the British film industry. His postwar experience as a camera operator was for the top flight directors of photography Wilkie Cooper and Guy Green. An important break came when cameraman-turned-director Ronald Neame upgraded Morris to lighting cameraman. Neame's film was a mundane actioner, 'Golden Salamander', but it had a good cast and credits.

Thanks to his hard work and enthusiastic flexibility, Morris enjoyed many productive partnerships. His next film, 'Moulin Rouge', proved to be his big break and the first of his eight films with [John] Huston. For this film, Huston, Morris and [special color consultant] Eliot Elisofon devised a style using special filters that - to the initial despair of the staid Technicolor laboratories - created muted, soft tones, a contradiction of everything normally demanded. Decades later it remains the outstanding aspect of an otherwise rather dull biopic.

Another stroke of luck came in 1953, when the French director and screenwriter René Clément, then at the height of his fame, came to Britain with Gérard Philipe to make 'Monsieur Ripois/Knave of Hearts'. Like Huston, Clément knew the value of an original shooting style and on this underrated black comedy opted for spontaneous, location-led photography that reflected his documentary background. The experience was invaluable to Morris.

He was reunited with Huston on another movie that also became a cult film, the starry but ill-fated 'Beat the Devil', and one year later they embarked on an ambitious color experiment with 'Moby Dick', seeking to reproduce whaling prints of the period. The effect of desaturation and special printing gave an etched feel to the color.

Morris was also in demand from other leading directors, Tony Richardson and Carol Reed. He worked, less happily, with [Stanley] Kubrick on 'Lolita'. In 1963, while he was shooting 'Of Human Bondage', Morris's wife, Connie, with whom he had three children, died suddenly. He left the production, but after returning from his grief immersed himself in work.

In the mid-sixties his mono work reached a peak with three successes. On 'The Pumpkin Eater' he provided Jack Clayton with a grainy, claustrophobic feeling to match the intense drama. For Martin Ritt on 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' his superbly lit locations and dramatic interiors reflected the somber events. Finest of all was his achievement on [Sidney] Lumet's blistering 'The Hill', set in a North African punishment camp for British soldiers. The rugged documentary tone with an emphasis on heat and unremitting glare contributed immeasurably to the tough performances.

He was called to Italy by Huston to complete 'Reflections in a Golden Eye' [begun by the great Italian cameraman Aldo Tonti]. Once again a desaturated effect was demanded by Huston, plus a golden hazy glow to heighten the story of heated passions and betrayal. Although it still looked stunningly effective on release, only one print was struck that adequately reflected the creator's intentions and sadly that was never seen commercially.

He ended the decade with three lavish musicals, 'Oliver!' for Reed, 'Goodbye, Mr Chips' for Herbert Ross, then 'Scrooge' for Neame. Even these were capped when 'Fiddler on the Roof' won him an 'Oscar' for best cinematography. He recalled that the director, Norman Jewison, had 'pushed me to my limit, and I need to be pushed when I'm working'. They achieved an unfussy style to reflect the simple humanity of the characters through the changing seasons.

The decade was completed with a steady stream of work, often with old pals - Huston, Neame and Lumet. There was also a Bond film, 'The Man with the Golden Gun', a [television] version of 'Dracula' and then, rather oddly, two collaborations with Jim Henson's puppet workshop, 'The Great Muppet Caper' and the ambitious fantasy 'The Dark Crystal'.

[In the 80's,] Morris decided to retire with his wife Elaine 'Lee' Shreyeck to their home in Dorset. His enthusiasm for the medium never diminished and he became involved with the film course at Bournemouth University, with the local film society and festivals, and lectured with enthusiasm about his craft.

