Leon Shamroy
Encyclopedia
Leon Shamroy, A.S.C.
(July 16, 1901 – July 7, 1974) was an American
film cinematographer. Together with Charles Lang
, he holds the record for most number of Academy Award nominations for Cinematography
. Throughout his five-decade career, he garnered eighteen nominations with four wins.
In 1889, Leon Shamroy’s Russian father came to the United States to visit his brother, a revolutionary who had fled the homeland and had become a doctor in the new land. As fate would have it, Shamroy Sr. liked the United States so much that he decided to stay. After he settled, the future cinematographer’s father took a degree in chemistry at Columbia
, and then later opened a drugstore. Indeed, the Shamroy family was composed of achievers, for three of Shamroy Sr.’s brothers were engineers. Enter young Leon Shamroy.
Leon Shamroy, ASC, was born in New York City
on July 16th, 1901. He was educated at Cooper Union
(1918), City College of New York
(1919-1920), and Columbia
(where he studied mechanical engineering). A product of a practical-minded family, after school young Leon often worked in one of his uncle’s offices as a junior draftsman. Eventually he became an engineer himself, but left the field due to inadequate remuneration. Some of Leon’s family migrated to California and became affiliated with D.W. Griffith. In 1920, Leon joined them at the Fox lab to help with the laboratory work and went on the spend thirteen years as a struggling technician.
Leon Shamroy’s career in cinema began with experimental film shot on speculation and with the most rudimentary equipment. He became a cameraman in the 1920s when he filmed many of Charles Hutchinson’s popular action films for the Pathe. His first experimental film, The Last Moment
(1928), was a collaboration with a Hungarian called Paul Fejos. It was the first silent film made without explanatory titles and was highly praised by reviewers as well as being voted the honor film of 1928 by the National Board of Review. Another film called Blindfold
, or In the Fog, was good enough to attract the attention of the right people in Hollywood, some of whom described Shamroy’s camerawork as “worth its weight in gold.” B.P. Schulberg of Paramount
spotted his work and signed him up in 1932. At the time, Shamroy was broke, for he had squandered what little money he had on “poor starving girls and on whiskey.” John M. Stahl
, for whom Shamroy later shot Leave Her to Heaven
(1945) saw his film, The Last Moment, and, though highly impressed, thought Shamroy was “too artistic.”
Around this time, Shamroy went to Mexico where he worked for Robert Flaherty on a film called Acoma, the Sky City, a story about an ancient Indian tribe. Unfortunately, the print was destroyed when the warehouse in which it was stored went up in flames. Flaherty wanted to form a new company and invited Shamroy’s participation, but after paying his $10 union fee Shamroy only had $15 left to his name. Instead, he made a two-reel documentary film based on an Indian legend. It was never released.
Shamroy’s next employment was at Columbia with Harry Cohn
. It lasted five days. As Sam Briskin—Cohn’s right hand man—explained, they weren’t ready for artistic people yet. Years later in the 1930’s, he was loaned to Columbia to make Private Worlds
(1935). Not surprisingly, they admired his work and had forgotten their earlier attitude toward him.
After his brief stint at Columbia, Shamroy worked for Jack Cummings, Louis B. Mayer
’s nephew, on a series of parodies of the famous screen epics, starring dogs. In one of the films, All Quiet on the Canine Front, the dogs were so realistic that when they were shot down the Humane Society
was enraged.
Shamroy’s next engagement was with an ethnological project in Asia that turned into something of a nightmare. He and the crew were terrified when a fourth-class passenger on the ship they were sailing on, the Empress of Canada
, ran amok and stabbed thirty people to death two days out of Yokohama
. Years later, while working on a picture called Crash Dive
(1943), he learned that the star, Tyrone Power
, had experienced the same shipboard horror. Somehow, Shamroy managed to survive the ordeal with his camera and 100,000 feet of film intact.
He traveled throughout Japan
in 1930 and shot a lot of contraband footage. He left for China
where, again, he shot secret footage before continuing on to Manila
. He made films in places as far distant as the Dutch East Indies
, Bali
, Samarai
, and Batavia
. During World War II
, he gave his material over to the War Department
in Washington, D.C.
, which used it to determine bombing targets.
In the 1930’s, Leon Shamroy worked under contract for Paramount. Three-Cornered Moon
(1933) was the first of several films he did with Claudette Colbert
. During this period, he developed a solid reputation for understated black-and-white photography; yet in the 1940s it was his brilliant color that attracted attention. Highly inventive and creative, Shamroy used zoom lenses on Private Worlds
(1935), directed by Gregory La Cava
, long before they were popular. This was a film about mental illness, and the zoom lens was especially effective on the scene where Big Boy Williams, a patient, goes berserk. At the time, zoom lenses were few and far between and there were no light meters.
