American Cinematographer - May 2011 - 18

Production Slate
The late, great Jack Cardiff, BSC makes a point in a scene from Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff, a documentary directed by Craig McCall that was shot over many years and in several countries.

Spotlighting a Legendary Cinematographer By Mark Hope-Jones

It all started in the early 1990s, with a Bolex. Director Craig McCall was making music videos at EMI in London, and an elderly gentleman noticed the 16mm Bolex camera on his desk and wandered over to take a look. “I didn’t know who he was,” recalls McCall. “He came over, and we got to chatting.” The man was Jack Cardiff, BSC, who shot many of the most visually accomplished three-strip Technicolor films ever made, including A Matter of Life and Death /Stairway to Heaven (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), The African Queen (1951) and Black Narcissus (1947). He won an Academy Award for the latter film, and 53 years later, he became the first cinematographer to be presented with an honorary Oscar. Cardiff was at EMI because he had been invited to shoot a version of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, and he returned to the office several times during his prep. McCall, now aware of his extraordinary background, spoke with Cardiff again as soon as the opportunity arose. “One day Jack opened a newspaper and saw that it had just snowed in Venice, Italy, which it hadn’t done for decades,” recalls McCall. “He loved that image, and he wanted it for The Four Seasons, but he didn’t have his budget yet, so he just borrowed the Bolex, drove to Venice and got it in the can. I thought that was fantastically inspiring. He had the enthusiasm of a film student doing his first production, yet he was in his 80s and
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had made so many amazing films.” As their acquaintance developed, McCall had the idea of making a film about Cardiff’s illustrious career. He put the idea to the back of his mind for a few years, but in 1997, he was on the lookout for a new project and decided to shoot a pilot with Cardiff in the hopes of rustling up a television commission. When he accepted Cardiff’s invitation to visit the cinematographer’s home and discovered a treasure trove of production photos, behind-thescenes footage and other memorabilia that Cardiff had accumulated over nine decades in the film business, he realized how much potential the project really had. Born to two Vaudeville performers, Cardiff grew up around entertainers, and he started working as a child actor, first appearing in My Son, My Son (1918) at the age of 4. After acting in several more films as a youth, he worked as a runner on the silent film The Informer (1929), then moved on to clapper loader (when sound came in), then camera assistant, and eventually camera operator. A turning point came when Cardiff was selected by Technicolor, which was looking to expand into London, to be trained as the company’s first British camera operator. In the interview for the position, he admitted that he knew nothing of the process’ complex technicalities, but said that what interested him about color was the opportunity to tap his knowledge of how the Old Masters had used it as an emotive tool in their paintings. He got the job.

American Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - May 2011

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