He is survived by his children, Gillian, Christine and Roger, and by 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. 'Lee' died in 2003. [From obituary by Brian Baxter in 'The Guardian', 19 March 2014]

FILMS

1949	Golden Salamander [Ronald Neame] b&w
1950	Cairo Road [David MacDonald] b&w
1950	The Adventurers/The Great Adventure/Fortune in Diamonds/South African Story [David MacDonald] b&w
1950	Circle of Danger [Jacques Tourneur] b&w; addph: Gilbert Taylor

Stuart Heisler - OM - Linda Darnell - "Saturday Island"

1951	Saturday Island/Island of Desire [Stuart Heisler] c
1951	The Card/The Promoter [Ronald Neame] b&w; studio ph; ph: Ernest Steward
1951	So Little Time [Compton Bennett] b&w; studio ph; loc ph: Stephen Dade
1952	South of Algiers/Golden Mask [Jack Lee] c

1952

Moulin Rouge [John Huston] c; 2uc: Cyril Knowles; replaced scheduled doph Otto Heller; 'I was going to try to use color on the screen as Lautrec had used it in his paintings. Our idea was to flatten the color, render it in planes of solid hues, do away with the highlights and the illusion of third dimension which modeling introduced. I hired 'Life' photographer Eliot Elisofon to experiment with the use of this sort of color in still photography, and he and Oswald Morris, the cameraman, attempted to obtain with the motion-picture camera the effects we had in stills. Before shooting began, we made our final color tests. For interiors we used a filter that up until then had been employed only outside to simulate fog - and we added to that effect by actually lying in smoke so that scenes took on a flat monochromatic quality. The result was so striking that Technicolor wanted nothing to do with it. They told us to shoot in the conventional way, that they would create our special effects in their lab. We told them to go ahead and show us. We shot some film in the standard method, and they worked on it. It wasn't what we were after. We then declared our intention of doing it our way. Technicolor wrote to Romulus and United Artists, disclaiming all responsibility. But both Romulus and UA backed us up, and we proceeded. It turned out that this unique use of color was the best thing about the film. It was the first picture that succeeded in dominating the color instead of being dominated by it. [John Huston in 'An Open Book', 1980.]

1952

Stazione Termini/Terminal Station/Indiscretion of an American Wife/Indiscretions [Vittorio De Sica] b&w; 90m & 63m (US version 'Indiscretion of an American Wife/Indiscretions'; + 'prologue': 72m; restored in 1983); ph: G.R. Aldo; O. Morris was brought in by prod David O. Selznick to ph (uncred) close shots of the stars; James Wong Howe ph (uncred) the 9m 'prologue' to the US version (dir by William Cameron Menzies; featuring Patti Page singing 'Autumn in Rome' and 'Indiscretion' - these two songs, written by Sammy Cahn and Paul Weston, were based on Alessandro Cicognini's love theme from the film)

[Right] with actor Humphrey Bogart & make-up Constance Reeve - "Beat the Devil"

1953	Beat the Devil [John Huston] b&w
1953	Monsieur Ripois/Knave of Hearts/Lovers, Happy Lovers!/Lover Boy [René Clément] b&w
1953	Beau Brummell [Curtis Bernhardt] c; pfx: Tom Howard
1954	Moby Dick [John Huston] c; 2uc: Freddie Francis; other cameramen: Cyril Knowles & Bert Mason; + co-color style creator
1955	The Man Who Never Was [Ronald Neame] cs/c; pfx: Tom Howard
1956	Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison [John Huston] cs/c
1957	A Farewell to Arms [Charles Vidor (replaced John Huston)] cs/c; started the film with dir John Huston, but exec prod David O. Selznick replaced him after 12 weeks and ph Piero Portalupi finished the film; uncred add int ph (for 4 days in Hollywood): James Wong Howe
1957	The Key [Carol Reed] cs/b&w
1958	The Roots of Heaven [John Huston] cs/c; 2uc: Skeets Kelly, Henri Persin & Gilles Bonneau; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott

[Right] with Tony Richardson - "Look Back in Anger"

