American Cinematographer - March 1994 - 60

ASC International Award to

Jack Cardiff, BSC
The

Society salutes the work of the renowned
British cinematographer and director.
by Bob Fisher

Once asked to

color movie

name

ever

the best

Kalmus, the daughter

and

protege of Technicolor inventor/
founder Dr. Herbert Kalmus and
Technicolor consultant on a num¬
ber of classic films, offered her
choice without a moment's hesi¬
tation: 1948's The Red Shoes, writ¬
ten and directed by Michael
Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
Based on a Hans Christian
Andersen fairy tale, the story
concerned an obsessive ballerina
and her trying personal relation¬

him with the second annual 1994

extraordinaire.

Cardiff collected subse¬

quent Oscar nominations for War

ASC International Award.
Freddie Young, BSC, took last

and Peace and

year's inaugural honors.

made, Natalie

Fanny. His eclectic
body of work also includes such
unforgettable films as The African
Queen, The Prince and the Pauper,
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
and The Barefoot Contessa, as well
as the
contemporary adventure
films Rambo: First Blood, Part II,
The Vikings and Conan the De¬

stroyer.
In

mid-career, Cardiff

tried his hand at

directing and

"This award is reserved
for cinematographers of interna¬
tional repute who have made ex¬

traordinary contributions to the
art form," says ASC President
Victor Kemper. "Jack Cardiff
has a remarkable body of work
which has made a deep and
lasting impression. His career
spans a large part of the history of
the motion-picture industry."

ships. If you've seen it, chances
are that
you still have vivid
memories of the magical ballet
sequence featuring Moira Shearer.
But not everyone agrees
with Natalie Kalmus. Many afi¬

cionados believe Black Narcissus
is the best Technicolor film
ever made. This 1946 film, also
directed

by Powell and
Pressburger, focused on five
nuns and their
struggle to over¬
come
great odds while building
an
orphanage in a mythical
mountain setting. Black Narcissus
earned critical acclaim in many

categories. The critics lauded the
camerawork with comments
such as "Dazzling colors, rich

pastels.

. . never garish."
Both films were

photo¬
graphed by Jack Cardiff, BSC,

became the only filmmaker to
earn Oscar nominations for both

who won an Oscar for Black Nar¬
cissus. At the time, Cardiff al¬

directing and cinematography: in

Yarmouth, England in 1914, to
parents who performed in

1960, he received the Golden

vaudeville and

some 30 years of expe¬
rience, but the two pictures were

Globe and New York Film Critics

acted in the nascent entertain¬
ment form of motion pictures. At

ready had

just his second and third assign¬
ments as a director of photogra¬
phy. Prior to his career in featurefilm cinematography, he had
been

child star, assistant cam¬
eraman and operator, as well as
a Technicolor consultant and

58

a

awards, along with an Oscar
nomination, for directing Sons
and Lovers. Freddie Francis, BSC,
also

won an

Oscar for his cinema¬

tography

on the film.
This year, in recognition
of Cardiff's extraordinary achieve¬

travelogue cinematographer

ments, the American Society of
Cinematographers will present

American

March 1994

Cinematographer

Cardiff

was

born in

occasionally

four, Cardiff made his first
appearance in a film
called My Son, My Son.
The young thespian
went on to star in Billy Rose and
The Card, and performed at dif¬
ferent times with Dorothy Gish,
age

onscreen

Will

Rogers, Pola Negri, Adolphe
American Cinematographer - March 1994

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