Jack Cardiff

Infobox actor
name = Jack Cardiff, B.S.C.

caption = Jack Cardiff, film-maker
birthdate = birth date and age|1914|9|18|df=yes
location =

Jack Cardiff OBE, B.S.C. (born 18 September 1914) is an Academy Award-winning British cinematographer, director and photographer.

His career spans the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor (and, less successfully, Smell-o-vision), to filmmaking in the 21st century. He is best known for his influential cinematography for directors such as Powell, Huston and Hitchcock.

In 2000 he was awarded an OBE.In 2001 he was awarded an Honorary Oscar for his contribution to the cinema.

Born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, Cardiff's parents were music hall entertainers. He worked as an actor from an early age, both in the music hall and in a number of silent films: "My Son, My Son" (1918), "Billy's Rose" (1922), "The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots" (1923) and "Tiptoes" (1927). At 15 he began working as a camera assistant, clapper boy and production runner for British International Pictures, including Hitchcock's "The Skin Game" (1931).

Cinematography

In 1935 Cardiff graduated to camera operator and occasional cinematographer, working mostly for London Films. He was the first to shoot a film in Britain in Technicolor: "Wings of the Morning" (1937). When the war began he worked as a cinematographer on public information films.

The turning point in his career was as a 2nd unit cameraman on Powell & Pressburger's "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" (1943); they were impressed enough to hire Cardiff as cinematographer on their post-war Technicolor masterpiece "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946). Their collaboration continued with "Black Narcissus" (1947), which won Cardiff an Oscar and a Golden Globe, and "The Red Shoes" (1948). These films put Cardiff's talents in high demand, and a string of big-budget films followed. After concentrating on direction in the 1960s, he returned to cinematography in the 1970s and 1980s.

Notable films as cinematographer include:
*"A Matter of Life and Death" (1946) directed by Powell and Pressburger
*"Black Narcissus" (1947) directed by Powell and Pressburger
*"The Red Shoes" (1948) directed by Powell and Pressburger
*"Under Capricorn" (1949) directed by Alfred Hitchcock
*"The Black Rose" (1950) starring Orson Welles
*"The Magic Box" (1951) a biopic of William Friese-Greene
*"Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" (1951)
*"The African Queen" (1951) directed by John Huston
*"The Barefoot Contessa" (1954)
*"War and Peace" (1956)
*"The Prince and the Showgirl" (1957) directed by Laurence Olivier
*"Legend of the Lost" (1957)
*"The Vikings" (1958)
*"Fanny (1961)
*"Death on the Nile" (1978)
*"The Awakening" (1980)
*"Ghost Story"(1981)
*"The Dogs of War" (1981)
*"Conan the Destroyer" (1984)
*"" (1985)

Directorial work

In the late 1950s Cardiff began to direct, with two modest successes in "Intent to Kill" (1958) and "Web of Evidence" (1959). In 1960 his adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's novel "Sons and Lovers", starring Trevor Howard, Wendy Hiller and Dean Stockwell, was a successful hit. It earned seven Oscar nominations and won Freddie Francis Best Black-and-White Cinematography. Cardiff received a Golden Globe for direction.

After the high water mark of "Sons and Lovers", he directed an unusual mix of films, including:
*"Scent of Mystery" (1960) — the first production in Smell-o-vision
*"My Geisha" (1962)
*"The Long Ships" (1963)
*"Young Cassidy" (1965)
*"The Mercenaries" (1968)
*"The Girl on a Motorcycle" (1968) starring Marianne Faithfull
*"The Mutations" (1973) starring Donald Pleasence
*"Penny Gold" (1973)

References

*Cardiff's autobiography "Magic Hour" (ISBN 0-571-19274-2)
*"Conversations with Jack Cardiff: Art, Light and Direction in Cinema" by Justin Bowyer (ISBN 0-7134-8855-7)

External links

*imdb name|id=0002153|name=Jack Cardiff
* [http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/cardiff/ BFI: Jack Cardiff]
*Screenonline name|id=458373|name=Jack Cardiff biography and credits
* [http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/Jack Jack Cardiff] at the [http://www.powell-pressburger.org Powell & Pressburger pages]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/forum/1233410.stm BBC Forum Interview (2001)]
*BBC Radio 4's "The Film Programme" [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/filmprogramme/filmprogramme_20050326.shtml special edition on Jack Cardiff]
* [http://www.jackcardiff.co.uk/ Jack Cardiff Prints]
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/089/000174564 NNDB]