American Cinematographer - November 1988 - 94

from Hollywood across the Cahuenga Pass
to the studio.
Rosson's first cinematography
credit was David Harum, in 1915. When
Metro moved back to New York he went
with them. His career was interrupted by

military service during World War I. For
several years following the armistice he
traveled back and forth between the East
and West Coast studios "following the

pictures," as he said, before settling in
Hollywood. During the 1920s Rosson photo¬
graphed about 40 silent features, mostly for
Paramount, First National and the DeMillePathe Studio.

Among the more popular
Heliotrope (1920), Glimpses of the
Moon (1923), Zaza (1923), Manhandled
(1924), Story Without a Name (1924), Infatua¬
tion (1926), Getting Gerties Garter (1927),
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928), Drag Net
(1928) and The Docks of New York (1928).

were

Harold (Hal) Rosson, ASC, director of

photography of at least 133 feature films,
many of which are recognized classics, died
September 6 at his home in Palm Beach,
Florida, after a long illness. He was 93 and
had been retired for about 30 years. Rosson
is best remembered

as

one

of the top

ranking cinematographers at MGM from
1930 until 1953, where he made such peren¬
as Tarzan the Ape Man (1932),

nial favorites

Treasure Island (1934), The Wizard of Oz
(1939), On the Town (1949) and Singin' in the
Rain (1952).
Born in Genaseo, New York, in
1895, Rosson came to California in 1912 and

began work as an assistant camera¬
man, boy actor and "general factotum" at
Metro Pictures Corporation. His sister,
Helene Rosson Terry, was a leading actress

soon

at Paramount and
ers,

Universal, and his broth¬
Robert and Arthur, were well known

directors. When

acting calls

came

from

Universal, Helene would ride horseback

In 1929 Rosson made several
"talkies" at Fox, including The Far Call and
Trents Last Case. As the new decade began
he signed the first of many contracts with

American

Cinematographer

reputation

grew, many

productions. As a result, he photographed
several pictures each for Cecil B. DeMille,
Victor Fleming, Josef von Sternberg, Allan
Dwan, W. S. Van Dyke, Howard Hawks,
Frank O'Connor, Jack Conway, King Vidor,
Harry DArrast, Sam Wood, Mervyn LeRoy,
Wesley Ruggles, William K. Howard, Stan¬
ley Donen, John Huston and others.
Some of the memorable pictures
photographed by Rosson after his return
from England include Captains Courageous
(1937), Too Hot to Handle (1938), Edison the
Man (1940), Johnny Eager (1941), An Ameri¬
can Romance (1944), Duel in the Sun (1946,
with Lee Garmes, ASC, and Ray Rennahan,
ASC), The Hucksters (1947), Command Deci¬
sion (1948), The Red Badge of Courage
(1951), Ulysses (1955, made in Italy), Pete
Kellys Blues (1955), and The Enemy Below
(1957). He had made some good financial
investments before he decided to retire in
1958. He returned to his
once

-

a

decade later

-

profession only
for the classic

MGM, where his initial assignments were

western, El Dorado (1967) because his old

This Mad World for William C. DeMille and
the fantastic Madam Satan for Cecil B.
DeMille (both 1930). The Squaw Man (1931),
Bed Headed Woman (1932), BedDust(1932),

friend, Howard Hawks, talked him into it. He
said later that he

were

among the pictures he worked on
during the ensuing four years. In 1935 he
went to England to photograph several
elaborate Alexander Korda products - The
Scarlet Pimpernel (1935), The Ghost Goes
West (1936), As You Like It (1937) and The

enjoyed it so much that
afterward he decided he must have been
out of his mind to have ever quit. He
declined any further assignments, however.
Rosson was married in 1932 to
one of MGM's biggest stars, Jean Harlow,
and later to Yvonne Crellin. Both marriages
ended in divorce and there were no children.
He became a member of the ASC in 1927,
and was one of the oldest living members of
the New York Athletic Club. He is survived

Man Who Could Work Miracles (1937).

by two nieces and

Kongo (1932), Penthouse (1933), Bombshell
(1933) and The Cat and the Fiddle (1934)

Returning to the U.S., Rosson
was awarded a special 1937 Academy
Award for his first Technicolor picture, The
Garden ofAllah (with Technicolors W. How¬
ard Greene, ASC). He received Academy
nominations in later years for Boom Town in

1930, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo in 1944, The
Asphalt Jungle in 1950, and The Bad Seed
in 1956.

92

As his

top directors requested Rosson for their

November 1988

In

the

an

a nephew.
interview for "The Art of

Cinematographer" (1971), Rosson told

Leonard Maltin the secret of how great
movies were made: "...A group falling

together and thinking together and praying
together, and you wanted one result - a
good picture. And you wanted to be mixed
up in it."
A
American Cinematographer - November 1988

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