Shamroy left Paramount with B.P. Schulberg’s fall from grace. Soon thereafter, David O. Selznick
sent for him to make a test for Janet Gaynor
. However, to his dismay, Shamroy discovered that tests were being done of her by other cameramen to see which one they liked best. Karl Struss
, ASC, was one of the others; he took 12 hours to Shamroy’s twenty minutes. To his pleasant surprise, Shamroy was hired to do the picture, The Young in Heart
(1938). In his own estimation, he was the only cameraman who ever did two consecutive pictures for Selznick.
With his talent and abilities now recognized, Shamroy landed a job through Myron Selznick
at 20th Century Fox
. He remained at Fox for the next 30 years and enjoyed complete freedom. It was during his tenure there that he developed his technique of using absolute minimum lighting on a set. In 1937, he filmed Fritz Lang
’s You Only Live Once, an atmospheric tale said by some to be the forerunner of the 1960’s Bonnie and Clyde
. Years later, on Justine
(1969), he used only one light shining on Michael York
’s face—suggestive of the dawn—while he telephoned Justine in the bedroom. Two other small lights assisted. For Shamroy, lights were like words in a sentence—each had to be fully justified.
If there was one drawback for Shamroy in his years at Fox, it was his fear of becoming too slick. On his first color film, Down Argentine Way
(1940), Shamroy argued with the studio, which wanted softer color. He wanted it hard and bright. It came out sharp.
A film that Shamroy was quite proud of was Wilson (1944), a pacifist film made in time of war. It was never shown to the troops, for obvious reasons, and Shamroy felt that making it was a mistake. For this picture, he used natural interiors, a rare move in those days. One scene done in the Shrine Ballroom required that the lights be hidden behind flags. It took a hundred men moving arcs around the ballroom. Darryl F. Zanuck
was so surprised by the first shots that he kissed Shamroy to the cheers of the staff. With five thousand people in the blaze of light and hundreds of flags flapping, the re-creation of theBaltimore Democratic Convention of 1912 was a most startling shot on the screen.
In Forever Amber
(1947), Shamroy shot many of the exteriors in rain. He used liquid smoke hovering over the bodies to achieve a dull, monotonous effect, and showed smoke coming from the doors to suggest something sinister inside. He matched the title, “Forever Amber,” by use of amber-colored gelatins. Long before it became fashionable, Shamroy used actual places instead of sets, as in Twelve O’clock High and Prince of Foxes
(1949).
During the 1950s, Shamroy filmed most of Fox’s big pictures. Of all of his films, he was very proud of Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952). Not withstanding his penchant to work in real locations, almost every foot of Snows was shot in the studio, even the night shots under the mountain. A few shots of the real mountain itself were done by Charles G. Clarke
. The Robe
(1953) was the first film done in Cinemascope
. The tremendous widescreen aspect ratio was an almost unparalleled challenge for Shamroy. But despite the unperfected lenses and a host of experimental challenges with the tremendous screen image, The Robe’s cinematography was outstanding.
In his day, Leon Shamroy had many battles with studio executives and others over color. But he felt vindicated when he became the first black-and-white man to win an Oscar for color. Shamroy became an industry pioneer in the 1950s and 1960s rush to find new film formats. In 1956, he was among the first to utilize Fox’s Cinemascope 55 process. Here, a 55mm strip of film offered increased clarity in both color and definition. Although The King and I
(1956) was shot in this process, it was reduced to 35mm film due to the potential trouble and cost to equip theatres with the necessary special projection equipment. Undaunted, two years later Shamroy photographed South Pacific
in yet another new process called Toll-AO. With a film size of 65mm
and more versatile projectors able to adapt to any film gauge, Shamroy’s techniques shone through. Others of his films shot this way were Porgy and Bess
(1959), Cleopatra (1963), and The Agony and the Ecstasy
(1965).
While he helped many directors at Fox in the 1950s to adapt to the requirements of Cinemascope, Shamroy never really liked those days. In an interview done with Charles Higham
, Shamroy exclaimed: “But those widescreen ‘revolutions’; oh my God! You got a stage play again, you put pictures back to the earliest sound day…But though it wrecked the art of film for a decade, widescreen saved the picture business.”
Shamroy’s work behind the camera spanned many years and many different projects. He once noted that, “The obtrusive camera is like a chattering person—something we can do without. It’s okay for the camera to join the conversation, so to speak, but it must never dominate. It must never distract from the story. The real art of cinematography lies in the camera’s ability to match the varied moods of players and story, or the pace of the scene.”
