GEORGES PÉRINAL

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#2: Left from prod/dir Alexander Korda [hat/glasses] - photo by Howard Coster [1936]

GEORGES PÉRINAL

Born: 1897, Paris, France.

Died: 23 April 1965, London, UK.

Career: Started as a projectionist in 1913. Became chief mechanic at Pathé Frères in Paris. Went to work for Alexander Korda in England in 1933.

Was a member of the BSC.

Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom 1st round [1939; color; shared] for 'The Four Feathers'; 'Oscar' AA [1940; color] for 'The Thief of Bagdad'.

In his rare moments of humor Georges Périnal used to say that he dreamt of being a garage owner and that he would have taken more pleasure in repairing good motor cars than in photographing the sumptuous productions of the movies. It is true that mechanical devices were his passion. [...] It was this passion which led him in his youth to get interested, among all sorts of wheels and springs, in the mechanics of projectors, which the brothers Lumière had named cinematograph. [...] But scarcely had Georges become 'projectionist', when he wanted to know how the machines worked which actually took the pictures. And his incorrigible curiosity prompted him to turn a few small films. And in turning these small films he met Jean Grémillon, with whom he produced documentaries; later he went on to the making of more important films, until the day when, with Jean Cocteau's 'Blood of a Poet', the mechanic he thought he was became, without himself knowing it, a poet of light. Georges Périnal, chief cameraman; Lazare Meerson, chief designer! What an admirable team I had the good fortune to find at the time of the first sound films! [...] In the little studio at Epinay we had a single very narrow stage, which could not compare with those of Hollywood and Neubabelsberg. But the talent and resource of my two friends largely made up for the poverty of our means. [...] In 1933 Georges Périnal was called by Alexander Korda, who was preparing 'The Private Life of Henry VIII'. Georges went to England, settled there, and carved himself the career known to all. Only on rare occasions did he come to France; but on British soil he still remained the same man we had known in the French film studios: a little melancholy, a little lonely; gentle and smiling, passionately involved in his work alone, into which he poured the care and the desire for perfection which made him one of the great masters of the art. [...] Georges Périnal came to the movies as a modest artisan, and artisan he remained to the end of his days. And yet an artist vanishes with his going. [René Clair in 'Film & Television Technician', May 1965.]

FILMS
NOTE: It is often difficult to figure out whether or not a cph notation is appropriate, particularly as regards pre-war French films. The on-screen typography [big letters plainly indicating the cinematographer, much smaller ones plainly meant to denote the operator and assistants] clears up the matter, but were we have had to rely on printed sources, which merely list a bunch of names, we may occasionally have strayed into error.
1923	Chartres [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/12m
1923	Le revêtement des routes [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1924	La fabrication du fil [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1924	Du fil à l'aiguille [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1924	La fabrication du ciment artificiel [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1924	La bière [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1924	Le roulement à billes [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1924	Les parfums [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1924	L'étirage des ampoules électriques [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1924	La photogénie mécanique [Jean Grémillon] b&w; short/?m
1925	L'éducation professionelle des conducteurs de tramway [Jean Grémillon] b&w; 6-part doc series
1925	L'électrification de la ligne Paris-Vierzon [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1925	L'Auvergne [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1925	La naissance des cigognes [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1925	Les aciéries de la marine et d'Homécoiurt [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1925	La justicière [Maurice Gleize & Maurice de Marsan] b&w; cph: Albert Brés & Willy Faktorovitch
1926	La vie des travailleurs italiens en France [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1926	Au pays de George Sand [Jean Epstein] b&w; doc/30m
1926	Un tour au large/Open Sea [Jean Grémillon] b&w; exp short/?m; or ph Lucien Lesaint
1927	Six et demi, onze[Jean Epstein] b&w
1927	Gratuités [Jean Grémillon] b&w; short/?m
1927	Bobs [Jean Grémillon] b&w; doc/?m
1927	Maldone/Misdeal [Jean Grémillon] b&w; ext ph: Christian Matras
1927	La zone [: Au pays des chiffoniers] [Georges Lacombe] b&w; doc/28m
1928	La Tour [René Clair] b&w; doc/11m; cph: Nikolas Roudakoff
1928	Gardiens de phare/The Lighthouse Keepers [Jean Grémillon] b&w
1928	Les nouveaux messieurs/The New Gentlemen [Jacques Feyder] b&w; cph: Maurice Desfassiaux
1929	Bithulite [Pierre Sichel] b&w
1929	Ces dames aux chapeaux verts [André Berthomieu] b&w

