FRITZ ARNO WAGNER

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

FRITZ ARNO WAGNER

Born: 5 December 1889 [or 1884, or 1894], Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig, Thüringen, Germany.

Died: 18 August 1958, Göttingen, Germany [died in an accident during filming of 'Ohne Mutter geht es nicht'].

Career: Entered the film industry in 1910 working for Pathé Frères in Paris. In 1912, he became secretary and chef in the Pathé office in Vienna and later Berlin. He also did some work as cameraman. Went to New York for Pathé Weekly in 1913. Returned to Germany in 1914 and, after being wounded as a soldier, became still ph and 2nd cameraman at Projektions-AG Union [PAGU]. Became doph. After WWII, he worked for a couple of years as ph of doc's and newsreels before returning to feature films.

Was a member of the CdK.

In the feature film 'Shadow of the Vampire' [2000; d: E. Elias Merhige; ph: Lou Bogue], about the making of 'Nosferatu', the role of F.A. Wagner is played by Cary Elwes.

Up to 1933 one of the most important cameramen of the German cinema. After 1933 his work is of little importance.

Fritz Arno Wagner is responsible for photographing some of the most iconographic images in German cinema from 1919 to 1933. Except for Karl Freund, no other cameraman of the period achieved Wagner's level of versatility and technical expertise. His collaborations with G.W. Pabst, Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau are a virtual catalog of the expressive potential of the cinematographer's art, from Expressionist Stimmung to documentary realism. Stimmung is the operative word Lotte Eisner coined to describe the mood or atmosphere evoked by many films of the German silent era - brooding and introspective in tone, illuminated by pools or shafts of light, the total effect reflecting the characters' states of mind. Wagner's most extreme contribution to this genre was Arthur Robison's 'Schatten - Eine nächtliche Halluzination/Warning Shadows', in which a conjuror releases the repressed unconscious desires of the protagonists, who act out their fantasies in silhouette, shadow, or double exposure.

Despite his reputation as a cinematographer of Stimmung, it could be argued that the naturalistic or documentary aspect of Wagner's work is more interesting when viewed today. In Pabst's 'Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney', Wagner photographed Paris as if the camera was discovering it for the first time, tracking through the city, reveling in the details of train stations and busy streets. Yet, in the same film, Pabst could call on Wagner to diffuse the image with the facility of a portrait photographer when the hero and heroine enter a church. Lang's 'M' permitted Wagner a synthesis of styles: on one hand, an objective study of police procedure, the camera sniffing out clues along with the protagonists; on the other hand, a shadowy emanation of the murderer's state of mind as he is progressively cornered like a rat, in one shot circumscribed in both the camera frame and a garden trellis.

Pabst's 'Westfront 1918', 'Kameradschaft', and 'Die 3-Groschen-Oper' represent the pinnacles of Wagner's art. His major achievement in these films is the expressive use of camera movement, so often difficult to facilitate during the early sound period. The set designer Ernö Metzner worked closely with Wagner in devising apparatus to mask the movement of the camera in Pabst's astonishing evocation of a mining disaster, 'Kameradschaft'. Wagner's camera seems to be everywhere, tracking in front of a fleeing worker or receding from a trio searching for survivors, the retreat gradually revealing more and more of Metzner's artfully designed chaos. Similarly, Wagner's camera evokes the horror of war in 'Westfront 1918', tracking alongside soldiers as they make their way from crater to crater. Ironically, Pabst's controversial adaptation of 'Die 3-Groschen-Oper' marked a return for Wagner to the techniques of Stimmung. Camera movement seems less organic to this film, Pabst here more concerned with character than spectacle.

Wagner continued to work in Germany, producing competent, craftsmanlike work throughout the Second World War and up to his death in an automobile accident in 1958, but with the export or suppression of talent after 1933, opportunities became infrequent for the kind of visual experimentation that made his early work so innovative. [From article by Lee Tsiantis on the filmreference.com website.]