Shamroy’s theory about the best color was “the feeling that there is no color at all—that color is so carefully integrated that you are not aware of its presence.”
Throughout Shamroy's career, he held three marriages and had three children. On November 1, 1925, he married Rosamond Marcus who gave birth to his first son, Paul Shamroy. They divorced in February of 1937. He married Audrey Mason, daughter of film producer and director, E. Mason Hopper
, in 1938, and they had two children, Patricia Mason and Timothy Cullinan. They divorced in 1948. From 1953 to his death in 1974, he was married to movie actress Mary Anderson.
American Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
(July 16, 1901 – July 7, 1974) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film cinematographer. Together with Charles Lang
Charles Lang
Charles Bryant Lang, Jr., A.S.C. was an American cinematographer.Early in his career he worked with the Akeley camera, a gyroscope-mounted "pancake" camera designed by Carl Akeley for outdoor action shots...
, he holds the record for most number of Academy Award nominations for Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
. Throughout his five-decade career, he garnered eighteen nominations with four wins.
In 1889, Leon Shamroy’s Russian father came to the United States to visit his brother, a revolutionary who had fled the homeland and had become a doctor in the new land. As fate would have it, Shamroy Sr. liked the United States so much that he decided to stay. After he settled, the future cinematographer’s father took a degree in chemistry at Columbia
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:-Places:* Columbia , a poetic name for the Americas, and the feminine personification of the United States of America* District of Columbia, the federal district in which the capital of the United States is located...
, and then later opened a drugstore. Indeed, the Shamroy family was composed of achievers, for three of Shamroy Sr.’s brothers were engineers. Enter young Leon Shamroy.
Leon Shamroy, ASC, was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on July 16th, 1901. He was educated at Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
(1918), City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
(1919-1920), and Columbia
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:-Places:* Columbia , a poetic name for the Americas, and the feminine personification of the United States of America* District of Columbia, the federal district in which the capital of the United States is located...
(where he studied mechanical engineering). A product of a practical-minded family, after school young Leon often worked in one of his uncle’s offices as a junior draftsman. Eventually he became an engineer himself, but left the field due to inadequate remuneration. Some of Leon’s family migrated to California and became affiliated with D.W. Griffith. In 1920, Leon joined them at the Fox lab to help with the laboratory work and went on the spend thirteen years as a struggling technician.
Leon Shamroy’s career in cinema began with experimental film shot on speculation and with the most rudimentary equipment. He became a cameraman in the 1920s when he filmed many of Charles Hutchinson’s popular action films for the Pathe. His first experimental film, The Last Moment
The Last Moment
The Last Moment is a silent experimental film conceived and directed by Paul Fejos. The film starred Otto Matieson and Georgia Hale....
(1928), was a collaboration with a Hungarian called Paul Fejos. It was the first silent film made without explanatory titles and was highly praised by reviewers as well as being voted the honor film of 1928 by the National Board of Review. Another film called Blindfold
Blindfold
A blindfold is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the eyes to disable the wearer's sight. It can be worn when the eyes are in a closed state and thus prevents the wearer from opening them...
, or In the Fog, was good enough to attract the attention of the right people in Hollywood, some of whom described Shamroy’s camerawork as “worth its weight in gold.” B.P. Schulberg of Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
spotted his work and signed him up in 1932. At the time, Shamroy was broke, for he had squandered what little money he had on “poor starving girls and on whiskey.” John M. Stahl
John M. Stahl
John Malcolm Stahl was an American film director and producer.Born in New York City, New York, he began working in the city's growing motion picture industry at a young age and directed his first silent film short in 1914. In the early 1920s Stahl signed on with Louis B...
, for whom Shamroy later shot Leave Her to Heaven
Leave Her to Heaven
Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American 20th Century Fox Technicolor film noir motion picture starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, with Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, and Chill Wills...
(1945) saw his film, The Last Moment, and, though highly impressed, thought Shamroy was “too artistic.”
Around this time, Shamroy went to Mexico where he worked for Robert Flaherty on a film called Acoma, the Sky City, a story about an ancient Indian tribe. Unfortunately, the print was destroyed when the warehouse in which it was stored went up in flames. Flaherty wanted to form a new company and invited Shamroy’s participation, but after paying his $10 union fee Shamroy only had $15 left to his name. Instead, he made a two-reel documentary film based on an Indian legend. It was never released.
Shamroy’s next employment was at Columbia with Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn was the American president and production director of Columbia Pictures.-Career:Cohn was born to a working-class German-Jewish family in New York City. In later years, he appears to have disparaged his heritage...