1930	Sous les toits de Paris/Under the Roofs of Paris [René Clair] b&w; (c.asst/op: Georges Raulet)
1930	Le sang d'un poète/The Blood of a Poet [Jean Cocteau] b&w; 55m; (2nd c.op/opérateur en second: Preben Engberg; c.asst: Louis Page)
1930	David Golder [Julien Duvivier] b&w; cph: Armand Thirard
1930	Mon ami Victor! [André Berthomieu] b&w
1930	Le parfum de la dame en noir [Marcel L'Herbier] b&w
1930	Le Million/The Million [René Clair] b&w
1931	Jean de la lune [Jean Choux] b&w
1931	La femme en homme/The Woman Dressed as a Man [Augusto Genina] b&w
1931	À nous la liberté/Freedom for Us/Liberty for Us [René Clair] b&w
1931	Daïnah la métisse [Jean Grémillon] b&w; 60m; cph: Louis Page
1931	La petite chocolatière/The Chocolate Girl [Marc Allégret] b&w; cph: Roger Hubert & Nikolai Toporkoff
1932	Pan!... Pan!... [Georges Lacombe] b&w; short/40m
1932	Le picador [Lucien Jaquelux] b&w
1932	Quatorze juillet/Bastille Day/July 14 [René Clair] b&w; also as 3x 35mm triptych (3.66:1)
1932	Pomme d'amour [Jean Dréville] b&w
1932	Hôtel des étudiants/Student's Hotel [Viktor Tourjansky] b&w
1932	The Girl from Maxim's [Alexander Korda] b&w
1932	La dame de chez Maxim's [Alexander Korda] b&w; French-language version of 'The Girl from Maxim's'
1932	Perfect Understanding [Cyril Gardner] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Curt Courant
1933	Une vie perdue [Raymond Rouleau] b&w
1933	The Private Life of Henry VIII. [Alexander Korda] b&w; sfx: Ned Mann

[Right] with Alexander Korda [center] and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

"The Rise of Catherine the Great"

1933	The Rise of Catherine the Great [Paul Czinner & (uncred) Alexander Korda] b&w
1934	The Private Life of Don Juan [Alexander Korda] b&w
1934	Maria Chapdelaine[Julien Duvivier] b&w; cph: Jules Kruger
1934	Sanders of the River/Bosambo [Zoltan Korda] b&w; ext ph: Osmond Borradaile (Africa Unit) & Louis Page; matte paintings: W. Percy Day
1934	Escape Me Never [Paul Czinner] b&w; int ph; ext ph: Sepp Allgeier; G. Périnal and S. Allgeier are credited as doph; some sources (co-)credit Freddie Young, and even c.op Gilbert Taylor mentions his name, but Young's role (if any) in the prod is unknown
1935	[H.G. Wells'] Things to Come [William Cameron Menzies] b&w; sfx dir: Ned Mann; sfx ph: Edward Cohen (= Edward Colman); spec pfx: George J. Teague

1936	Rembrandt [Alexander Korda] b&w; uncred cph: Richard Angst; dir sfx: Ned Mann; matte paintings: W. Percy Day
1936	Dark Journey/The Anxious Years [Victor Saville] b&w; cph: Harry Stradling Sr.; sfx: Ned Mann
1936	Under the Red Robe [Victor Sjöström] b&w; cph: James Wong Howe; sfx: Ned Mann
*1937*	I, Claudius [Josef von Sternberg] unfinished; filmed 15 February-16 March; footage was used in the BBC-tv doc 'The Epic That Never Was' (1965/74m)
1937	The Squeaker/Murder on Diamond Row [William K. Howard] b&w
1937	The Drum/Drums [Zoltan Korda] c; Indian loc ph: Osmond Borradaile; spph: Edward Colman; matte paintings: W. Percy Day
1937	The Challenge [Milton Rosmer & (co-d Alpine scenes) Luis Trenker] b&w; cph: Albert Benitz
1938	Prison Without Bars [Brian Desmond Hurst] b&w; English-language version of 'Prison sans barreaux' (1937)
1938	The Four Feathers [Zoltan Korda] c; Sudan ph: Osmond Borradaile; loc ph: Jack Cardiff; matte paintings: W. Percy Day
1939	The Thief of Bagdad [: An Arabian Fantasy in Technicolor] [Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell & Tim Whelan; (uncred) Zoltan Korda, Alexander Korda & William Cameron Menzies] c; cred as chief photographer; assoc photographer: Osmond Borradaile; dir spec efx: Lawrence Butler; scenic backgrounds: Percy Day
1940	Old Bill and Son [Ian Dalrymple] b&w
1941	Dangerous Moonlight/Suicide Squadron [Brian Desmond Hurst] b&w