FILMS
1919	Vendetta [Georg Jacoby] b&w; 2nd cam; ph: Theodor Sparkuhl; prod Projektions-AG Union (PAGU) (Berlin)
1919	Madame Dubarry/Passion [Ernst Lubitsch] b&w; 2nd cam (+ still ph); ph: Theodor Sparkuhl; prod PAGU
1919	Der Galeerensträfling [Rochus Gliese] b&w; in 2 parts; cph: Frederik Fuglsang; prod PAGU
1919	Das Skelett des Herrn Markutius [Victor Janson] b&w; prod PAGU
1920	Sumurun [Ernst Lubitsch] b&w; cph: Theodor Sparkuhl; prod PAGU
1920	Das Martyrium [Paul Ludwig Stein] b&w; prod PAGU
1920	Die geschlossene Kette [Paul Ludwig Stein] b&w; prod PAGU
1920	Arme Violetta/Camille/The Red Peacock [Paul Ludwig Stein] b&w; prod PAGU

1921	Der müde Tod - Ein deutsches Volkslied in 6 Versen/Between Two Worlds/Destiny/The Three Lights [Fritz Lang] b&w; ph Venetian, Oriental and Chinese seg; other ph: Erich Nitzschmann & Hermann Saalfrank; prod Decla-Bioscop AG (Berlin)
1921	Schloß Vogelöd [- Die Enthüllung eines Geheimnisses]/The Haunted Castle [Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau] b&w; cph: László Schäffer; prod Uco-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1921	Nachtbesuch in der Northernbank [Karl Grune] b&w; ph last 6 days; cph: Carl Drews; prod Gloria-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1921	Das Spiel mit dem Feuer/Playing with Fire [Robert Wiene & Georg Kroll] b&w; prod Decla-Bioscop AG (Berlin)
1921	Nosferatu - Eine Symphonie des Grauens/Nosferatu the Vampire/Nosferatu: The First Vampire/Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror[s] [F.W. Murnau] b&w; filmed July & October-December; restored in 1981, 1984, 1987 & 1995; prod Prana-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1921	Pariserinnen [Leo Lasko] b&w; prod Dea-Film GmbH Albert Pommer (Berlin)
1921	Der brennende Acker - Das Drama eines Ehrgeizigen/Burning Soil [F.W. Murnau] b&w; ph 1st part; ph 2nd part: Karl Freund; prod Deulig-Film GmbH/Goron-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1922	Bardame [Johannes Guter] b&w; cph: Erich Waschneck; prod Decla-Bioscop AG (Berlin)
1922	Lebenshunger [Johannes Guter & Leo Lasko] b&w; prod Dea-Film GmbH Albert Pommer (Berlin)
1922	Wem nie durch Liebe Leid geschah [Heinz Schall] b&w; prod Koop-Film Co. mbH (Berlin)
1922	Der Ruf des Schicksals [Johannes Guter] b&w; prod Dea-Film GmbH Albert Pommer (Berlin)
1922	Der Graf von Essex [Peter Paul Felner] b&w; cph: Karl Hasselmann, Franz Stein & Eugen Hamm; prod National-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1922	Das hohe Lied der Liebe [Heinz Schall] b&w; prod Koop-Film Co. mbH (Berlin)
1923	Die Magyarenfürstin/Eine Zirkus-romanze [Werner Funck] b&w; prod Primus-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1923	Zwischen Abend und Morgen. Der Spuk einer Nacht/Between Evening and Morning [Arthur Robison] b&w; prod DMB Deutsche Mutoskop- und Biograph GmbH (Berlin)
1923	Schatten - Eine nächtliche Halluzination/Warning Shadows [Arthur Robison] b&w; prod Pan-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1923	Der Großindustrielle [Fritz Kaufmann] b&w; prod Metro-Film AG (Berlin)
1923	Der Sprung ins Leben - Roman eines Zirkuskindes/Leap Into Life [Johannes Guter] b&w; prod Universum-Film AG (UFA) (Berlin)
