HALL: It takes good operating; I operated that one myself. I’m a good operator, and I love to do it.
LM: Was it a deliberate decision not to show the posse too clearly?
HALL: A deliberate decision.
LM: A directorial decision?
HALL: Yes.
LM: Do you often operate for yourself?
HALL: Yes. I like to do it whenever I can; whenever I want to, I do it. Whenever it’s something that I feel is going to be a hassle to describe—when there’s a zoom lens, and not a specific shot in mind, because you create by opening that lens or closing that lens. Why leave it up to the operator?
LM: Which is not how you felt when you were an operator.
HALL: No, but I was doing all that stuff myself, because nobody else wanted to do it, and I was good at it, and I continued to do it afterwards.
LM: Now that you’re in the other position, you know how much the operator can affect your work, so you do it yourself.
HALL: Yes. I do it myself. You see, the old-timers all started as their own operators, and then the union system came in and wanted to have more jobs—it became more complex, too—so they started having operators and assistants. Then they had the finder, and it became a guess as to what you were going to get, and I think it turned people off of operating. And then, all of a sudden, came the reflex camera. Well, you can see exactly what you’re getting in there, and you can do things on the spur of the moment which you can’t tell somebody to do. And you realize that if you let the operator do it, he’s being the creative person.
LM: And doesn’t it give you more satisfaction, knowing that you’re doing it yourself?
Hall at work on TELL THEM WILLIE BOY IS HERE (1969).
HALL: Yes . . . I just enjoy the job. That’s just the most fun job, operating; you see the movie before anybody else does. It’s a kick.
LM: I read that you were dissatisfied with the night scenes in BUTCH CASSIDY.
HALL: Oh, they’re awful—so much light, shadows all over the place.
LM: Which ones in particular?
HALL: The bicycle one, where the guy is selling them, and they’re up on the balcony, with people in the street.
LM: Wouldn’t it be indistinguishable with much less light?
HALL: I’ll tell you how you know it: when you look at somebody else’s work and you see how little light he used. I’ll tell you whose night stuff I loved after I’d seer. it—BONNIE AND CLYDE. You remember the shots of the car driving along at night? No car—just two headlights. But people have a tendency to light up too much at night, and I’m one of the ones that has that tendency. I keep fighting it, because night is not that way to me. I don’t see a lot of light at night.
LM: But you still have to see what’s going on in the film, don’t you?
HALL: If it were a picture all at night, you might use a little different tactic, but it’s not important to see some things. The reason people want to see them is because they’re paying for them, and they feel that if they don’t, they’ve been cheated. But artistically speaking, it’s not important to see them. You could even turn off the picture and just hear the sound and still get the story, for short periods of time.
LM: Now you’re turning to directing, aren’t you?
HALL: Yes, if I can ever get a chance to do it. I found something I want to direct. I’ve had many chances, but I’ve never found anything I wanted to say, or that it was something I just had to do. When somebody offered me the book The Wild Palms to read, and I read it, it was something I had to do. I said I’d direct it, and Katharine [Ross] said, “Why don’t you write it, too?” I said, “Oh, I’ve never written anything really.” She said, “If you think you can direct it, why can’t you write it?” I said, “OK, I’ll try it, if you’ll help me.” So we agreed to do it, and it took us a long time, and we hated every minute of it, and then missed it as soon as we’d stopped. But it’s something really worthwhile, I think. We wrote a script, and then we got into a hassle with the producers, because I wanted creative control, and final cut, and they were unwilling to try to raise the money for it with those demands. So now I’m going to try to produce it myself, but I don’t know if I can raise the money.
LM: Do you think as a director you’ll be able to work with another cinematographer?
HALL: Yes, but I may not want to on this one. I may want to shoot it myself. It’s a love story, just two people, so it’s easy enough to do. When it gets complex, with logistics, and this and that to work out, I’d want a cameraman, so I wouldn’t have to think about it. But in an intimate story, I might see something, and I’d want to tell a story with that camera. I still may have a cameraman there for when I don’t feel like doing it.
