W. Howard Greene(1895-1956)
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
W. Howard Greene, a pioneer in color cinematography, was nominated for
an Oscar seven times, including five straight years from 1940 to 1944.
All of his nominations were for his work in color, in the days when
color and black and white cinematography were different categories at
the Academy Awards.
Color cinematography was not recognized as a distinct category by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences until the 12th Academy
Awards, held in 1940 for the 1939 production year. For the 1936 to '38
production years, a committee of leading cinematographers made a
recommendation to the Academy for an Honorary Award after viewing the
color movies produced during the year. In 1937, Greene was the first
winner of the Honorary Academy Award, a plaque, for color
cinematography, along with Harold Rosson,
for their work on
The Garden of Allah (1936).
Singly, he received the Honorary Award plaque for color cinematography
in 1938, for his work on
A Star Is Born (1937). He won a
competitive Oscar in 1944, along with Hal Mohr,
for their work on
Phantom of the Opera (1943).
As befitting a man with his surname, Greene began specializing in color
photography in the early 1920s. He shot the color sequences for
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
in Technicolor's two-color, subtractive cemented-dual-print process.
Later, he worked as a camera operator at Warner Bros.-First National on
Doctor X (1932) and _Mystery of the Wax
Museum (1933)_ (v), both of which were photographed with Technicolor's
newer, subtractive two-color dye transfer process.
Warner Bros. was the industry leader in making Technicolor films in
1930, producing 15 color films, 11 of which were fully in color, the
four others having color sequences. "Wax Museum" generally is
considered the most beautiful color feature film produced under the
two-color Technicolor process.
Herbert T. Kalmus, the president of
Technicolor, considered it to be one of the best examples of what was
possible with the two-color system. However, color usage waned in 1931
due to the economic effects of the Depression, the lack of novelty, and
audience dissatisfaction with the limited palette of colors. Audiences
had grown content with sound and seemingly didn't need color, which was
expensive to shoot.
It wasn't until the latter part of the 1930s, with the advent of
Technicolor's three-strip, three-color dye transfer process, that color
film matured into a real medium of artistic expression. The new process
required an innovative, custom camera, outfitted with a film magazine
that contained three reels of specially prepared B&W film. The process
was made possible by the advent of panchromatic B&W film, which was
sensitive to all of the colors in the visible spectrum, and was used to
shoot reds and greens on two separate reels of films. The third film,
which was for blue, consisted of the older orthochromatic B&W film
stock, which was not sensitive to light at the red end of the spectrum.
The three B&W prints registered the effects of red, green and blue
light. They were optically printed and later dyed with the appropriate
colors to create what was heralded as "Glorious Technicolor" prints.
_Becky Sharp (1935)_ (qv_, which was shot by
Ray Rennahan under the supervision of
Kalmus' wife Natalie Kalmus (who also
served as a consultant on "Mystery of the Wax Museum" and later on "The
Garden of Allah" and "A Star is Born"), was the first feature film to
use the three-color process.
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936),
which was shot by Greene and documentary filmmaker
Robert C. Bruce, was the first
Technicolor film shot in the outdoors. Technicolor chief Herbert Kalmus
didn't believe it could be done outside of a studio, as he thought that
the light and color couldn't be controlled, but director
Henry Hathaway insisted, and the
on-location photography was a success.
Now working for David O. Selznick,
Greene established a reputation as one of the best color directors of
photography in the film industry, working with the new three-strip
Technicolor that reproduced the visual spectrum. He got his first
honorary Academy Award for "Garden of Allah," but it was Selznick's "A
Star is Born" that cemented Greene's reputation. His use of Technicolor
to create a glistening palette of color was groundbreaking.
Subsequently, Greene shot
Arabian Nights (1942) for
Universal, which was its first color film, and won his Oscar statuette
while at Universal for
Phantom of the Opera (1943).