1923	Zur Chronik von Grieshuus/Um das Erbe von Grieshuus/At the Grey House/The Chronicles of the Gray House [Arthur von Gerlach] b&w; cph: Carl Drews & Erich Nitzschmann; shorter version: 'Junker Hinrichs verbotene Liebe'; prod UFA
1924	Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate/Sea Wolves [Arthur Robison] b&w; cph: Rudolph Maté & George Schneevoigt; prod UFA
1925	Das Fräulein vom Amt/Liebe und Telephon [Hanns Schwarz] b&w; prod UFA
1925	Der rosa Diamant/Karriere [Rochus Gliese] b&w; prod UFA
1926	Die drei Kuckucksuhren/Adventure Mad [Lothar Mendes] b&w; prod UFA
1926	Eine Dubarry von heute/A Modern Dubarry [Alexander Korda] b&w; trick ph: Eugen Schüfftan; prod Felsom-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1926	Liebeshandel/Agentur Übersee [Jaap Speyer] b&w; prod Terra-Film AG (Berlin)
1926	Vater werden ist nicht schwer... [Erich Schönfelder] b&w; cph: Walter Harvey-Pape; prod Eichberg-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1926	Natur und Liebe [- Ein Film von Liebe und lebendigem Werden] [- Von der Urzelle zum Menschen] [Willy Achsel, Ulrich Schulz & Wolfram Junghans] b&w; doc + dram seq/2116mtr; cph: Carl Hoffmann, Paul Krien & Waldemar Siewertzen; prod UFA - Kulturabteilung
1926	Der Weltkrieg. 1. Teil. Des Volkes Heldengang/World War [Leo Lasko] b&w; doc/2346mtr; addph; ph: Konstantin Irmen-Tschet, Ewald Daub & Hans Scholz; trick ph: Svend Nolden; prod UFA
1927	Am Rande der Welt/At the Edge of the World [Karl Grune] b&w; prod UFA
1927	Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney/The Love of Jeanne Ney/Lusts of the Flesh [Georg Wilhelm Pabst] b&w; cph: Walter Robert Lach; prod UFA
1927	Spione/Spies [Fritz Lang] b&w; restored in 2003-04; prod UFA
1928	Marquis d'Eon, der Spion der Pompadour/The Spy of Madame Pompadour [Karl Grune] b&w; prod Münchner Lichtspielkunst AG (Emelka) (München)
1928	Waterloo [Karl Grune] b&w; cph: Josef Wirsching & Hugo von Kaweczynski; prod Emelka
1928	Das letzte Fort [Kurt Bernhardt] b&w; cph: Artur von Schwertführer; prod Nero-Film AG (Berlin)
1929	Tagebuch einer Verlorenen/Diary of a Lost Girl [G.W. Pabst] b&w; uncred cph (?); ph: Sepp Allgeier; restored in 1997 (112m); prod Pabst-Film GmbH (Berlin)
1929	Wenn Du einmal Dein Herz verschenkst [Johannes Guter] b&w; prod UFA
1929	Napoleon auf St. Helena - Der gefangene Kaiser [Lupu Pick] b&w; cph: Robert Baberske, Ludwig Lippert & Friedrich Weinmann; prod Peter Ostermayr-Filmproduktion GmbH (Berlin)
1930	Westfront 1918 - Vier von der Infanterie/Comrades of 1918 [G.W. Pabst] b&w; cph: Charles Métain
1930	Die Jagd nach dem Glück/Running After Luck [Rochus Gliese] b&w
1930	Die zwölfte Stunde. Eine Nacht des Grauens [Waldemar Roger & F.W. Nurnau] b&w; adaptation of Murnau's 'Nosferatu' + new scenes; see 1921
1930	Skandal um Eva [G.W. Pabst] b&w
1930	Dolly macht Karriere/Mein Schatz hat eine Klarinette/Dolly Gets Ahead/Dolly's Way to Stardom [Anatole Litvak] b&w; cph: Robert Baberske
1930	Brand in der Oper/Barcarole/Fire in the Opera House [Carl Froelich] b&w
1930	Barcarolle d'amour [Carl Froelich & Henry Roussel] b&w; French-language version of 'Brand in der Oper'
1930	Ariane [Paul Czinner] b&w
1930	Die 3-Groschen-Oper/Die Dreigroschenoper/The Beggar's Opera/The Threepenny Opera [G.W. Pabst] b&w; 2nd cam: Robert Baberske
1930	L'opéra de quat'sous [G.W. Pabst] b&w; French-language version of 'Die 3-Groschen-Oper'

