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)