****Cinematography Corner****

[Brandon Burke]

This thread is somewhat self-serving. I was at the video store last night and really wanted something with some stunning b/w cinematography, edting and ultimately drew a blank. I was, however, quite pleased with what I took homw with me,Z, which I'd been meaning to see for ages.

Anyways, some of my favorites are:

* Knife in the Water

* I Know Where I'm Going

* Lady from Shanghai

* The Third Man

* Down By Law

* Dead Man

* Rififi

* The Killing

* Dr. Strangelove

* The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, etc.

* lots...

And lots more in color as well. Lars Von Trier's The Element of Crime, for example.

[Alec]

Speaking of Cinematography, have you seen the documentary "Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography"? It was put together by the AFI in 1992. Lots of clips and great interviews.

Highly recommended.

[J Larsen]

James Wong Howe is probably my all-time favorite cinematographer. Anything he worked on is worth watching if you appreciate the art.

[Brandon Burke]

I've not seen Visions of Light in some time. Perhaps revisiting that (and jotting down some featured names) is a good start.

I'll give Howe some time this week. I have seen a handful of his works, however accidentaly, but it was long enough ago that I wouldn't have been paying much attention to the cinematography.

Thanks guys.

[J Larsen]

Howe's most famous work is probably that which he did for the otherwise fairly lousy film Transatlantic. It looks like something Welles would have done, but well before the fact.

My favorite movie that he worked on was a very creepy movie called Seconds. Seconds is a grossly overlooked film that, IMO, deserves "classic" status.

[Brandon Burke]

My favorite movie that he worked on was a very creepy movie called Seconds. Seconds is a grossly overlooked film that, IMO, deserves "classic" status.

Funny you mention that as I saw it listed among Howe's works on AMG when I looked him up an hour or so ago. I've been scratching my head ever since, trying to remember if I've seen it already or not. I may have it mixed up with Shock Corridor. Dunno.

Sounds like, either way, I'm in for a treat if I can't remember....

[J Larsen]

One other Howe work not to be missed: "The Sweet Smell of Success". It has a very cool "jazz age" feel and look. Plus, if you get Showtime on Demand, you can watch it for free this week. In fact, that's how I remembered to mention it - I'm firing it up right now.

[sal]

Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy had beautiful cinematography.

One of my new favorites is the guy who does the Sam Mendes movies "American Beauty " and "Road to Perdition". Very haunting, beautiful images.

Edited May 16, 2004 by sal

[Brandon Burke]

"Dead Man" & "The Man Who Wasn't There"

Strangely, I didn't really like The Man Who Wasn't There despite how much I love both the noir aesthetic and the Coens. Couple of reasons: First of all, everyone was so blase in The Man Who Wasn't There that, ultimately, I didn't end up giving a shit either. I may or may not have fallen asleep in the theatre. The cinematography was definately brilliant but it's hard to stay emotionally invested in a picture when the characters don't give a damn either.

Dead Man, on the other hand, I mentioned earlier. I'm a huge Robby Muller fan so Dead Man and Down By Law are among my all time faves. Watching Knife in the Water for the first time the other night, it really struck me how much of an influence it must have been on Muller. What with the high-contrast b/w, the use of bodies of water as reflective surfaces, etc. Very cool.

[kinuta]

Woody Allen's ' Sweet And Lowdown'- cinematography by Zhao Fei

Zhang Yimou's brilliant ' Hero' ( Chinese title ' Ying Xiong' - cinematography by Chistopher Doyle, who also did ,the amazing ,' In The Mood For Love'.

[brownie]

Already listed in the 'Out of the Past' thread some favorite cinematographers.

A selected lis would include:

Gregg Toland's work on 'Citizen Kane' and 'The Grapes of Wrath' among others,

Arthur Miller's work on 'How Green Was My Valley',

Eduart Tisse's work on Eisenstein films, notably 'Alexander Newsky',

Raoul Couard's work with Jean-Luc Godard, notably 'A Bout de Souffle' and 'Pierrot Le Fou',

Joseph McDonald's work on 'My Darling Clementine',

Stanley Cortez' work on Laughton's 'The Night of the Hunter',

Winton C. Hoch's work on Ford's 'The Searchers',

and plenty more including Nick Musaraca, John Alton, James Wong Howe, etc.

[garthsj]

DON'T GET ME STARTED ....

Brownie gave a great list, and he beat me to it .. but search out the work of John Alton in all those 'B' noirs ... classic use of the b/w camera to evoke mood ...

[brownie]

John Alton, not only a master of black/white cinematography. He made a lot of films with Hollywood veteran

Alan Dwan. His use of color in that 1954 Dwan western 'Silver Lode' is masterful. Wish one of those French TV films

channel would replay that one soon. I am longing to see this film again. Excellent western with good script

which turns out to be an allegory on the Joe McCarthy era.

