SAM LEAVITT, ASC & THE THIEF (1952)

            Directed by Russell Rouse, The Thief is notable for being a studio-era spy drama without any spoken dialogue.  As such, a great emphasis is placed on cinematographer Sam Leavitt, ASC’s ability to engage the viewer without becoming heavy-handed.  It was no easy task, yet he pulled it off with a restraint that presages techniques that would become common over the next two decades.  Reviews were generally favorable, with many singling him out for special praise.

         ‘Spittin’ Sam Leavitt (so nicknamed for his way of marking a camera position) started his career in 1922 at the old Tannhauser Studios in New Rochelle, NY.  After 10 years as a lab tech, he became an assistant cameraman at Paramount Studios in Astoria, Queens, where he eventually worked as an operator for George Folsey, ASC and Joseph Ruttenburg, ASC.  After his arrival in Hollywood in 1935, he continued as an operator at Republic, Columbia and Paramount before joining up with Harry Stradling, ASC at MGM.  He remained there from 1940 to 1948, operating for Stradling on such films as Anchors Aweigh (1945), Picture of Dorian Grey (1945) and The Pirate (1948).  The Thief was his first legitimate credit as Director of Photography.

            Shortly after its release, Leavitt had this to say: “I wanted to use an off-beat style – not just to be different, but because the story was an unusual one and called for visual presentation that was out of the ordinary.  And also, because it was up to the camera to point up details that would ordinarily have been accentuated by dialogue – if there had been any.”

            The movie kicks off impressively, with a set-bound, 360˚ move that required wild walls to complete.  But that’s where the conventional thinking ended.

            Although he considered his semi-documentary approach to be unusual, he was cutting a trail over which many would soon follow.  Shot in a brisk eighteen-days with locations in New York City and Washington, D.C., Leavitt often used a concealed camera with no supplemental lighting.  This helped create a strong sense of reality, as everyday people were photographed unaware on the street among the actors.  Also of note are scenes shot in available light in Penn Station.  While there, the camera was hidden in a wheeled refrigerator packing case.  And then there’s a spectacular nighttime trucking shot that follows star Ray Milland down Broadway from 47th Street to 42nd Street.  Although it was done without supplemental lighting and broken up as part of a montage, the intact passages are impressive for their time.

            Two other sequences also stand out.  Unable to call on the powerful sources he was used to at home, Leavitt was forced to light the huge interior of the Library of Congress with small Colortran units.  This had to have been a leap of faith, exposure-wise.  With all the dark-wooded surfaces on display, I can’t imagine how many lamps were on line.  The final sequence, which was shot inside the antenna tower of the Empire State Building, is another marvel of the craft.  In this precarious spot, Leavitt used an Eclair CM-3 to capture forceful compositions and unusual angles in perfect keeping with the jittery, street-wise tenor of the story.

            Despite his efforts on The Thief, his best work was ahead of him.  In 1958, Leavitt won an Academy Award for The Defiant Ones (directed by Stanley Kramer).  He was later nominated for Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Exodus (1960), both of which were directed by Otto Preminger.

Be sure to check this film out when you get the chance.  It turns up on TCM from time to time but is also available on DVD.  It contains fascinating material for cinematographers at every level of the game.