. It lasted five days. As Sam Briskin—Cohn’s right hand man—explained, they weren’t ready for artistic people yet. Years later in the 1930’s, he was loaned to Columbia to make Private Worlds
Private Worlds
Private Worlds is a drama film which tells the story of the staff and patients at a mental hospital, and the chief of the hospital who has problems dealing with a female psychiatrist. It stars Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, and Helen Vinson.The movie was written by...
(1935). Not surprisingly, they admired his work and had forgotten their earlier attitude toward him.
After his brief stint at Columbia, Shamroy worked for Jack Cummings, Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
’s nephew, on a series of parodies of the famous screen epics, starring dogs. In one of the films, All Quiet on the Canine Front, the dogs were so realistic that when they were shot down the Humane Society
Humane Society
A humane society may be a group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons, although in many countries, it is now used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals...
was enraged.
Shamroy’s next engagement was with an ethnological project in Asia that turned into something of a nightmare. He and the crew were terrified when a fourth-class passenger on the ship they were sailing on, the Empress of Canada
Empress of Canada
RMS Empress of Canada or Empress of Canada may refer to one of the following ships of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company:, a 21,517-ton ship built in Glasgow, Scotland; Vancouver-based ship served the Far East; served as troopship in World War II; torpedoed and sunk off Africa by an Italian...
, ran amok and stabbed thirty people to death two days out of Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
. Years later, while working on a picture called Crash Dive
Crash Dive
Crash Dive is a World War II film in Technicolor released in 1943. It was directed by Archie Mayo, written by Jo Swerling and W.R. Burnett, and starred Tyrone Power, Dana Andrews and Anne Baxter...
(1943), he learned that the star, Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
, had experienced the same shipboard horror. Somehow, Shamroy managed to survive the ordeal with his camera and 100,000 feet of film intact.
He traveled throughout Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1930 and shot a lot of contraband footage. He left for China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
where, again, he shot secret footage before continuing on to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. He made films in places as far distant as the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, Samarai
Samarai
Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Located off the south-eastern tip of New Guinea in the China Strait Samarai has an area of just ....
, and Batavia
Jakarta Old Town
Kota , is a small area in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is also known as Old Jakarta, and Old Batavia . It spans 1.3 square kilometres of North Jakarta and West Jakarta...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he gave his material over to the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, which used it to determine bombing targets.
In the 1930’s, Leon Shamroy worked under contract for Paramount. Three-Cornered Moon
Three-Cornered Moon
Three-Cornered Moon is a 1933 film directed by Elliot Nugent, and written by Ray Harris and S.K. Lauren, based on play by Gertrude Tonkonogy Friedberg. The film reached No...
(1933) was the first of several films he did with Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
. During this period, he developed a solid reputation for understated black-and-white photography; yet in the 1940s it was his brilliant color that attracted attention. Highly inventive and creative, Shamroy used zoom lenses on Private Worlds
Private Worlds
Private Worlds is a drama film which tells the story of the staff and patients at a mental hospital, and the chief of the hospital who has problems dealing with a female psychiatrist. It stars Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, and Helen Vinson.The movie was written by...
(1935), directed by Gregory La Cava
Gregory La Cava
Gregory La Cava was an American film director best known for his films of the 1930s, including My Man Godfrey and Stage Door....
, long before they were popular. This was a film about mental illness, and the zoom lens was especially effective on the scene where Big Boy Williams, a patient, goes berserk. At the time, zoom lenses were few and far between and there were no light meters.
Shamroy left Paramount with B.P. Schulberg’s fall from grace. Soon thereafter, David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
sent for him to make a test for Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor was an American actress and painter.One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era, in 1928 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: Seventh Heaven , Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Street Angel...
. However, to his dismay, Shamroy discovered that tests were being done of her by other cameramen to see which one they liked best. Karl Struss
Karl Struss
Karl Struss, A.S.C. was a photographer and a cinematographer of the 1920s through the 1950s. He was also one of the earliest pioneers of 3-D films. While he mostly worked on films, he was also one of the cinematographers for the television series Broken Arrow.He was born in New York, New York and...
, ASC, was one of the others; he took 12 hours to Shamroy’s twenty minutes. To his pleasant surprise, Shamroy was hired to do the picture, The Young in Heart
The Young in Heart
The Young in Heart is a film comedy starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paulette Goddard, Roland Young, and Billie Burke....
(1938). In his own estimation, he was the only cameraman who ever did two consecutive pictures for Selznick.
With his talent and abilities now recognized, Shamroy landed a job through Myron Selznick
Myron Selznick
Myron Selznick was an American film producer and talent agent.-Life and career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Selznick was the son of film executive Lewis J. Selznick and brother of renowned producer David O. Selznick...
at 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. He remained at Fox for the next 30 years and enjoyed complete freedom. It was during his tenure there that he developed his technique of using absolute minimum lighting on a set. In 1937, he filmed Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
’s You Only Live Once, an atmospheric tale said by some to be the forerunner of the 1960’s Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were well-known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934...