1958	Look Back in Anger [Tony Richardson] b&w
1959	Our Man in Havana [Carol Reed] cs/b&w
1960	The Entertainer [Tony Richardson] b&w
1960	The Guns of Navarone [J. Lee Thompson (replaced Alexander Mackendrick, who left prod after 2 weeks filming)] cs/c; 2uc: John Wilcox

1961	Lolita [Stanley Kubrick] b&w
1961	Satan Never Sleeps/The Devil Never Sleeps/Flight from Terror [Leo McCarey] cs/c
*1962*	Tom Jones [Tony Richardson] active as doph during pre-production; replaced by Walter Lassally
1962	Term of Trial [Peter Glenville] b&w
1962	Come Fly with Me [Henry Levin] p/c
1963	The Ceremony [Laurence Harvey] b&w; 2uc: Antonio Macasoli
1963	Facing the Facts [Norman Walker] 16mm/b&w; 27m; ph: Douglas Ransom (new footage); incl re-edited seq from 'Golden Salamander' (1949)
1963	Of Human Bondage [Kenneth Hughes, Henry Hathaway (started film, but was replaced) & Bryan Forbes (fill-in for 1 week)] b&w; addph: Denys Coop, Freddie Francis (uncred) & Arthur Ibbetson (uncred)
1963	The Pumpkin Eater [Jack Clayton] b&w
1964	Mister Moses [Ronald Neame] p/c
1964	The Battle of the Villa Fiorita [Delmer Daves] p/c

1964	The Hill [Sidney Lumet] b&w
1965	The Spy Who Came In from the Cold [Martin Ritt] b&w
1965	Life at the Top [Ted Kotcheff] b&w
1965	Stop the World - I Want to Get Off [Philip Saville] Mitchell35 video-film system/b&w-c
1966	The Taming of the Shrew [Franco Zeffirelli] p/c; cph: Luciano Trasatti
1966	The Winter's Tale [Frank Dunlop] c; filmed stage play
1966	Reflections in a Golden Eye [John Huston] p/c; uncred cph (replaced A. Tonti); ph: Aldo Tonti
1967	Great Catherine [Gordon Flemyng] c

[Left] with Carol Reed - "Oliver!"

1967	Oliver! [Carol Reed] p/c; 2uc: Brian West
1968	Goodbye, Mr. Chips [Herbert Ross] p/c; 2uc: Brian West
1970	Fragment of Fear/Freelance [Richard Sarafian] c
1970	Scrooge [Ronald Neame] p/c; spec pfx: Jack Mills

With dir Norman Jewison [left] - "Fiddler on the Roof"

1970	Fiddler on the Roof [Norman Jewison] p (+ 70bu)/c
*1971*	Isabel de España/Isabella of Spain [Ronald Neame] prod abandoned
1972	Lady Caroline Lamb [Robert Bolt] p/c; 2uc: Patrick Carey
1972	Sleuth [Joseph L. Mankiewicz] c

[Right] with John Huston - "The Mackintosh Man" - photo Thys Ockersen Archive

1973	The Mackintosh Man [John Huston] p/c
1974	The Odessa File [Ronald Neame] p/c; 2uc: Atze Glanert
1974	The Man with the Golden Gun [Guy Hamilton] c; cph: Ted Moore (started the film, but fell ill); 2uc: John Harris
1975	The Man Who Would Be King [John Huston] p/c; 2uc: Alex Thomson
*1975*	The Deep [Peter Yates] was asked to ph the prod, but declined because of the many underwater scenes; ph by Christopher Challis in 1976

1976	The Seven-Per-Cent Solution [Herbert Ross] p/c; 2uc: Alex Thomson
1976	Equus [Sidney Lumet] c
1977	The Wiz [Sidney Lumet] c; 2uc: Jack Priestley; matte ph: Dennis Glouner & Bill Taylor
1979	Just Tell Me What You Want [Sidney Lumet] c
1980	The Great Muppet Caper [Jim Henson] c; uwph: Charles Lagus; aph: Albert Werry
1981	The Dark Crystal [Jim Henson & Frank Oz] p/c; miniature efx ph: Paul Wilson; matte ph: Neil Krepela

