Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

Jack Cardiff was an amazing man who had a wonderful life. He started in show-business as a child actor in a touring show working with his parents. He was still working right up until the last of his 94 years. In that time he had worked with most of the great names in the business and earned their respect and admiration.

This documentary covers most of his working life with lots of examples from clips or stills and interviews with the great man himself as well as many of those whose lives he touched. The documentary was many years in the making and was fortunate enough to interview a lot of the people that Jack worked with who are no longer with us.

It's not often that a feature length documentary leaves you wanting more, but this one does.

When Jack discovered the world of movies as a child actor in some early silent films he decided that being a cameraman was the best job going because they got to travel to such exotic locations. He was mainly self-educated because the life of a touring theatrical didn't allow much time at any one school. But that self-education included study of the old masters in art galleries wherever he went. So when he started working as a cameraman he was able to bring his knowledge of lighting and composition.

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Interesting documentary features interviews with Kirk Douglas, Martin Scorsese, Lauren Bacall, Charlon Heston, Kim Hunter, Thelma Schoonmaker, Alan Parker and many others as they discuss the now legendary work of cameraman Jack Cardiff. If you're unfamiliar with Cardiff's work then you'll notice here that he worked on some classic pictures and worked with a number of legendary directors including Michael Powell, Laurence Olivier, Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston. The best thing that can be said about this documentary is the fact that it works perfectly as an educational piece because not only does it inform new people to who Cardiff was but it also educates the fans by showing in detail certain shots and skills that he brought to his profession. Some of the best moments include Douglas talking about working on THE VIKING and we even get some terrific outtakes showing the actor doing his stunts and messing up on a couple. We also get to hear Scorsese talk about how Cardiff's work made his love British cinema and we hear from Parker about the brilliant use of colors. I think fans of Cardiff will mainly enjoy the man himself being interviewed about the countless productions he worked on. He talks about what it was like in the silent era and how things changed when sound came into play. From here we learn about how he got involved in Technicolor and how THE RED SHOES pretty much changed and ended everything. We also hear about his attempts at directing and how critics really weren't too friendly to him. Fans of Cardiff will certainly love hearing about his life and career and it's certainly special having him go over so many important films.

British cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who made a name for himself with his splashy camera-work on the classic Powell & Pressburger films "A Matter of Life and Death", "Black Narcissus", and "The Red Shoes", recounts the cinematic milestones of his long career. Transitioning from British cinema to Hollywood filmmaking in the 1950s, Cardiff went on to work with such diverse directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Henry Hathaway, King Vidor, and John Huston. The film clips are well used, and the celebrity fans (such as Martin Scorsese) and co-workers who comment are interesting, though the second half of this documentary (after Cardiff moved from director of photography to the director's chair) is left a bit sketchy. Receiving an Academy Award nomination as Best Director for 1960's "Sons and Lovers", Cardiff admits this was the peak of his professional career...and yet we are left uncertain why such a talented and respected man didn't receive better assignments in later years. Still, finishing off with Cardiff's recent honorary Oscar celebration for the bulk of his work was a nice touch, proving that wisdom and talent go hand in hand--and age doesn't necessarily diminish either. *** from ****

Jack Cardiff began his life in show biz, part of a touring troupe with his mom and dad and even appeared in bit roles in silent films. But it wasn't until he got behind a camera and discovered all the lighting techniques he would go on to use for either color or B&W that his fame spread.

I've always felt that if he had filmed no other works than BLACK NARCISSUS, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP or THE RED SHOES, his immortality was guaranteed.

By an interesting use of film clips, good narration, and comments from stars who worked with him on various films, this documentary is among the best I've ever seen on any celebrity whose work on film has so many highs and lows.

Modest about his fame, he mentions how he's seldom recognized by fans at premieres of epics he photographed. "Who's that?" they will say. "Oh, he's nobody."

Absolutely riveting use of clips from BLACK NARCISSUS and THE RED SHOES, in particular, show just how masterful his use of Technicolor was.

Lauren Bacall, Sophia Loren, Moira Shearer, Kathleen Byron, Charlton Heston and Kirk Douglas are among the stars who speak about the experience of working with him. Bacall tells how Bogart never cared much about his appearance in a film, only the film itself and he had complete confidence in Jack Cardiff on THE African QUEEN.

Excellent documentary, well worth any film fan's attention.

This is a wonderful tribute to Jack Cardiff and really gives the viewer insight into what it was to be a cinematographer during film's glory days of the 40s, 50s and beyond. This is wonderful, as MOST biographies about movie folks were about the actors and directors--and NEVER about technicians. So, in this case, you get to see and appreciate the use of color, framing, the use of matte paintings and other aspects of camera-work.

The film consists of lots of clips of films Cardiff made. In addition, they were fortunate enough to have lots of footage of Cardiff reminiscing about his work and the people he's known over the years. And, considering how incredibly old Cardiff was, he sure seemed a lot younger and alert than you'd expect from a man nearly 100! In addition, there are lots of interviews with those who worked with him or who appreciated and learned from him (such as Martin Scorsese). All in all, a wonderful tribute but also a great lesson to die-hard film buffs. Well worth seeing.