Wikipedia

Lee Garmes

Lee Garmes, A.S.C. (May 27, 1898 – August 31, 1978) was an American cinematographer. During his career, he worked with directors Howard Hawks, Max Ophüls, Josef von Sternberg, Alfred Hitchcock, King Vidor, Nicholas Ray and Henry Hathaway, whom he had met as a young man when the two first came to Hollywood in the silent era. He also co-directed two films with legendary screenwriter Ben Hecht: Angels Over Broadway and Actors and Sin.[1]

Lee Garmes, A.S.C.
Garmes in 1937
Born
Lee Dewey Garmes

(1898-05-27)May 27, 1898
Peoria, Illinois
DiedAugust 31, 1978(1978-08-31) (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California
OccupationCinematographer
TitleA.S.C.
Board member ofA.S.C. President (1960–1961)
SpouseRuth Hall (1933–his death)
Children2 daughters, Pamela and Carol
AwardsAcademy Award for Best Cinematography
1932 Shanghai Express

Biography and career

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Born in Peoria, Illinois, Garmes came to Hollywood in 1916. His first job was as an assistant in the paint department at Thomas H. Ince Studios, but he soon became a camera assistant before graduating to full-time cameraman. His earliest films were comedy shorts, and his career did not fully take off until the introduction of sound films.

Garmes was married to film actress Ruth Hall from 1933 until his death in 1978. He is interred in the Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Garmes was one of the early proponents of video technology, which he advocated as early as 1972. That year, he had been hired by Technicolor to photograph the short film Why, which was intended to test whether video was a viable technology for shooting feature films.

According to American Cinematographer magazine, "Although officially unaccredited, Lee Garmes photographed a considerable portion of Gone with the Wind. Many consider the famous railroad yard sequence among his finest cinematic efforts."[2]

Declaring that his cinematography can be “followed like a thread” through films he photographed for various directors, Garmes acknowledged his debt to Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn:

Rembrandt has been my favorite artist. I’ve always used his technique of north light—of having my main source of light on the set coming from the north…And of course I’ve always followed Rembrandt in my fondness for low key. If you look at his paintings, you’ll see an awful lot of blacks. No strong highlights.[3]

Garmes was one of many Hollywood veterans from the silent era interviewed by Kevin Brownlow for the television series Hollywood (1980).[4]

Accolades

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Wins

Nominations

  • Academy Awards: Best Cinematography, for Morocco; 1931.[6]
  • Academy Awards: Best Cinematography, for Since You Went Away; 1945. Shared with: Stanley Cortez.[7]
  • Academy Awards: Best Cinematography, for The Big Fisherman; 1960.[8]

Filmography

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Sources:[9]

Notes

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  1. ^ Lee Garmes at IMDb.
  2. ^ American Cinematographer, November 1978 (page 1094).
  3. ^ Higham, 1970 p. 35
  4. ^ Hollywood at IMDb.
  5. ^ "The 5th Academy Awards (1932) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  6. ^ "The 4th Academy Awards (1931) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  7. ^ "The 17th Academy Awards (1945) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  8. ^ "The 32nd Academy Awards (1960) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  9. ^ Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to World Film, since 1885. 2008. Index home page.

References

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