TELEVISION
1973	Dracula [Dan Curtis] tvm; released theatrically outside USA

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR
1932	Born Lucky [Michael Powell] clapper boy; ph: Peter/Frank Goodliffe
1932	After Dark [Albert Parker] clapper boy; ph: Geoffrey Faithfull
1933	Money for Speed [Bernard Vorhaus] clapper-loader; ph: Eric Cross (int) & Freddy Ford (ext)
1933	Follow the Lady [Adrian Brunel] clapper-loader; ph: ?; 49m; a quota quickie, produced on commission from the Fox Film Company to allow them to meet their yearly quota
1933	Two Wives for Henry [Adrian Brunel] clapper boy; ph: ?; 45m; a quota quickie made at Wembley Studios by producer George Smith as part of a contract from Fox Film Company who needed a supply of films to distribute in order to comply with the terms of the quota
1934	Rolling in Money [Albert Parker] clapper boy; ph: ?
1934	Josser on the Farm [T. Hayes Hunter] clapper boy; ph: Alex Bryce
1934	The Third Clue [Albert Parker] clapper boy; ph: Alex Bryce
1934	His Majesty and Co. [Anthony Kimmins] clapper boy; ph: Alex Bryce
1934	Blossom Time [- A Romance to the Music of Franz Schubert]/April Romance [Paul L. Stein] clapper boy; ph: Otto Kanturek
1934	Mr. Cinders [Fred (Friedrich) Zelnick] clapper boy; ph: Otto Kanturek
1935	Abdul the Damned [Karl Grüne] clapper boy; ph: Otto Kanturek
1935	Smith's Wives [Manning Haynes] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce
1935	The White Lilac [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce
1935	Old Roses [Bernard Mainwaring] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce
1935	All at Sea [Anthony Kimmins] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce
1935	Sexton Blake and the Mademoiselle [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce
1935	Late Extra [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Roy Kellino
1935	Blue Smoke [Ralph Ince] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce
1936	Troubled Waters [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Roy Kellino
1936	Wedding Group/Wrath of Jealousy [Alex Bryce & Campbell Gullan] c.asst; ph: Arthur Crabtree
1936	The Big Noise [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant
1936	Blind Man's Bluff [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant
1936	Highland Fling [Manning Haynes] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant
1936	Café Mascot [Lawrence Huntington] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant
1936	The End of the Road [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Jack Parker & Stanley Grant
1936	Strange Experiment [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame
1937	The Black Tulip [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant
1937	Calling All Ma's/The Biter Bit [Redd Davis] c.asst; ph: Roy Kellino
1937	Concerning Mr. Martin [Roy Kellino] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant
1937	Variety Hour [Redd Davis] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame
1937	Against the Tide [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame
1937	The £5 Man [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant
1937	Catch as Catch Can/Atlantic Episode [Roy Kellino] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant
1937	The Londonderry Air [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame
1938	Murder in the Family [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame
1938	Second Thoughts/The Crime of Peter Frame [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame
1938	Who Goes Next? [Maurice Elvey] c.op; ph: Ronald Neame
1939	I Met a Murderer [Roy Kellino] c.op; ph: Roy Kellino

1946	Green for Danger [Sidney Gilliat] c.op (cred as cameraman); ph: Wilkie Cooper
1947	Captain Boycott [Frank Launder] c.op; ph: Wilkie Cooper
1947	Blanche Fury [Marc Allégret] c.op; ph: Guy Green (int) & Geoffrey Unsworth (ext)

OM - Guy Green - David Lean - "Oliver Twist"

1948	Oliver Twist [David Lean] c.op; ph: Guy Green
1948	The Passionate Friends/One Woman's Story [David Lean] c.op; ph: Guy Green
1948	Fools Rush In [John Paddy Carstairs] c.op; ph: Geoffrey Unsworth