James Wong Howe
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Born Wong Tung Jim in Canton, China (now Guangzhou, China) James Wong Howe (August 28, 1899 - July 12, 1976) is considered one of the great cinematographers in movie history. He has over 130 films to his credit. A master at the use of shadow, and was one of the first to use deep-focus cinematography, photography in which both foreground and distant planes remain in focus. Howe, during the 30s and 40s was considered one of the most sought after cinematographers in Hollywood, was tasked in 1949 with a assignment of shooting test footage for a proposed comeback film (La Duchesse de Langeais) for Greta Garbo. The comeback film was never made.
Wong Howe was famed for his camera work innovations, including putting a cameraman on roller-skates inside a boxing ring for Body and Soul (1947) to shoot boxing scenes in the film. Howe received Academy Awards for The Rose Tattoo 1955 and for Hud (1963) with Paul Newman.
Howe arrived in the United States when he was five years old. Howe's original screen credit was James or Jimmie Howe, but during his early years at MGM, "Wong" was added.
Howe made his first film as director of photography during the silent movie era for films including "On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine" (1923), "Mantrap" (1926), and "Laugh Clown Laugh," (1928). Howe's films during the sound era include The Power and the Glory (1933), The Thin Man (1934), Fire Over England (1937), Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Air Force (1943), Body and Soul (1947), The Brave Bulls (1951), The Rose Tattoo (1955), Picnic (1955), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Old Man and the Sea (1958), The Last Angry Man (1958), Bell, Book and Candle (1958), Hud (1963), This Property Is Condemned (1966), Hombre (1967), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968) and his final film, which earned him an Academy Award nomination in 1975, Funny Lady, starring Barbra Streisand.