. Years later, on Justine
Justine (1969 film)
Justine is a drama film directed by George Cukor and Joseph Strick. It was written by Lawrence B. Marcus and Andrew Sarris, based on the 1957 novel Justine by Lawrence Durrell.-Plot:...
(1969), he used only one light shining on Michael York
Michael York (actor)
Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
’s face—suggestive of the dawn—while he telephoned Justine in the bedroom. Two other small lights assisted. For Shamroy, lights were like words in a sentence—each had to be fully justified.
If there was one drawback for Shamroy in his years at Fox, it was his fear of becoming too slick. On his first color film, Down Argentine Way
Down Argentine Way
Down Argentine Way is a 1940 Technicolor musical film made by Twentieth Century Fox. It made a star of Betty Grable in her first leading role for the studio, and introduced American audiences to Carmen Miranda. The film also starred Don Ameche, The Nicholas Brothers, Charlotte Greenwood, and J....
(1940), Shamroy argued with the studio, which wanted softer color. He wanted it hard and bright. It came out sharp.
A film that Shamroy was quite proud of was Wilson (1944), a pacifist film made in time of war. It was never shown to the troops, for obvious reasons, and Shamroy felt that making it was a mistake. For this picture, he used natural interiors, a rare move in those days. One scene done in the Shrine Ballroom required that the lights be hidden behind flags. It took a hundred men moving arcs around the ballroom. Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
was so surprised by the first shots that he kissed Shamroy to the cheers of the staff. With five thousand people in the blaze of light and hundreds of flags flapping, the re-creation of theBaltimore Democratic Convention of 1912 was a most startling shot on the screen.
In Forever Amber
Forever Amber (film)
Forever Amber is a 1947 film directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was based on the book of the same name. It also starred Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Dolores Hart, and Jessica Tandy...
(1947), Shamroy shot many of the exteriors in rain. He used liquid smoke hovering over the bodies to achieve a dull, monotonous effect, and showed smoke coming from the doors to suggest something sinister inside. He matched the title, “Forever Amber,” by use of amber-colored gelatins. Long before it became fashionable, Shamroy used actual places instead of sets, as in Twelve O’clock High and Prince of Foxes
Prince of Foxes
Prince of Foxes is a novel of historical fiction by Samuel Shellabarger, following the adventures of the fictional Andrea Orsini, a captain in the service of Cesare Borgia during his conquest of the Romagna.-Plot introduction:...
(1949).
During the 1950s, Shamroy filmed most of Fox’s big pictures. Of all of his films, he was very proud of Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952). Not withstanding his penchant to work in real locations, almost every foot of Snows was shot in the studio, even the night shots under the mountain. A few shots of the real mountain itself were done by Charles G. Clarke
Charles G. Clarke
Charles G. Clarke ASC an American cinematographer who worked in Hollywood for over 40 years and was treasurer and president of the American Society of Cinematographers.-Career:...
. The Robe
The Robe
The Robe is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the New York Times Best Seller list in October 1942, and four weeks later rose to No. 1. It held the position for nearly a year...
(1953) was the first film done in Cinemascope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
. The tremendous widescreen aspect ratio was an almost unparalleled challenge for Shamroy. But despite the unperfected lenses and a host of experimental challenges with the tremendous screen image, The Robe’s cinematography was outstanding.
In his day, Leon Shamroy had many battles with studio executives and others over color. But he felt vindicated when he became the first black-and-white man to win an Oscar for color. Shamroy became an industry pioneer in the 1950s and 1960s rush to find new film formats. In 1956, he was among the first to utilize Fox’s Cinemascope 55 process. Here, a 55mm strip of film offered increased clarity in both color and definition. Although The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
(1956) was shot in this process, it was reduced to 35mm film due to the potential trouble and cost to equip theatres with the necessary special projection equipment. Undaunted, two years later Shamroy photographed South Pacific
South Pacific (film)
South Pacific is a 1958 musical romance film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, and based on James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific...
in yet another new process called Toll-AO. With a film size of 65mm
70 mm film
70mm film is a wide high-resolution film gauge, with higher resolution than standard 35mm motion picture film format. As used in camera, the film is wide. For projection, the original 65mm film is printed on film. The additional 5mm are for magnetic strips holding four of the six tracks of sound...
and more versatile projectors able to adapt to any film gauge, Shamroy’s techniques shone through. Others of his films shot this way were Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
(1959), Cleopatra (1963), and The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)
The Agony and the Ecstasy is a 1965 film directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. The film was partly based on Irving Stone's biographical novel of the same name. This film deals with the conflicts of Michelangelo and Pope Julius II...
