American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 80

AC visits the set of
Godfather of Harlem - shot
by Guillermo Navarro, ASC,
Jack Donnelly and Christopher Norr
- and explores the re-creation
of an era
By Iain Marcks

The Epix series Godfather of Harlem - photographed by
Guillermo Navarro, ASC; Jack Donnelly; and Christopher
Norr - begins in 1963. In the pilot episode, pimp, numbers
man and convicted drug lord Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy"
Johnson (played by series executive producer Forest
Whitaker) is released from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary,
where he'd spent more than 10 years for trafficking illegal
narcotics. He trades his prison attire for a fresh suit and tie,
takes a ferry and a plane to New York City, and then a limo
with his wife Mayme (Ilfenesh Hadera) to the upscale Lenox
80

December 2019

Terrace apartments in the heart of Harlem. Arriving at their
airy luxury penthouse, Johnson is welcomed home by a
huge gathering of his family, friends and business associates.
He quickly finds, however, that the neighborhood he
once ruled is now controlled by Vincent "The Chin" Gigante
(Vincent D'Onofrio) of the Genovese crime family.
With a business acumen as sharp as the straight razor
he uses to slice up his enemies, Johnson forms alliances with
minister and activist Malcolm X (Nigél Thatch), Baptist
pastor-cum-United States Representative Adam Clayton
Powell Jr. (Giancarlo Esposito), and anyone else he can
manipulate into conflict or cooperation - single-handedly
orchestrating a collision of the criminal underworld and the
civil-rights movement during one of the most tumultuous
times in American history.
On a cold day in January 2019, AC pays a visit to
Johnson's apartment, but instead of taking the Seventh
Avenue Express uptown, a route was navigated to the
Broadway Stages in Glendale, Queens, where there was no
doorman, no elevator, and nothing on the outside of the
unmarked brick buildings to suggest that this might be
where it all ends for one of New York's most notorious

ASC 100th Anniversary

Unit photography by David Lee, courtesy of Epix.

Return
of the
Kingpin



American Cinematographer - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2019

Contents
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - Intro
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 1
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - Contents
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 3
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 4
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 5
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 6
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 7
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 8
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 9
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 10
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 11
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 12
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 13
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 14
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 15
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 16
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 17
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 18
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 19
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 20
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 21
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 22
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 23
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 24
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 25
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 26
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 27
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 28
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 29
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 30
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 31
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 32
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 33
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 34
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 35
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 36
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 37
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 38
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 39
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 40
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 41
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 42
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 43
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 44
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 45
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 46
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 47
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 48
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 49
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 50
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 51
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 52
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 53
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 54
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 55
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 56
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 57
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 58
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 59
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 60
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 61
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 62
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 63
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 64
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 65
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 66
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 67
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 68
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 69
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 70
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 71
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 72
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 73
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 74
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 75
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 76
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 77
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 78
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 79
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 80
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 81
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 82
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 83
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 84
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 85
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 86
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 87
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 88
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 89
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 90
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 91
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 92
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 93
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 94
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 95
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 96
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 97
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 98
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 99
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 100
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 100a
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 100b
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 101
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 102
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 103
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 104
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 105
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 106
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 107
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 108
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 109
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 110
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 111
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 112
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 113
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 114
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 115
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 116
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 117
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 118
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 119
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - 120
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - December 2019 - Cover4
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