American Cinematographer - October 1989 - 90

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by Mike Maginot
The Little Princess
Produced by Darryl
Directed by Walter

F Zanuck.
Lang.
Photographed by Arthur Miller, ASC and
William Skall, ASC.

(Playhouse Video)
The Little Princess is the

quintes¬
sential Shirley Temple movie. A Cinderella
story set in Victorian England, the film
follows Shirley from riches to rags. Shirley is
steadfast and never gives up hope of finding
her father, who is thought to be a casualty
of the Boer War.
The film is full of memorable

performances. Arthur Treacher is as lovable
Mary Nash is treacherous. Cesar
Romero, despite considerable makeup, man¬
ages to be magically mischievous as Miles

as

Manders servant from the East, Ram Dass.

Sybil Jason, as Becky, steals scenes from
Shirley, with her cockney accent and breath¬
less phrasing.

FREE Publications

for Sound Mixers...
"The Production Sound Report The journal of
Production Sound Equipment
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Techniques'

Poor transfers of this Technicolor
classic have been distributed by several

companies. The Playhouse Video version is
the first to do justice to Miller and Skalls
richly hued cinematics. Other tapes in Play¬
house's Shirley Temple series, which now
includes 19 titles, have been transferred
with similar loving care.
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An informative newsletter

published

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other month.

"The Production Sound

Catalog"

500 photos, laced
with articles and useful information.
Over 115 pages.

The Lair of the White Worm
Produced and directed by Ken

Russell.
Photographed by Dick Bush, BSC.
(Vestron Video)

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88

steps of Salomes Last Dance (Vestron Vid¬
eo), which was lyrically lensed by Harvey
Harrison, BSC, comes this sinister story
based on a Bram Stoker novel, this time
with Dick Bush

behind the

achieving the extraordinary

camera.

Russell has

brought Stokers sto¬
ry into the present and sprinkled it with his
usual eccentric touches. The White Worm
and several other eerie manifestations are
the work of Image Animation.
Amanda Donohoe's

serpentine

as Lady Sylvia Marsh delivers
thrills and chills superior to any found in her

performance

October 1989

character's favorite game,
ladders.
*

*

snakes and

*

The Bad and the Beautiful
Produced by John Houseman.
Directed by Vincente Minnelli.

Photographed by Robert Surtees, ASC.
(MGM/UA Home Video)
Robert Surtees won an Oscar for
his excellent B&W cinematography of The
Bad and the Beautiful, which glamourously

captured the darker side of success in
Hollywood.
Kirk Douglas, Barry Sullivan, Dick
Powell, Lana Turner, Gloria Graham, and
Walter Pidgeon do star turns
nelli's potent direction.
*

*

under Min¬

*

Little Dorrit
Produced by John Brabourne
and Richard Goodwin.
Directed by Christine Edwards

Photographed by Bruno De Keyzer,
Pat Noonan, Colin Vinton, Jack Collins,
Chris Mortley, and Harold Farley.

(Warner Home Video)
Christine Edwards' script for Lit¬
tle Dorrit has many good qualities, unfor¬
tunately it has trouble clarifying some of
Charles Dickens' more complex plot points
and dramatic revelations.
The six hour film is divided into
two

parts: Nobody's Fault, which deals with

Arthur Clennam's descent from affluence
and Little Dorrit's Story, that re-examines the

ground covered in the first part, supposedly
through the eyes of Amy Dorrit. This is not
the structure of Dickens' novel, but it does
hold your attention despite the repetition
that occurs.
Derek Jacobi, Sarah Pickering,

Alex Guinness, and Joan Greenwood head
the impressive cast of characters brought

together for this production.
Little Dorrit is an epic seen
through mirror and microscope. Dickens'
world as a prison theme is expressed in a
series of well lit painterly interiors, in styles
fitting each family of characters.
American Cinematographer - October 1989

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 1989