1942	The First of the Few/Spitfire [Leslie Howard] b&w; as lighting expert; model ph: Eric Cross; backgrounds: W. Percy Day
1942	The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp/The Adventures of Colonel Blimp/Colonel Blimp [Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger] c; loc ph (+ co-c.op): Jack Cardiff; process ph: W. Percy Day
1942	Our Film [Harold French (uncred)] b&w; short/15m; uncred ph; co-operative film made by the Denham Film Studios
1943	It's Just the Way It Is [Leslie Fenton] b&w; short/11m
1945	Perfect Strangers/Vacation from Marriage [Alexander Korda] b&w; sfx: W. Percy Day
1947	A Man About the House [Leslie Arliss] b&w
1947	An Ideal Husband [Alexander Korda] c; sfx: W. Percy Day

"The Fallen Idol"

1948	The Fallen Idol/The Lost Illusion [Carol Reed] b&w; sfx: W. Percy Day
1948	That Dangerous Age/If This Be Sin [Gregory Ratoff] b&w; ext ph: Anchise Brizzi
1948	Britannia Mews/Affairs of Adelaide/The Forbidden Street [Jean Negulesco] b&w
1950	Bridge of Time [David Eady & Geoffrey Boothby] c; doc/15m
1950	My Daughter Joy/Operation X [Gregory Ratoff] b&w; ext ph Italy: André Bac
1950	The Mudlark [Jean Negulesco] b&w
1950	El señorito Octavio [Jerónimo Mihura] b&w
1950	No Highway/No Highway in the Sky [Henry Koster] b&w
1951	The House in the Square/I'll Never Forget You/Man of Two Worlds [Roy Ward Baker] c
1951	Babes in Bagdad [Edgar G. Ulmer] c; uncred cph; ph: Jack E. Cox; filmed 1951-52
1951	Muchachas de Bagdad [Jerónimo Mihura & Edgar G. Ulmer] c; cph: Jack E. Cox; Spanish-language version of 'Babes in Bagdad'; filmed 1951-52
1953	Three Cases of Murder [Wendy Toye (seg 'In the Picture'), David Eady (seg 'You Killed Elizabeth') & George More O'Ferrall (seg 'Lord Mountdrago')] b&w; 3 seg
1954	The Man Who Loved Redheads [Harold French] c
1955	L'amant de Lady Chatterley/Lady Chatterley's Lover [Marc Allégret] b&w
1955	The Woman for Joe [George More O'Ferrall] vv/c
1956	Satellite in the Sky [Paul Dickson] cs/c; cph: Jimmy Wilson
1956	Loser Takes All [Ken Annakin] cs/c
1956	La herida luminosa [Tulio Demicheli] c; addph: Federico G. Larraya

[Left/visor] with Otto Preminger and Jean Seberg

"Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan"

1957	Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan [Otto Preminger] b&w
1957	A King in New York [Charles Chaplin] b&w

1957	Bonjour tristesse [Otto Preminger] cs/b&w-c
1957	tom thumb [George Pal] Metroscope/c; pfx: Tom Howard
1958	Luna de miel/Honeymoon/The Lovers of Teruel [Michael Powell] tr/c; cph: Claude Renoir; assoc ph: Gerry Turpin
1958	Serious Charge/Immoral Charge/A Touch of Hell [Terence Young] b&w

"Once More, with Feeling"

Photo by Yul Brynner

1959	Once More, with Feeling [Stanley Donen] c
1959	The Day They Robbed the Bank of England [John Guillermin] Metroscope/b&w
1960	Oscar Wilde/Forbidden Passion [Gregory Ratoff] b&w
1961	The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse [Vincente Minnelli] p/c; uncred cph; ph: Milton Krasner

TELEVISION
1959	As Dark As the Night/The Night Apart [Terence Young] tvm; reshoots ph; ph: Walter Lassally; ep #116 (3rd season) of CBS-tv dramatic anthology series 'Playhouse 90' (1956-60)