American Cinematographer - February 2008 - (Page 47) black-and-white cinematography, and his documentary work includes Lindsay Anderson’s Academy Award-winning short film Thursday’s Children (1954). For Tony Richardson, he photographed the innovative movies A Taste of Honey (1961), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) and Tom Jones (1963). For producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, he shot the features Savages (1972), The Wild Party (1975), Autobio-graphy of a Princess (1975), Heat and Dust (1983) and The Bostonians (1984), as well as Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization (1972) and Hullabaloo Over George and Bonnie’s Pictures (1978). Lassally was born in Berlin in 1926. He and his parents fled to England shortly before World War II began, eventually settling in Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey. Lassally learned some of the technology behind filmmaking from his father, who made industrial films, but he says the roots of his obsession with cinema lay in the “nine pennies,” the inexpensive neighborhood theaters where he saw commercial movies. “I saw Warner Bros.’ thrillers, MGM musicals and other offerings of contemporary Hollywood,” he recalls. “That’s when my ambition to be a cameraman first took shape. By age 15, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to be a cameraman and shoot feature films. Rather arrogantly, I felt I, too, could create images and lighting such as I saw in those films. Immediately upon leaving school, I mounted a concerted campaign to get into the industry. In 1944 and 1945, I wrote to all the film studios to try and get in as a clapper boy.” In the meantime, Lassally took a job at a stills studio, where he often borrowed a Leica and film, taking advantage of the opportunity to shoot, process and print his own photos. “My first jobs in filmmaking were on documentaries, where the small crews meant that I helped in every aspect, which was valuable experience,” he recalls. “I worked on films such as A Demonstration of Lifeboat Launching by the 6x4 Scammel Tractor and Prefabricated House Components.” Eventually, his letter-writing campaign succeeded, and he joined Riverside Studios as a clapper boy. His first job was on the feature Dancing With Crime, which featured an actor named Richard Attenborough in his first starring role. “In those days, one was very much on one’s own,” notes Lassally. “Learning cinematography was a matter of doing it because there were no film schools. You could watch and copy people, and I did have the opportunity to do that; I was able to work with people who were good Photos courtesy of Walter Lassally. Opposite: Walter Lassally, BSC heads to the beach with an unusual companion: the Academy Award he won for Zorba the Greek. This page, top: Lassally (third from left, in background) and director Derek York (second from left) oversee the filming of Saturday Night on location in London. The short film was never released, but a producer who saw some footage offered Lassally his first job as a lighting cameraman. Left: For another setup on Saturday Night, Lassally (lower right) provides fill light as Gerry Turpin operates and John Fletcher mans the dolly. American Cinematographer 47
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