Imagine a time when there were only fifty cinematographer members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences… Well, that was precisely the situation in December of 1957 when this column appeared in American Cinematographer. Since its formation thirty years earlier, we had always been the smallest of the Academy’s nineteen branches, a trend that carried through the period when I served on its Board of Governors (2011-2014). While there has been an explosion in recruitment over the past decade, the number remains trivial in comparison to several other branches, most notably the Actors.
But harkening back to what was no doubt a chummier, more exclusive mid-century period, one would have to assume there were occasions in which the Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography was decided by the slimmest of margins. Every few years, the idea is floated that the Academy should publish the voting results for each category. There are good arguments for and against, but as you’ll see below, some dissatisfactions have been ongoing for a very long time…and will probably continue as such.
