In this captivating memoir, Oscar®-winning cinematographer Oswald ("Ossie") Morris looks back over his 58-film career as Director of Photography for such front rank directors as John Huston, Carol Reed, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Stanley Kubrick, Ronald Neame, Vittorio De Sica, Franco Zeffirelli, Norman Jewison and Sidney Lumet. Though he eschews "kiss-and-tell," Ossie provides many personal and amusing insights into the making of many films, including Moulin Rouge, Moby Dick, The Guns of Navarone, Lolita, The Hill, Fiddler on the Roof, The Man Who Would be King and Oliver!
Morris photographed many of the top stars—Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, James Mason, Paul Newman, Michael Caine, and Sean Connery, among others—and relates a fund of intimate anecdotes about them. He also recounts his run-ins with legendary producer, David O. Selznick, who battered him with his infamous memos throughout the making of Stazione Termini, Beat The Devil and A Farewell to Arms.
Morris also offers many technical revelations about making films in the pre-digital era, including groundbreaking innovations and camera tricks. For all those interested in the history of film, both at a personal and technical level, this is a rich and rewarding look into the world of cinema.
Table of Contents:
Part 0 Foreword
Part 1 Foreword
Part 2 In Others' Words
Part 2 Acknowledgments
Part 3 Part 1. APPRENTICE AND LEADER
Chapter 4 1. A Crowded House
Chapter 5 2. Delirium of the Air: Wartime Service in the RAF
Chapter 6 3. A Safe Landing
Part 7 Part 2. THE DIRECTORS
Chapter 8 4. "I'll Be Behind You": Ronnie Neame, including Connie
Chapter 9 5. "How's My Boy?": John Huston
Chapter 10 6. "Here's the Thing": Sir Carol Reed Lee
Chapter 11 7. The American Connection: Sidney Lumet
Chapter 12 8. In Clément Weather: Réné Clément & Tony Richardson
Part 13 Part 3. A FAREWELL TO SELZNICK
Chapter 14 9. The Os-DOS files
Part 15 Part 4. HEADLINERS & BLOCKBUSTERS
Chapter 16 10. Marking Time in Greece: The Guns of Navarone (1960)
Chapter 17 11. Kubrick's Secret World: Lolita (1960)
Chapter 18 12. Behind the Iron Curtain: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)
Chapter 19 13. The Glittering Burtons: The Taming of the Shrew (1966)
Chapter 20 14. 'Chips' With Everything: Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969)
Chapter 21 15. An Oscar For All Seasons: Fiddler On The Roof (1970)
Chapter 22 16. Piggy In The Middle: The Jim Henson Legacy
Part 23 Afterword
Part 24 Appendix A: Honours and Awards
Part 25 Appendix B: Credits
Part 26 Acknowledgments
Part 27 Index
Part 28 About the Authors
About the Author :
Oswald Morris was Director of Photography on nearly 60 films, including Sleuth, Oliver! and The Wiz, the latter two of which earned him Academy Award® nominations. In 1972 he won the Oscar® for Best Cinematography for his work on Fiddler on the Roof. In 1998, he was awarded the OBE for "services to cinematography and the film industry."
Geoffrey Bull is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience on several UK newspapers and specializes in writing about film, books, and the theater.
Review :
This is a great read, written in a witty and 'can't put down' style....Congratulations to Ossie, Geoffrey Bull and all concerned for producing a fine book.
Here's a bit of good news. Oswald Morris has written his memoirs. Who's he? You almost surely don't know, but in this case, that's a good thing. He's one of that legion of film personnel who have contributed to some of the best films of the past 50 years but almost never bothered to pass along their recollections before going out of this world forever. Film history just got a little richer.
