Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camera-work was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's "Black Narcissus".

Cardiff is not as well known as he should be, despite 80 years behind the camera and being key in bringing color to film. Color was inevitable, but he showed the world how to make it look good and made Technicolor a household name.

I love that the director was able to track down Martin Scorsese. Scorsese always has stories to share and knows more about film history than just about anyone -- is there a more passionate fan? I could hear him ramble for hours on the minutiae everyone else overlooks.

This is also great for Cardiff's anecdotes on Orson Welles and the stolen mink coat, John Wayne as a cowboy and Kirk Douglas as a perfect stuntman. This is a man who worked with everybody and made them all look so good.

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.

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.

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.

The cinematographer Jack Cardiff might not be that well known. but he worked as director pf photography on some seminal productions, notably for Powell and Pressburger in the late 1940s. The visual style of THE RED SHOES (1948) and BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) is chiefly down to Cardiff's brilliant photography, allied to Powell's imagination. Cardiff began his career in the 1930s working on quota quickies in the British film industry, and was still working in 2007-8, when much of this documentary was filmed. In between he worked on other seminal productions, notably THE African QUEEN (1951), THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA (1954), and THE VIKINGS (1957). Cardiff comes across as a modest person with a highly developed visual intelligence. The documentary also contains reminiscences from stars who are no longer with us, such as Sir John Mills, and Kathleen Byron, as well as such luminaries as Scorsese. Definitely worth a look for anyone interested in photography in the pre-digital era.