LM: Is there one film you’ve made that gives you special satisfaction?
HALL: I’m proud of them all. I’m not very proud of DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE, but I’m proud of all the rest of them. Not that I think they’re very good films. I haven’t done my good film yet. I think IN COLD BLOOD is a good film. THE PROFESSIONALS is a good film. HELL IN THE PACIFIC is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a film, the relationship with the director . . . I really like John Boorman, we got along well, and really worked well together. He’s a really talented guy; he involves you, and I like the way he works. There was a lot of improvising on that picture. But it’s preparation that gives you the opportunity to do it that way; the script is a point of departure.
LM: Finally, you represent the younger breed of cinematographers in the business. As such, do you feel that you’re following the same tradition that they have carried on for the past fifty years?
HALL: I think I’ve contributed to the evolvement of techniques as they are now, along with everybody else who’s been working in the business. I don’t think I’m unique in any sense other than I fought a lot of battles that people don’t have to fight any more; but there are always new battles to fight. I look for a golden age of cinema to come to pass very soon, when they have the little cassette movies that you stick into a machine which shoots it up on the wall. Films won’t have any definite length; there won’t be hour films or two-hour films. There will be hour films, and ten-minute films, and five-minute films, however long it takes to tell that story. It won’t have to be any more that you have to make up a program of X amount of time which is worth the price you have to pay to watch it in a theater. Because you’ll go down and buy a five-minute film, which may cost a dollar; CATCH-22 may cost $10 to buy. There will be all different lengths. There will be hundreds of thousands of films, just a very few good ones, and a lot of bad ones.
LM: You, of course, will be making the good ones.
HALL (laughing) : I don’t know about that.
THE FILMS OF CONRAD HALL
Even though Conrad Hall only started in the film business in the 1950s, it is unlikely that a complete list of his credits could be compiled. As explained in his interview, he and his partners shot footage for sundry filmmakers, professional, industrial, for theaters, television, etc. Later, Hall worked as operative cameraman and assistant cameraman on a variety of features. He shot footage for Walt Disney’s true-life features THE LIVING DESERT and ISLANDS OF THE SEA, and with his filmmaking partners photographed a low-budget feature film in the 1950s, RUNNING TARGET (UA, 1956; based on “My Brother Down There”). He became an official director of photography in television, filming two series, STONEY BURKE and THE OUTER LIMITS. Following is a list of his official feature-film credits since becoming a director of photography.
THE WILD SEED—Universal 1965—Brian G. Hutton
SABOTEUR: CODE NAME MORITURI—20th Century Fox 1965—Bernhard Wicki—Color
INCUBUS—Leslie Stevens 1966—Leslie Stevens
HARPER—Warner Brothers 1966—Jack Smight—Color
THE PROFESSIONALS—Columbia 1966—Richard Brooks—Color, Panavision
DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE-Columbia 1967—Bud Yorkin—Color
COOL HAND LUKE—Warner Brothers 1967—Stua
rt Rosenberg—Color, Panavision
IN COLD BLOOD—Columbia 1967—Richard Brooks—Panavision
HELL IN THE PACIFIC—Cinerama 1968—John Boorman—Color, Panavision
THE HAPPY ENDING—UA 1969—Richard Brooks—Color, Panavision
TELL THEM WILLIE BOY IS HERE-Universal 1969—Abraham Polonsky—Color, Panavision
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID—20th Century Fox 1969—George Roy Hill—Color, Panavision
FAT CITY—Columbia 1972—John Huston—Color
ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE—UA 1973—James William Guercio—Color, Panavision
CATCH MY SOUL—Cinerama 1974—Patrick McGoo-han—Color
SMILE—UA 1975—Michael Ritchie—Color
THE DAY OF THE LOCUST—Paramount 1975—John Schlesinger—Color, Panavision
MARATHON MAN—Paramount 1976—John Schlesinger—Color
ACADEMY AWARDS FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY 1927-1977
Following is a listing of the nominees, and winners, of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography since the award’s inception in 1927. The question of separate awards for color and black and white cinematography caused some uncomfortable variances in voting procedure in recent years, before it was decided to eliminate the black and white category entirely. Whatever arguments are to be made for or against the Academy Awards, the validity of the cinematography category is maintained by the fact that the yearly nominations have always been selected by cinematographers themselves. Thus, what follows is a valuable honor roll of achievements over the years, not merely a popularity contest. An asterisk denotes the winner each year.