(1965).
While he helped many directors at Fox in the 1950s to adapt to the requirements of Cinemascope, Shamroy never really liked those days. In an interview done with Charles Higham
Charles Higham (biographer)
Charles Higham is an author, editor and poet. Higham is a recipient of the Prix des Créateurs of the Académie Française and the Poetry Society of London Prize.-Biography:...
, Shamroy exclaimed: “But those widescreen ‘revolutions’; oh my God! You got a stage play again, you put pictures back to the earliest sound day…But though it wrecked the art of film for a decade, widescreen saved the picture business.”
Shamroy’s work behind the camera spanned many years and many different projects. He once noted that, “The obtrusive camera is like a chattering person—something we can do without. It’s okay for the camera to join the conversation, so to speak, but it must never dominate. It must never distract from the story. The real art of cinematography lies in the camera’s ability to match the varied moods of players and story, or the pace of the scene.”
Shamroy’s theory about the best color was “the feeling that there is no color at all—that color is so carefully integrated that you are not aware of its presence.”
Throughout Shamroy's career, he held three marriages and had three children. On November 1, 1925, he married Rosamond Marcus who gave birth to his first son, Paul Shamroy. They divorced in February of 1937. He married Audrey Mason, daughter of film producer and director, E. Mason Hopper
E. Mason Hopper
E. Mason Hopper was an American film director of the silent era. He directed 76 films between 1911 and 1935.-Selected filmography:* Wife or Country * Brothers Under the Skin...
, in 1938, and they had two children, Patricia Mason and Timothy Cullinan. They divorced in 1948. From 1953 to his death in 1974, he was married to movie actress Mary Anderson.
Wins
- CleopatraCleopatra (1963 film)Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy...
(1963) - Leave Her to HeavenLeave Her to HeavenLeave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American 20th Century Fox Technicolor film noir motion picture starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, with Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, and Chill Wills...
(1945) - WilsonWilson (film)Wilson is a 1944 biographical film in Technicolor about President Woodrow Wilson. It stars Charles Coburn, Alexander Knox, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.The movie was written by Lamar Trotti and directed by Henry King...
(1944) - The Black SwanThe Black Swan (film)The Black Swan is a 1942 swashbuckler Technicolor film by Henry King, based on a novel by Rafael Sabatini, and starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won one for Best Cinematography, Color.-Plot:...
(1942)
Nominations
- The Agony and the EcstasyThe Agony and the Ecstasy (film)The Agony and the Ecstasy is a 1965 film directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. The film was partly based on Irving Stone's biographical novel of the same name. This film deals with the conflicts of Michelangelo and Pope Julius II...
(1965) - The CardinalThe CardinalThe Cardinal is a 1963 film which was produced independently and directed by Otto Preminger, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was written by Robert Dozier, based on the novel by Henry Morton Robinson....
(1963) - Porgy and BessPorgy and Bess (1959 film)Porgy and Bess is a 1959 American musical film directed by Otto Preminger. It is based on the 1935 opera of the same name by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, which is in turn based on Heyward's 1925 novel Porgy, and the subsequent 1927 non-musical stage adaptation he co-wrote...
(1959) - South Pacific (1958)
- The King and IThe King and I (1956 film)The King and I is a 1956 musical film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Walter Lang and produced by Charles Brackett and Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical The King and I, based in turn on the book Anna and the King...
(1956) - Love Is a Many-Splendored ThingLove Is a Many-Splendored Thing (film)Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is a 1955 American drama-romance film. Set in 1949-50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter , who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from China , only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong...
(1955) - The EgyptianThe Egyptian (film)The Egyptian is an American 1954 epic film made in CinemaScope by 20th Century Fox, directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on Mika Waltari's novel and the screenplay was adapted by Philip Dunne and Casey Robinson...
(1954) - The RobeThe Robe (film)The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
(1953) - The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
- David and BathshebaDavid and BathshebaDavid and Bathsheba is a 1951 historical Technicolor epic film about King David made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Henry King, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, from a screenplay by Philip Dunne. The music score was by Alfred Newman and the cinematography by Leon Shamroy...
(1951) - Prince of FoxesPrince of Foxes (film)Prince of Foxes is a 1949 film based on the Samuel Shellabarger novel Prince of Foxes. The movie starred Tyrone Power as Orsini and Orson Welles as Cesare Borgia.-Plot:...
