GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS


#1: [Right, with beret] with Michael Winner [kneeling] & Charles Bronson [left] - "Death Wish" [1974]

#2: [Left] with Shirley Clarke - "The Connection" [1960]

 

   


ARTHUR J. ORNITZ

 

Born: 28 November 1916, New York City, N.Y., as Arthur Jacob Ornitz, son of scriptwriter Samuel Ornitz [1890-1957] & Sadie F. Lesser (1890-1989]

Died: 10 July 1985, New York City, N.Y.

Education: University of California, Los Angeles.

Career: Was a member of Frank Capra's Signal Corps Film Unit during WWII. Was a New York-based doph.

Ph numerous commercials for MPO Videotronis and EUE, top commercial prod companies in New York City.

Ph Jon Voight's screen-test for 'Midnight Cowboy' [February 1968].

Was a member of the ASC.

His brother Don [1920-72] was a still ph. His son Kim [born 1951] is a sound mixer.


 FILMS

1939

Power and the Land [Joris Ivens] b&w; doc/38m; cph: Floyd Crosby; prod by U.S. Film Service for the Rural Electrification Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 2 more doc's were edited from this footage: 'Bip Goes to Town' & 'The Worst of Farm Disasters'

194?

The March of Time [?] newsreel/doc series, 1935-51

1949

Au carrefour de la vie/Crossroads of Life/Op de viersprong van het leven [Henri Storck] b&w; dram doc/28m; as doph; cinematographer: François Rents; prod United Nations Film Board

1950

Vesterhavsdrenge/The Boys of the Western Sea [Astrid & Bjarne Henning-Jensen] b&w; cph: Poul Pedersen & Jørgen Skov; see Television (1957)

1950

Kranes konditori/Krane's Cake Shop/Café Krane [Astrid Henning-Jensen] b&w; cph: Per-Gunnar Jonson

1951

Ukjent mann/Unknown Man/The Stranger [Astrid Henning-Jensen] b&w

1951

Vi arme syndere/We Poor Sinners [Ole Palsbo & Erik Balling] b&w; cph: Verner Jensen, Poul Pedersen & Jørgen Skov

1957

The Goddess [John Cromwell] b&w

1958

The Pusher [Gene Milford] b&w

1958

Kiss Her Goodbye [Albert Lipton] b&w

 

[Left] with Shirley Clarke [center] on the set of "The Connection"

 

1960

The Connection [Shirley Clarke] b&w-c

1960

Correct Application of Miss Clairol [Ralph Rosenblum] ?; comm doc/17m; describes and discusses the proper method for professional application of Miss Clairol hair coloring

1961

The Young Doctors [Phil Karlson] b&w

1961

The Teenage Millionaire [Lawrence Doheny] b&w-c; ph Musicolor songs; ph: Gordon Avil

1961

Without Each Other [Saul Swimmer] c

1961

After Hours [Shepard Traube] b&w; mus perf/27m

1961

The Shoes [Ernest Pintoff] b&w; short/25m

1962

Jacktown [William Martin] b&w; 62m

1962

Requiem for a Heavyweight/Blood Money [Ralph Nelson] b&w; remake of live ep tv-series 'Playhouse 90' (1956)

1963

Act One [Dore Schary] b&w

1963

The World of Henry Orient [George Roy Hill] p/c; cph: Boris Kaufman (started the film, but left)

1964

At War With the Experts - Decision. The Conflicts of Harry S. Truman [Ben Gradus] 16mm/b&w; doc/26m

1964

A Thousand Clowns [Fred Coe] b&w; assoc ph: Joe Coffey

1966

A Midsummer Night's Dream [Dan Ericksen & George Balanchine] p/c; ballet film/93m

1966

The Tiger Makes Out [Arthur Hiller] c

1968

Charly [Ralph Nelson] ts/c

1968

Me, Natalie [Fred Coe] c

1969

Change of Mind [Robert Stevens] c

1969

The Boys in the Band [William Friedkin] c

 

[Right] with Roger Davis and Dan Curtis [center] - "House of Dark Shadows"

 

1970

House of Dark Shadows [Dan Curtis] c

1970

Soldier Blue [Ralph Nelson] p/c; uncred cph; replaced after several weeks by doph Robert Hauser

 

 