[Right] with dir Fritz Lang [left] - "M"

1931	M [- Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder] [- Dein Mörder sieht Dich an] [- Mörder unter uns]/The Murderers Are Among Us [Fritz Lang] b&w; 2nd cam: Robert Baberske; released as 'M' in 1931 (3208mtr); re-released as 'M - Dein Mörder sieht Dich an' in 1960 (2693mtr); restored in 2000 (2996mtr)
1931	Kameradschaft/Comradeship [G.W. Pabst] b&w; 2nd cam: Robert Baberske
1931	Ronny [Reinhold Schünzel] b&w; 2nd cam: Robert Baberske
1931	Ronny [Roger Le Bon & Reinhold Schünzel] b&w; 2nd cam: Robert Baberske; French-language version of 'Ronny'
1931	Es wird schon wieder besser.../Things Are Getting Better Already [Kurt Gerron] b&w; cph: Robert Baberske
1932	Das Lied einer Nacht [Anatole Litvak] b&w; cph: Robert Baberske
1932	Tell Me Tonight/Be Mine Tonight [Anatole Litvak] b&w; 2nd cam: Robert Baberske; English-language version of 'Das Lied einer Nacht'
1932	La chanson d'une nuit [Anatole Litvak & Henri-Georges Clouzot] b&w; 2nd cam: Robert Baberske; French-language version of 'Das Lied einer Nacht'
1932	Das schöne Abenteuer/Wehe dem, der lügt/Beautiful Adventure [Reinhold Schünzel] b&w; cph: Robert Baberske
1932	La belle aventure [Roger Le Bon & Reinhold Schünzel] b&w; 2nd cam: Robert Baberske; French-language version of 'Das schöne Abenteuer'
1932	Wie sag' ich's meinem Mann?/How Shall I Tell My Husband? [Reinhold Schünzel] b&w; cph: Carl Hoffmann & Robert Baberske
1932	Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse/The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse/The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse/The Testament of Dr. Mabuse [Fritz Lang] b&w; released in Germany in 1951
1932	Le testament du Dr. Mabuse [Fritz Lang & René Sti] b&w; French-language version of 'Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse'
1933	Spione am Werk/Spies at Work [Gerhard Lamprecht] b&w; cph: Robert Baberske & Robert Weichsel
1933	Die Nacht der großen Liebe [Geza von Bolvary] b&w
1933	Flüchtlinge [Gustav Ucicky] b&w
1933	Au bout du monde/Les fugitifs [Henri Chomette & Gustav Ucicky] b&w; French-language version of 'Flüchtlinge'
1933	Das Schloß im Süden/The Castle in the South [Geza von Bolvary] b&w
1933	Château de rêve/Un château dans la midi/Dream Castle [Geza von Bolvary & Henri-Georges Clouzot] b&w; French-language version of 'Das Schloß im Süden'
1934	Ein Mann will nach Deutschland [Paul Wegener] b&w
1934	Spiel mit dem Feuer/Playing with Fire [Ralph Arthur Roberts] b&w
1934	Prinzessin Turandot [Gerhard Lamprecht] b&w
1934	Turandot, princesse de Chine [Gerhard Lamprecht & Serge Véber] b&w; French-language version of 'Prinzessin Turandot'
1934	Liebe, Tod und Teufel/The Devil in a Bottle/The Imp in a Bottle [Heinz Hilpert & Reinhart Steinbicker] b&w
1934	Le diable en bouteille [Heinz Hilpert, Reinhart Steinbicker & Raoul Ploquin] b&w; French-language version of 'Liebe, Tod und Teufel'
1934	Volga en flammes/Volga in Flames [Viktor Tourjansky] b&w; cph: Václav Vích
1935	Amphitryon [- Aus den Wolken kommt das Glück] [Reinhold Schünzel] b&w; cph: Werner Bohne; optical efx: Werner Bohne & Heinrich Weidemann
1935	Les dieux s'amusent [Reinhold Schünzel & Albert Valentin] b&w; optical efx: Werner Bohne; French-language version of 'Amphitryon'
1935	Schwarze Rosen [Paul Martin] b&w; uncred cph: Werner Krien
1935	Black Roses/Flaming Hearts/Did I Betray? [Paul Martin] b&w; English-language version of 'Schwarze Rosen'
1935	Roses noires [Paul Martin & Jean Boyer] b&w; French-language version of 'Schwarze Rosen'
1936	Savoy-Hotel 217/Mord im Savoy [Gustav Ucicky] b&w
1936	Unter heißem Himmel [Gustav Ucicky] b&w
1937	Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war/Zwei lustige Abenteurer/Two Merry Adventurers [Karl Hartl] b&w
1937	Glamorous Night [Brian Desmond Hurst] b&w
1937	Der zerbrochene Krug/The Broken Jug [Gustav Ucicky] b&w
1937	Tango Notturno [Fritz Kirchhoff] b&w
1938	Das Mädchen mit dem guten Ruf [Hans Schweikart] b&w; cph: László Schäffer
1938	Schatten über St. Pauli/Shadows Over St. Pauli [Fritz Kirchhoff] b&w
1938	Adrienne Lecouvreur [Marcel L'Herbier] b&w
1938	Der Vierte kommt nicht [Max W. Kimmich] b&w
1939	Ein hoffnungsloser Fall/A Hopeless Case [Erich Engel] b&w
1939	Robert Koch [, der Bekämpfer des Todes] [Hans Steinhoff] b&w
1939	Aus erster Ehe [Paul Verhoeven] b&w
1939	Der Fuchs von Glenarvon/The Fox of Glenarvon [Max W. Kimmich] b&w
1940	Feinde [Viktor Tourjansky] b&w
1940	Friedrich Schiller - Der Triumph eines Genies [Herbert Maisch] b&w