(1949) - Ten Gentlemen from West PointTen Gentlemen from West PointTen Gentlemen from West Point is a 1942 film directed by Henry Hathaway. It stars George Montgomery and Maureen O'Hara. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1943. -Cast:*George Montgomery as Joe Dawson*Maureen O'Hara as Carolyn Brainbridge...
(1942) - Down Argentine WayDown Argentine WayDown Argentine Way is a 1940 Technicolor musical film made by Twentieth Century Fox. It made a star of Betty Grable in her first leading role for the studio, and introduced American audiences to Carmen Miranda. The film also starred Don Ameche, The Nicholas Brothers, Charlotte Greenwood, and J....
(1940) - The Young in HeartThe Young in HeartThe Young in Heart is a film comedy starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paulette Goddard, Roland Young, and Billie Burke....
(1938)
Additional films
- Tongues of Scandal (1927)
- Alma de Gaucho (1930)
- StowawayStowawayA stowaway is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as an aircraft, bus, ship, cargo truck or train, to travel without paying and without being detected....
(1932) - Jennie GerhardtJennie GerhardtJennie Gerhardt is a 1911 novel by Theodore Dreiser.-Plot summary:Jennie Gerhardt is a destitute young woman. While working in a hotel in Columbus, Ohio, Jennie meets Senator George Brander, who becomes infatuated with her. He helps her family and declares his wish to marry her...
(1933) - Good Dame (1934)
- Thirty-Day PrincessThirty-Day PrincessThirty-Day Princess is a 1934 black-and-white comedy film starring Sylvia Sidney, Cary Grant and Edward Arnold. Based on a story of the same name by Clarence Budington Kelland, which appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in 1933, adapted by Sam Hellman and Edwin Justus Mayer and written by Preston...
(1934) - Kiss and Make UpKiss and Make UpKiss and Make Up is the second single by Saint Etienne. It was released in 1990 by Heavenly Records. The vocals were performed by Donna Savage...
(1934) - She Married Her BossShe Married Her BossShe Married Her Boss is a 1935 film directed by Gregory La Cava, and starring Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas.-Plot:It tells the story of a secretary who married with her boss, however she has a hard time living up to him.-Cast:...
(1935) - Accent on YouthAccent on YouthAccent on Youth is a Broadway play written by Samson Raphaelson which debuted on Christmas Day, 1934. The plot concerns a lazy, middle-aged playwright who is spurred to write by his new young secretary. The original cast included Nicholas Hannen as playwright Steven Gaye and Constance Cummings as...
(1935 - Mary Burns, FugitiveMary Burns, FugitiveMary Burns, Fugitive is a 1935 American drama film directed by William K. Howard. Sylvia Sidney is once again the poor victim, but Alan Baxter overshadows everybody, even Ms. Sidney, as the gangster who marries her, and, eventually, sends her to jail.-Cast:...
(1935) - Soak the Rich (1936)
- You Only Live Once (1937)
- Made for Each OtherMade for Each Other (1939 film)Made for Each Other is a 1939 drama film directed by John Cromwell and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Carole Lombard and James Stewart as a couple who get married after only knowing each other very briefly.-Plot:...
(1939) - The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesThe Adventures of Sherlock HolmesThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his famous detective and illustrated by Sidney Paget....
(1939) - The Story of Alexander Graham BellThe Story of Alexander Graham BellThe Story of Alexander Graham Bell is a somewhat fictionalized 1939 screen biography of the famous inventor of the telephone. It was filmed in black-and-white and released by Twentieth Century-Fox. The film stars Don Ameche as Bell and Loretta Young as Mabel, his wife, who contracted scarlet fever...
(1939) - Little Old New YorkLittle Old New YorkLittle Old New York is a 1940 Fox history film directed by Henry King and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The movie stars Alice Faye, Fred MacMurray and Richard Greene and is based on the play by Rida Johnson Young. The play opened on September 8, 1920 and starred Genevieve Tobin, Douglas Wood and...
(1940) - Lillian RussellLillian RussellLillian Russell was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th century and early 20th century, known for her beauty and style, as well as for her voice and stage presence.Russell was born in Iowa but raised in Chicago...
(1940) - Four SonsFour SonsFour Sons is a silent drama film directed and produced by John Ford and written for the screen by Philip Klein from a story by I. A. R. Wylie. It is one of only a handful of survivors out of the more than fifty silent films that Ford directed between 1917 and 1928. It starred Margaret Mann, James...
(1940) - Tin Pan AlleyTin Pan AlleyTin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
(1940) - The Great American BroadcastThe Great American BroadcastThe Great American Broadcast is a 1941 musical comedy film directed by Archie Mayo. It stars Alice Faye and John Payne.-Cast:*Alice Faye as Vicki Adams*John Payne as Rix Martin*Jack Oakie as Chuck Hadley*Cesar Romero as Bruce Chadwick...
