Year: 2023

            From William Roberts’ article, Shooting For the Stars.  It appeared in the February 1941 issue of Modern Screen.             Of course, a well-balanced face is another thing.  Oh, I’ve seen so-called perfect faces – those composite photographs showing Lamarr’s eyes, Leigh’s nose, Dietrich’s lips – but the result is always surprisingly vacant!             “Most … Continue reading “JAMES WONG HOWE, ASC, continued…”

            Picking up where I left off last Friday, here’s another piece of an article published in the February 1941 issue of Modern Screen.  In this segment, writer William Roberts leaves Gregg Toland, ASC to his glass of beer and drops in on another legendary cinematographer, James Wong Howe, ASC.             If you can get … Continue reading “MORE MODERN SCREEN”

            Sometime during the early morning hours of January 7, we lost perhaps the last giant of American cinematography, Owen Roizman, ASC.  In failing health for quite some time, his passing wasn’t unexpected but it struck home especially hard.             Owen was a close friend for nearly twenty-five years.  When we met, if I was … Continue reading “OWEN ROIZMAN, ASC, 1936-2023”

            Writer William Roberts continues to draw Gregg Toland, ASC out in the February 1941 issue of Modern Screen.  His article was titled, Shooting For the Stars.             I inquired about Toland’s most recent and celebrated patient, Orson Welles.             “Shot ‘Citizen Kane’ in sixteen weeks,” explained Toland.  “It’s an unusual picture. For example, we … Continue reading “MORE FROM MODERN SCREEN”

            Gregg Toland, ASC continues to expound in this second excerpt from William Roberts’ February 1941 article, Shooting For the Stars.  In an era during which information was so tightly controlled by the studios, it’s interesting that he spoke with such candor.  Modern Screen was a mass-market fan magazine, but it seems he’s talking a … Continue reading “IN HIS OWN WORDS…”