James Wong Howe The Camera Eye: A Career Interview by Alain Silver

by Alain Silver

Based on 15 hours of interviews conducted by film scholar Alain Silver, this new book on legendary director of photography James Wong Howe (1899-1976) is a must-read for anyone interested in what happens behind the scenes on a Hollywood set from film aficionados to industry professionals. A two-time Academy-Award® winner and still considered one of the greatest cinematographers in the history of American motion pictures, James Wong Howe began his career in 1917 at Famous Players-Lasky as a camera assistant working on silent features directed by such pioneers of narrative cinema as Cecil B. DeMille. Promoted to Director of Photography in 1922, Howe spent almost three decades shooting A-projects while under contract at Paramount, MGM, 20th Century-Fox, Selznick International, and Warner Bros. then another twenty-plus years as a freelance cameraman. At those studios, he shot projects as diverse as the silent Peter Pan, Viva Villa!, The Prisoner of Zenda, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, King’s Row, Body and Soul, The Rose Tattoo, Picnic, Hud, Seconds, and almost 60 sixty years after his first job Funny Lady in 1975. "It was the people who were interested in movies as a living art form, people that loved to experiment and found the results gratifying, who made the technical progress in motion pictures." Such comments by Howe about his career, his style, actors, producers, and directors with whom he worked, and his beliefs about what constitutes good camerawork are extensively annotated and profusely illustrated with over 500 images, many of which are keyed to Howe’s remarks about specific scenes and shots reflect his direct, professional "There must be a reason for all what it's for and where it's coming from." Howe provides considerable detail about his work with such producers and directors as DeMille, David O. Selznick, Hall Wallis, William Cameron Menzies, Victor Fleming, John Cromwell, Martin Ritt, Herbert Brenon, John Frankenheimer, and Sidney Lumet. Among the star performers discussed are Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Sean Connery, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, John Garfield, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, William Holden, Hedy Lamarr, Burt Lancaster, Vivien Leigh, Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, Paul Newman, Kim Novak, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sheridan, Barbara Stanwyck, Barbra Streisand, Spencer Tracy, and Natalie Wood. Also included are the most complete filmography ever compiled of all of Howe’s work (with some newly discovered credits), two essays about lighting and preparation written by Howe himself, a biographical summary, select bibliography, and a complete index.

Paperback

First published February 8, 2011

About the author

Alain Silver has co-written and co-edited a score of books including The Samurai Film, The Noir Style, The Vampire Film, Raymond Chandlers Los Angeles, director studies of David Lean and Robert Aldrich, and four Film Noir Readers. His articles have appeared in numerous film journals, newspapers, and online magazines. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and is a member of the Writers Guild of America west and the Directors Guild of America.