He would go on to win one more Oscar nomination, for
When Worlds Collide (1951),
and shot his last film in 1955. His career as a leading cinematographer
was cut short when he died in 1956.
an Oscar seven times, including five straight years from 1940 to 1944.
All of his nominations were for his work in color, in the days when
color and black and white cinematography were different categories at
the Academy Awards.
Color cinematography was not recognized as a distinct category by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences until the 12th Academy
Awards, held in 1940 for the 1939 production year. For the 1936 to '38
production years, a committee of leading cinematographers made a
recommendation to the Academy for an Honorary Award after viewing the
color movies produced during the year. In 1937, Greene was the first
winner of the Honorary Academy Award, a plaque, for color
cinematography, along with Harold Rosson,
for their work on
The Garden of Allah (1936).
Singly, he received the Honorary Award plaque for color cinematography
in 1938, for his work on
A Star Is Born (1937). He won a
competitive Oscar in 1944, along with Hal Mohr,
for their work on
Phantom of the Opera (1943).
As befitting a man with his surname, Greene began specializing in color
photography in the early 1920s. He shot the color sequences for
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
in Technicolor's two-color, subtractive cemented-dual-print process.
Later, he worked as a camera operator at Warner Bros.-First National on
Doctor X (1932) and _Mystery of the Wax
Museum (1933)_ (v), both of which were photographed with Technicolor's
newer, subtractive two-color dye transfer process.
Warner Bros. was the industry leader in making Technicolor films in
1930, producing 15 color films, 11 of which were fully in color, the
four others having color sequences. "Wax Museum" generally is
considered the most beautiful color feature film produced under the
two-color Technicolor process.
Herbert T. Kalmus, the president of
Technicolor, considered it to be one of the best examples of what was
possible with the two-color system. However, color usage waned in 1931
due to the economic effects of the Depression, the lack of novelty, and
audience dissatisfaction with the limited palette of colors. Audiences
had grown content with sound and seemingly didn't need color, which was
expensive to shoot.
It wasn't until the latter part of the 1930s, with the advent of
Technicolor's three-strip, three-color dye transfer process, that color
film matured into a real medium of artistic expression. The new process
required an innovative, custom camera, outfitted with a film magazine
that contained three reels of specially prepared B&W film. The process
was made possible by the advent of panchromatic B&W film, which was
sensitive to all of the colors in the visible spectrum, and was used to
shoot reds and greens on two separate reels of films. The third film,
which was for blue, consisted of the older orthochromatic B&W film
stock, which was not sensitive to light at the red end of the spectrum.
The three B&W prints registered the effects of red, green and blue
light. They were optically printed and later dyed with the appropriate
colors to create what was heralded as "Glorious Technicolor" prints.
_Becky Sharp (1935)_ (qv_, which was shot by
Ray Rennahan under the supervision of
Kalmus' wife Natalie Kalmus (who also
served as a consultant on "Mystery of the Wax Museum" and later on "The
Garden of Allah" and "A Star is Born"), was the first feature film to
use the three-color process.
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936),
which was shot by Greene and documentary filmmaker
Robert C. Bruce, was the first
Technicolor film shot in the outdoors. Technicolor chief Herbert Kalmus
didn't believe it could be done outside of a studio, as he thought that
the light and color couldn't be controlled, but director
Henry Hathaway insisted, and the
on-location photography was a success.
Now working for David O. Selznick,
Greene established a reputation as one of the best color directors of
photography in the film industry, working with the new three-strip
Technicolor that reproduced the visual spectrum. He got his first
honorary Academy Award for "Garden of Allah," but it was Selznick's "A
Star is Born" that cemented Greene's reputation. His use of Technicolor
to create a glistening palette of color was groundbreaking.
Subsequently, Greene shot
Arabian Nights (1942) for
Universal, which was its first color film, and won his Oscar statuette
while at Universal for
Phantom of the Opera (1943).
He would go on to win one more Oscar nomination, for
When Worlds Collide (1951),
and shot his last film in 1955. His career as a leading cinematographer
was cut short when he died in 1956.