1927/28
THE DEVIL DANCER (George Barnes)
DRUMS OF LOVE (Karl Struss)
MAGIC FLAME (George Barnes)
MY BEST GIRL (Charles Rosher)
SADIE THOMPSON (George Barnes)
*SUNRISE (Charles Rosher and Karl Struss)
THE TEMPEST (Charles Rosher)
1928/29
THE DIVINE LADY (John Seitz)
FOUR DEVILS (Ernest Palmer)
IN OLD ARIZONA (Arthur Edeson)
OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS (George Barnes)
STREET ANGEL (Ernest Palmer)
*WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS (Clyde DeVinna)
1929/30
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (Arthur Edeson)
ANNA CHRISTIE (William Daniels)
HELL’S ANGELS (Gaetano “Tony” Gaudio and Harry Perry)
THE LOVE PARADE (Victor Milner)
*WITH BYRD AT THE SOUTH POLE (Joseph T. Rucker and
Willard Van der Veer)
1930/31
CIMARRON (Edward Cronjager)
MOROCCO (Lee Garmes)
THE RIGHT TO LOVE (Charles B. Lang, Jr.)
SVENGALI (Barney McGill)
*TABU (Floyd Crosby)
1931/32
ARROWSMITH (Ray June)
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (Karl Struss)
*SHANGHAI EXPRESS (Lee Garmes)
1932/33
*A FAREWELL TO ARMS (Charles B. Lang, Jr.)
REUNION IN VIENNA (George Folsey)
SIGN OF THE CROSS (Karl Struss)
1934
AFFAIRS OF CELLINI (Charles Rosher)
*CLEOPATRA (Victor Milner)
OPERATOR 13 (George Folsey)
1935
BARBARY COAST (Ray June)
THE CRUSADES (Victor Milner)
LES MISÉRABLES (Gregg Toland)
*A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Hal Mohr)
1936
*ANTHONY ADVERSE (Tony Gaudio)
THE GENERAL DIED AT DAWN (Victor Milner)
THE GORGEOUS HUSSY (George Folsey)
1937
DEAD END (Gregg Toland)
*THE GOOD EARTH (Karl Freund)
WINGS OVER HONOLULU (Joseph Valentine)
1938
ALGIERS (James Wong Howe)
ARMY GIRL (Ernest Miller and Harry Wild)
THE BUCCANEER (Victor Milner)
*THE GREAT WALTZ (Joseph Ruttenberg)
JEZEBEL (Ernest Haller)
MAD ABOUT MUSIC (Joseph Valentine)
MERRILY WE LIVE (Norbert Brodine)
SUEZ (J. Peverell Marley)
VIVACIOUS LADY (Robert de Grasse)
YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (Joseph Walker)
THE YOUNG IN HEART (Leon Shamroy)
1939
Black and white:
STAGECOACH (Bert Glennon)
*WUTHERING HEIGHTS (Gregg Toland)
Color:
*GONE WITH THE WIND (Ernest Haller, Ray Rennahan)
THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (W. Howard Greene, Sol Polito)
1940
Black and white:
ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS (James Wong Howe)
ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO (Ernest Haller)
ARISE MY LOVE (Charles B. Lang, Jr.)