(1941) - That Night in RioThat Night in RioThat Night in Rio is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche . It is one of several film adaptations of a play called The Red Cat by Rudolph Lothar and Hans Adler...
(1941) - Moon over MiamiMoon Over MiamiMoon Over Miami may refer to:* Moon Over Miami , 1941 musical* Moon Over Miami , 1993 comedy* "Moon Over Miami"...
(1941 - Roxie HartRoxie HartRoxanne "Roxie" Hart is a fictional showgirl in various adaptations of the same story. She first appeared in the 1926 play Chicago written by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins. Watkins was inspired by the real-life unrelated 1924 murder trials of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, which she covered for...
(1942) - Crash DiveCrash DiveCrash Dive is a World War II film in Technicolor released in 1943. It was directed by Archie Mayo, written by Jo Swerling and W.R. Burnett, and starred Tyrone Power, Dana Andrews and Anne Baxter...
(1943) - Stormy WeatherStormy Weather (1943 film)Stormy Weather is a 1943 American musical film produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The film is one of two major Hollywood musicals produced in 1943 with primarily African-American casts, the other being MGM's Cabin in the Sky, and is considered a time capsule showcasing some of the top...
(1943) - Claudia (1943)
- Buffalo BillBuffalo BillWilliam Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
(1944) - A Tree Grows in BrooklynA Tree Grows In Brooklyn (film)A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a 1945 film, the first film directed by Greek-American director Elia Kazan, starring James Dunn , Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, and Peggy Ann Garner .The film is based on an American novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith first published in 1943...
(1945) - The Shocking Miss PilgrimThe Shocking Miss PilgrimThe Shocking Miss Pilgrim is a 1947 American musical comedy film written and directed by George Seaton, starring Betty Grable and Dick Haymes...
(1947) - That Lady in ErmineThat Lady in ErmineThat Lady in Ermine is a 1948 American musical film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson is based on the operetta Die Frau im Hermelin by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch....
(1948) - Cheaper by the DozenCheaper by the Dozen (1950 film)Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1950 film based upon the 1948 book Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. The film and book describe growing up in a family with twelve children in Montclair, New Jersey. It was made in Technicolor with Leon Shamroy as cinematographer...
(1950) - King of the Khyber RiflesKing of the Khyber Rifles (film)King of the Khyber Rifles is a 1953 adventure film directed by Henry King and starring Tyrone Power and Terry Moore. The film is based on the novel King of the Khyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy. It is a remake of John Ford's The Black Watch . The Khyber Pass scenes were shot in Alabama Hills, Lone...
(1953) - Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955)
- Desk SetDesk SetDesk Set is a 1957 American romantic comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn...
(1957) - John Goldfarb, Please Come HomeJohn Goldfarb, Please Come HomeJohn Goldfarb, Please Come Home is a 1963 novel by William Peter Blatty that was adapted as a film by the same title, released in 1965.-Synopsis:...
(1965) - Planet of the ApesPlanet of the Apes (1968 film)Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. The film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison...
(1968)
Other Notable Events
- Member of the American Society of CinematographersAmerican Society of CinematographersThe American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
. - Directory of photography with Schulberg Productions, 1933-37
- Director of photography with Selznick International 1938
- Director of Cinematography with 20th Century Fox20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
1933- - Introduced Cinemascope
- President of the Academy Award Winners School of Photography, Incorporated, 1946
- Awarded the 1st award for color photography The Black SwanThe Black Swan (film)The Black Swan is a 1942 swashbuckler Technicolor film by Henry King, based on a novel by Rafael Sabatini, and starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won one for Best Cinematography, Color.-Plot:...
(1942), WilsonWilson (film)Wilson is a 1944 biographical film in Technicolor about President Woodrow Wilson. It stars Charles Coburn, Alexander Knox, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.The movie was written by Lamar Trotti and directed by Henry King...
(1944), and Leave Her to HeavenLeave Her to HeavenLeave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American 20th Century Fox Technicolor film noir motion picture starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, with Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, and Chill Wills...
(1945) - Film Daily Critics Award 1949, 53, 54, 55
- Motion Picture Association of AmericaMotion Picture Association of AmericaThe Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
(Chairman of the photography committee research division 1946-1950) - Society of Motion Picture Engineers Club
- Namesake for Rita Marlowe's (Jayne MansfieldJayne MansfieldJayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
) poodle in the 1957 movie Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? is a 1957 American satiric comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield and Tony Randall, with Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell, John Williams, Henry Jones, Lili Gentle, Mickey Hargitay, and a cameo by Groucho Marx...