1940	Ohm Krüger [Hans Steinhoff; (uncred) Herbert Maisch & Karl Anton] b&w; ext ph: Friedl Behn-Grund & Karl Puth
1941	Der Fall Rainer/Ich warte auf dich [Paul Verhoeven] b&w
1941	Was geschah in dieser Nacht? [Theo Lingen] b&w
1942	Die Entlassung/Schicksalswende/Bismarck's Dismissal [Wolfgang Liebeneiner] b&w
1942	Lache Bajazzo [Leopold Hainisch] b&w
1942	I pagliacci/Bajazzo/Laugh Pagliacci [Giuseppe Fatigati & Leopold Hainisch] b&w; Italian-language version of 'Lache Bajazzo'
1942	Altes Herz wird wieder jung [Erich Engel] b&w
1943	Ich werde dich auf Händen tragen/I'll Carry You On My Hands [Kurt Hoffmann] b&w
1943	Ein glücklicher Mensch/Schule des Lebens [Paul Verhoeven] b&w
1943	Herr Sanders lebt gefährlich [Robert A. Stemmle] b&w; cph: Eugen Klagemann
1944	Meine Herren Söhne [Robert A. Stemmle] b&w; cph: Eduard Mayer
1944	Das kleine Hofkonzert/Palace Scandal [Paul Verhoeven] c; released in 1949
1945	Befreite Musik [Peter Pewas] b&w; doc/17m; cph: Heinz Klinkmüller
1948	Die Brücke/The Bridge [Arthur Pohl] b&w
1949	Du bist nicht allein [Paul Verhoeven] b&w
1949	Mädchen hinter Gittern/Girls Behind Bars [Alfred Braun] b&w
1949	Frauenarzt Dr. Prätorius [Curt Goetz & Karl Peter Gillmann] b&w
1950	Herrliche Zeiten/50 Jahre - heiter betrachtet/Wonderful Times [Günter Neumann & Erik Ode] b&w; doc/95m
1950	Kennen Sie Berlin? [Wolfgang Kaskeline] b&w; doc/15m & 36m; cph: Hans Minzloff & Horst Kaskeline
1950	Das Mädchen aus der Südsee [Hans Müller] b&w
1950	Die tödlichen Träume/Liebestraum [Paul Martin] b&w
1951	Die Frauen des Herrn S. [Paul Martin] b&w
1951	Die Schuld des Dr. Homma [Paul Verhoeven] b&w
1951	Torreani [Gustav Fröhlich] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1951	Ein ganz großes Kind/Die leibhaftige Unschuld [Paul Verhoeven] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1952	Der Fürst von Pappenheim [Hans Deppe] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1952	Mein Herz darfst Du nicht fragen [Paul Martin] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1952	1. April 2000 [Wolfgang Liebeneiner] b&w
1952	Fräulein Casanova [E.W. Emo] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1953	Die Rose von Stambul/The Rose of Stamboul [Karl Anton] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1953	Der Vetter aus Dingsda [Karl Anton] b&w; cph (?): Karl Löb
1953	Die tolle Lola [Hans Deppe] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1953	Aus eigener Kraft [Franz Schroedter] c; doc/86m; cph: Karl Löb, Wolf Göthe & Fritz Brill
1954	Der treue Husar/The Faithfull Hussar [Rudolf Schündler] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1954	Konsul Strotthoff [Erich Engel] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1954	Clivia [Karl Anton] b&w; cph: Karl Löb
1954	Heideschulmeister Uwe Karsten/Eternal Love [Hans Deppe] c; cph: Karl Löb
1955	Die Frau des Botschafters/The Ambassador's Wife [Hans Deppe] b&w
1955	Hotel Adlon [Josef von Baky] b&w
1956	Verwegene Musikanten/Meine 16 Söhne [Hans Domnick] b&w
1956	Die wilde Auguste [Georg Jacoby] c
1956	Tausend Melodien [Hans Deppe] c
1956	Hochzeit auf Immenhof [Volker von Collande] c
1956	Geliebte Corinna/Corinna Darling [Eduard von Borsody] b&w
1957	Das Mädchen ohne Pyjama [Hans Quest] c
1957	Kindermädchen für Papa gesucht [Hans Quest] c
1957	Ferien auf Immenhof [Hermann Leitner] c
1957	Liebe, Jazz und Übermut [Erik Ode] c
1958	Der Czardas-König. Die Emmerich-Kalman-Story/The Csardas Princess [Harald Philipp] c
1958	Wehe, wenn sie losgelassen [Géza von Cziffra] c; cph: Willi Sohm
1958	Ohne Mutter geht es nicht [Erik Ode] b&w; uncred cph: Karl Löb (took over after the death of F.A. Wagner)