American Cinematographer - October 2014 - 81

in film history. It's also a shame that the
powers-that-be didn't recognize his
stature when they had the chance.
To be fair, there have been a
number of cinematographers whose
careers were largely conducted in a class
similar to Gordon's, among them
Conrad Hall, ASC; Owen Roizman,
ASC; and Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC.
But go back and review the history of
cinema from its inception to the
moment The Godfather was released in
the spring of 1972. If you take away
nothing else from the story of this
unique artist, understand a simple fact:
Until then, not a single movie had ever
looked like that. By sticking to his
conviction of shooting only what "felt
right," Gordon changed motion-picture
photography in a way that continues to
influence everything we see in narrative
features and television. It's impossible to
underestimate the resonance of this
achievement, especially in comparison
to the rest of what was going on in cine-

matography at the time. Was it
unusual? Of course it was. Courageous?
You bet. But what's truly audacious is
that even in his more pedestrian films,
Gordon's work caused people to stop
watching and start looking. What we've
gained through that is now taken for
granted, but we should all be thankful
for it. If Gordon hadn't caused an
uproar by throwing shade on Brando's
eyes, the whole world would still be
thinking that directors do it all on their
own.
In 2009, the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences recognized
Gordon with an honorary Oscar.
History dictates that the honor came
too late, but that didn't dampen the
appreciation or the depth of emotion
expressed on that celebratory evening. I
had the wonderful privilege to attend
the ceremony as one of Gordon's guests,
and the experience will always stand as
one of the great moments of my professional life. Despite having his best work

all but ignored by the Academy to that
point, his acceptance speech was
gracious, heartfelt and inspiring. And
that was no surprise. Once again he was
incapable of being anything but himself
- a lion among mice.
Just seeing Gordon step up to the
Panavision camera, put his left eye to the
finder and unhook the locks to the pan
and tilt wheels told you all you needed to
know about being in good and trusted
hands. There was the strong, reassuring
sense that you were in the presence of a
genius. I was lucky to have spent some
time around him and to have had the
chance to learn a few things along the
way. That I continually fail to put most
of them into practice doesn't bother me
as much as it used to. But when it does,
I reflect back more than 30 years to that
memory of the bouncing matte box in
the camera room at the old Filmways
Studio in Upper Manhattan.
And I thank God I never worked
in a grenade factory.
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American Cinematographer - October 2014

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