[BruceH]

One other Howe work not to be missed: "The Sweet Smell of Success". It has a very cool "jazz age" feel and look.

Total agreement!!!

(BTW, Brownie, great list.)

I would add that I think George Barnes did a hellava nice job on Force of Evil, the 1948 John Garfield classic directed by Abraham Polonsky.

Any mention of John Alton must include a brief for T-Men, the classic B-crime thriller, directed by Anthony Mann. The film is practically a primer of how to paint with light and shadow.

[brownie]

Not only 'Sweet Smell of Success' had a 'jazz age' feel and look, it also had great jazz music

by the Chico Hamilton Quintet (with Paul Horn and John Pisano). The soundtrack was released

on a Decca album at the time (late '50s).

Very impressive film with superb acting (one of my favorite dumb blond Barbara Nichols had a marvelous part),

script and cinematography.

[king ubu]

Great film

[garthsj]

Not only 'Sweet Smell of Success' had a 'jazz age' feel and look, it also had great jazz music

by the Chico Hamilton Quintet (with Paul Horn and John Pisano). The soundtrack was released

on a Decca album at the time (late '50s).

Very impressive film with superb acting (one of my favorite dumb blond Barbara Nichols had a marvelous part),

script and cinematography.

When THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS was first released in Cape Town in 1957, I went to see it four times the first week! I was madly into the Chico Hamilton Quintet, and also acting at the time ... and this was MY movie ... for years I talked it up, and very few remembered it, but in the last decade the film has now become a recognized classic.

Interesting that Alexander MacKendrick, the director was a Scotsman (although actually born in the U.S.), with no real background in any of this culture, having previously made great British comedies like "Whiskey Galore" and "The Lady Killers." ... Like another British director, John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy, 1969) he somehow was able to catch the gritty side of New York life. (They kept the streets wet most of the time). Ernst Lehman, one of the script writers, together with Clifford Odets, once pointed out about "Sweet Smell" that "no one talked like this, but everyone wished they did." You may recall that one of the characters in Barry Levinson's movie "Diner" keeps sprouting off whole sections of the great dialogue from "Sweet Smell." Levinson has acknowledged his homage to this film ..

One interesting stylistic aspect of the film .. people are always entering and exiting rooms, clubs, and cars in a formal, stagelike way .... every entry has a corresponding exit ..

Need I say, most of my students find it very difficult to relate to the mise en scene of this particular period in American history, when newspaper columnists had that kind of power. But I persist in showing this film, hoping that my own enthusiasm will somehow rub off ... I sometimes feel like the Richard Kiley character in "Blackboard Jungle" trying to get those juvenile delinquents to understand Stan Kenton!

[BruceH]

Keep on showin' it!!!

You're fighting the good fight.

[ralphie_boy]

Howe's most famous work is probably that which he did for the otherwise fairly lousy film Transatlantic. It looks like something Welles would have done, but well before the fact.

My favorite movie that he worked on was a very creepy movie called Seconds. Seconds is a grossly overlooked film that, IMO, deserves "classic" status.

Yes! Seconds is an excellent film with great visual impact. Best performance of Rock Hudson's career. To this day, the ending still creeps me out.

[ralphie_boy]

Many of the film noirs contained great cinematography. One of the best IMO is Kiss Me Deadly. Dark images, shadows and some great camera angles.

[BruceH]

Howe's most famous work is probably that which he did for the otherwise fairly lousy film Transatlantic. It looks like something Welles would have done, but well before the fact.

My favorite movie that he worked on was a very creepy movie called Seconds. Seconds is a grossly overlooked film that, IMO, deserves "classic" status.

Yes! Seconds is an excellent film with great visual impact. Best performance of Rock Hudson's career. To this day, the ending still creeps me out.

"You were my best work, Mr. Wilson."

Reportedly, Rock Hudson himself also considered it to be his best performance. I guess I can see why.

This is a very unusual movie. Basically a horror film, but a philosophical science fiction horror film.

[Brandon Burke]

Howe's most famous work is probably that which he did for the otherwise fairly lousy film Transatlantic. It looks like something Welles would have done, but well before the fact.

My favorite movie that he worked on was a very creepy movie called Seconds. Seconds is a grossly overlooked film that, IMO, deserves "classic" status.

Yes! Seconds is an excellent film with great visual impact. Best performance of Rock Hudson's career. To this day, the ending still creeps me out.

I had to pause Seconds, which I'm watching right now, to hop onto this thread. Amazing. As it turns out, I have indeed seen it before but had forgotten about it's visual impact. The film (this time) reminds me a lot of Kubrick.