Arthur Edeson
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Arthur Edeson
Biography
Like many movie pioneers, New York-born Arthur Edeson cut his professional teeth as a still photographer. His earliest film assignments were for the Eclair Company in 1911; seven years later, Edeson was one of the founders of the American Society of Cinematographers. When sound came in, Edeson seized the opportunity to experiment with camouflaging the microphones in exterior shots. In Old Arizona(1929) proved to a nervous Hollywood that talking pictures need not be confined to the stuffy surroundings of a sound stage. One year later, Edeson filmed one of the first major wide-screen features, The Big Trail (1930) (Lucien Andriot photographed the simultaneously filmed "flat" screen version). At Warner Bros. from 1936 until his retirement, Edeson was responsible for the cinematography of some of the studio's most memorable films, among them The Maltese Falcon (1941) Sergeant York (1941), and Casablanca (1942). Arthur Edeson was nominated for an Oscar for Casablanca, but he lost to fellow lensman Arthur Miller and The Song of Bernadette. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviFilmography:
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Arthur Edeson
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Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Arthur Edeson
| Arthur Edeson, A.S.C. | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Portrait |
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| Born | October 5, 1891 New York City, New York, USA |
| Died | February 14, 1970 (aged 78) Agoura Hills, California |
| Occupation | Cinematographer |
| Influenced by | James Whale |
| Title | A.S.C. Founding Member |
| Board member of | A.S.C. President (1953-1954) |
Arthur Edeson, A.S.C. (October 24, 1891 – February 14, 1970) was a film cinematographer, born in New York City.[1]
He was nominated for three Academy Awards in his career in cinema.
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Career
Edeson began his career as a still photographer, but turned to movies in 1911 as a camera operator at the American Éclair Studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey when it and many other early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based there at the beginning of the 20th century.[2][3][4]
When the Éclair Studio was reorganized as the World Film Company, he was promoted to chief cinematographer assigned to the star Clara Kimball Young.[5] Throughout the twenties, Edeson photographed a number of important films, including Douglas Fairbanks' Robin Hood (1922) and The Thief of Bagdad (1924), and the groundbreaking special effects film The Lost World (1925).
When sound came in, Edeson experimented with camouflaging the microphones in exterior shots. In Old Arizona (1929), the first sound film to be shot outside a studio, provided evidence to Hollywood executives that talking pictures need not be confined to the sound stage. The western was also the first film to be made in the 70mm widescreen process, known as "Fox Grandeur".[6]
In the early thirties, perhaps his most memorable creative partnership was formed with director James Whale, for whom he photographed the first three of Whale's quartet of horror films: Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), and The Invisible Man (1933).
According to critic M. S. Fonseca, Edeson was one of the "master craftsmen" of the old American school. His principal work was on the side of realism, which is considered by most film historians to represent the "zenith of Hollywood photography." Edeson built on the influence of German Expressionism, brought to the America cinema by German cinematographers during the 1920s.[7]
In 1919, Edeson was one of the founders of the American Society of Cinematographers.
Filmography
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Awards
Nominations
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, for In Old Arizona; 1929.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, for All Quiet on the Western Front; 1930.
- Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Black and White Cinematography, for Casablanca; 1943.
- In 1955 and 1957, Edeson was awarded the George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.
References
- ^ Arthur Edeson at the Internet Movie Database. Last accessed: December 17, 2007.
- ^ Kozarski, Ricchard (2004), Fort Lee: The Film Town, Rome, Italy: John Libbey Publishing -CIC srl, ISBN 0-86196-653-8, http://books.google.nl/books?id=5w0r8YKan04C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Fort+Lee:+the+film+town+Door+Richard+Koszarski&hl=nl&ei=fyO4TcjINoKeOpr32LsP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ^ "Studios and Films". Fort Lee Film Commission. http://www.fortleefilm.org/studios.html. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
- ^ Fort Lee Film Commission (2006), Fort Lee Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 0-7385-4501-5, http://books.google.com/books?id=ViR3b72xkK0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Fort+Lee+Birthplace+of+the+Motion+Picture+Industry&hl=nl&ei=ah3lTdmHMY7rObrH9bIG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ^ Steeman, Albert. Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers, "Arthur Edeson page," Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2007. Last accessed: December 14, 2007.
- ^ Erickson, Hal. Allmovie, "Edeson Biography," 2007.
- ^ Fonseca, M.S. Film Reference, 2007. Last accessed: December 18, 2007.
- ^ Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to World Film, since 1885. 2008. Index home page.
External links
- Arthur Edeson at the Internet Movie Database.
- Arthur Edeson at AllRovi.
- Arthur Edeson at Film Reference.
- Arthur Edeson: seven trailers at Spike TV (iFilm)
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