1970

The Anderson Tapes [Sidney Lumet] c

1971

The Possession of Joel Delaney [Waris Hussein] c

1971

Minnie and Moskowitz [John Cassavetes] c; cph: Alric Edens, Michael Margulies & J. Cassavetes

1972

Blacksnake! [- The Whip!]/Sweet Suzy/Slaves/Dutchess of Doom [Russ Meyer] p/c; 2uc: R. Meyer

1972

Badge 373 [Howard W. Koch] c

1973

Serpico [Sidney Lumet] p/c

1974

Death Wish [Michael Winner] c

1974

Law and Disorder [Ivan Passer] p/c

1975

e'Lollipop/Forever Young, Forever Free [Ashley Lazarus] c

1975

Next Stop, Greenwich Village [Paul Mazursky] c

1975

Thieves [John Berry (replaced by Al Viola)] c; cph: Andrew Laszlo

1977

An Unmarried Woman [Paul Mazursky] c

1978

Oliver's Story [John Korty] c

1980

Tattoo [Bob Brooks] c; ph Tokyo seq: Michael Seresin

1980

The Chosen [Jeremy Paul Kagan] c

1981

Hanky Panky [Sidney Poitier]c; 2uc: Frank M. Holgate

1985

Heart of the Garden [Lavinia M. Currier] c; 64m; cph: Edward Lachman

 

 TELEVISION

1953

Bulletin from Bertie [Charles Powers] unsold pilot/b&w/30m; for ABC-tv (possibly unaired)

1955

Change Ringers of Kent [Arthur Ornitz] ep (8m/b&w) of cultural series 'Omnibus', 1952-61

1956

Out of Darkness [Al Wasserman] doc/b&w/59m; for CBS-tv

1957

The Boys of the Western Sea [chopped up version of the Danish film 'Vesterhavsdrenge' (1950) for Disney's 'Mickey Mouse Club'] 9-part (x 10m) serial/b&w; aired in April on ABC-tv

1957

Decision [ep #12 'Man Against Crime' dir by Richard L. Bare] 13-part dramatic anthology series/b&w, 1958 (NBC-tv); prod in 1957 as a pilot for a program intended for broadcast on ABC-tv, and eventually aired as part of the anthology series 'Decision' on NBC-tv, 21 September 1958

1963

Eisenhower on Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief [Lynwood King] special/?m; for NBC-tv

1963

East Side / West Side [ep #17 'It's War, Man' dir by Daniel Petrie] 26-part drama series, 1963-64/b&w (CBS-tv); other ph: John S. Priestley

1963

Mark Dolphin [?] unsold pilot; for CBS-tv

1964

The Making of a Doctor, Chapter 3 - A Wider World [Lee R. Bobker] doc/b&w/29m; for National Educational TV

1964

Carol for Another Christmas [Joseph L. Mankiewicz] tvm/b&w

 

 

1972

Honor Thy Father [Paul Wendkos] tvm; cph: Howard Schwartz; released to theaters outside USA

1977

The Quinns [Daniel Petrie] tvm

1977

Wilma [Bud Greenspan] tvm

1979

Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure [George Schaefer] tvm

1979

Hardhat and Legs [Lee Philips] tvm

1979

Playing for Time [Daniel Mann & (uncred) Joseph Sargent (replaced original dir Tony Richardson)] tvm

1982

The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana [Peter Levin] tvm

1983

Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number [Linda Yellen] tvm

1983

First Affair [Gus Trikonis] tvm

 

 FILMS & TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR

 

 

1936

Wanted - A Master [co-d: Gunther von Fritsch] a 'Pete Smith Specialty'/10m/b&w; ph: ?

1940

A Musical Message from Hollywood [Herbert Biberman & Frank Tuttle; mus short] asst dir; ph: ?

1951

I gode hender/In Good Hands/In Our Hands [short made in Norway] ph: Tore B. Thoresen

1955

Rear Admiral Donald B. MacMillan [dir] ph: ?; ep (6m/b&w) of cultural series 'Omnibus', 1952-61

1955

Change Ringers of Kent [+ ph] see Television

1970

Denmark 43 [doc/re-enactment/23m] ph: Frank Poulsen; for the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles

1971

Make a Wish [ep #1] children's tv-series/b&w, 1971-76 (ABC-tv); ph: ?