BOOM TOWN (Harold Rosson)
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (Rudy Mate)
THE LETTER (Tony Gaudio)
THE LONG VOYAGE HOME (Gregg Toland)
*REBECCA (George Barnes)
SPRING PARADE (Joseph Valentine)
WATERLOO BRIDGE (Joseph Ruttenberg)
Color:
BITTERSWEET (Allen Davey, Oliver T. Marsh)
THE BLUE BIRD (Arthur Miller, Ray Rennahan)
DOWN ARGENTINE WAY (Leon Shamroy, Ray Rennahan)
NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE (W. Howard Greene, Victor Milner)
NORTHWEST PASSAGE (William V. Skall, Sidney Wagner)
*THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (George Perinal)
1941
Black and white:
THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER (Karl Freund)
CITIZEN KANE (Gregg Toland)
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (Joseph Ruttenberg)
HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (Joseph Walker)
HOLD BACK THE DAWN (Leo Tover)
*HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (Arthur Miller)
SERGEANT YORK (Sol Polito)
SUN VALLEY SERENADE (Edward Cronjager)
SUNDOWN (Charles B. Lang, Jr.)
THAT HAMILTON WOMAN (Rudy Mate)
Color:
ALOMA OF THE SOUTH SEAS (Wilfred M. Cline, Karl Struss, William Snyder)
BILLY THE KID (William V. Skall, Leonard Smith)
*BLOOD AND SAND (Ernest Palmer, Ray Rennahan)
BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST (Karl Freund, W. Howard Greene)
DIVE BOMBER (Bert Glennon)
LOUISIANA PURCHASE (Harry Hallenberger, Ray Renna- han)
1942
Black and white:
KINGS ROW (James Wong Howe)
THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Stanley Cortez)
*MRS. MINIVER (Joseph Ruttenberg)
MOON TIDE (Charles G. Clarke)
THE PIED PIPER (Edward Cronjager)
THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (Rudy Mate)
TAKE A LETTER, DARLING (John Mescall)
TALK OF THE TOWN (Ted Tetzlaff)
TEN GENTLEMEN FROM WEST POINT (Leon Sham- roy)
THIS ABOVE ALL (Arthur Miller)
Color:
ARABIAN NIGHTS (W. Howard Greene, Milton Krasner, William V. Skall)
*THE BLACK SWAN (Leon Shamroy)
CAPTAINS OF THE CLOUDS (Sol Polito)
JUNGLE BOOK (Lee Garmes, W. Howard Greene)
REAP THE WILD WIND (Victor Milner, William V. Skall)
TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI (Edward Cronjager, William V. Skall)
1943
Black and white:
AIR FORCE (Elmer Dyer, James Wong Howe, Charles Marshall)
CASABLANCA (Arthur Edeson)
CORVETTE K-225 (Tony Gaudio)
FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO (John Seitz)
THE HUMAN COMEDY (Harry Stradling)
MADAME CURIE (Joseph Ruttenberg)
THE NORTH STAR (James Wong Howe)
SAHARA (Rudy Mate)
SO PROUDLY WE HAIL (Charles B. Lang, Jr.)
*THE SONG OF BERNADETTE (Arthur Miller)
Color:
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS (Ray Rennahan
)
HEAVEN CAN WAIT (Edward Cronjager)
HELLO, FRISCO, HELLO (Charles G. Clarke and Allen M. Davey)
LASSIE COME HOME (Leonard Smith)
*THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (W. Howard Greene and Hal Mohr)
THOUSANDS CHEER (George Folsey)
1944
Black and white:
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (John Seitz)
DRAGON SEED (Sidney Wagner)
GASLIGHT (Joseph Ruttenberg)
GOING MY WAY (Lionel Lindon)
*LAURA (Joseph LaShelle)
LIFEBOAT (Glen MacWilliams)
SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (Stanley Cortez and Lee Garmes)
THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (Harold Rosson and Rob- ert Surtees)
THE UNINVITED (Charles B. Lang, Jr.)
THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER (George Folsey)
The Art of the Cinematographer Page 26