James Wong Howe

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James Wong Howe bigraphy, stories - Film

James Wong Howe : biography

August 28, 1899 – July 12, 1976

James Wong Howe, A.S.C. (Chinese 黃宗霑; pinyin: Huáng Zōngzhān; August 28, 1899 – July 12, 1976) was a Chinese American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films. He was a master at the use of shadow and was one of the first to use deep-focus cinematography, in which both foreground and distant planes remain in focus.

During the 1930s and 1940s he was one of the most sought after cinematographers in Hollywood. He was nominated for ten Academy Awards for cinematography, winning twice. Howe was judged to be one of history’s ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild. Retrieved January 28, 2011.

Personal life

Howe met his wife, Sanora Babb, before World War II. They traveled to Paris in 1937 to marry, but their marriage was not recognized by the United States until 1948, after the law banning racial intermarriage was abolished.Elaine Woo,, Los Angeles Times, 21 January 2006 Due to the ban, Howe’s studio contract "morals clause" prohibited him from publicly acknowledging their marriage. They would not cohabit due to his traditional Chinese views, so they had separate apartments in the same building.

During the early years of the HUAC witch-hunts, Babb was blacklisted,and moved to Mexico City to protect the "graylisted" Howe from harassment. at the Harry Ransom Center

Howe raised his godson, producer and director Martin Fong, after Fong arrived in America.

He is buried at Pierce Bros. Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Selected filmography

  • Drums of Fate, 1923
  • The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, 1923
  • The Alaskan, 1924
  • Peter Pan, 1924
  • The King on Main Street, 1925
  • Mantrap, 1926
  • Laugh, Clown, Laugh 1928
  • The Rescue, 1929
  • The Criminal Code, 1931
  • Transatlantic, 1931
  • The Power and the Glory, 1933
  • Manhattan Melodrama, 1934
  • The Thin Man, 1934
  • Mark of the Vampire, 1935
  • Fire Over England, 1937
  • The Prisoner of Zenda, 1937
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1938
  • Algiers, 1938
  • Fantasia, 1940 (Uncredited for Philadelphia Orchestra sequences)
  • Abe Lincoln in Illinois, 1940
  • The Strawberry Blonde, 1941
  • Shining Victory, 1941
  • King’s Row, 1942
  • Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1942
  • Air Force, 1943
  • Hangmen Also Die, 1943
  • Confidential Agent, 1945
  • Pursued, 1947
  • Body and Soul, 1947
  • Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, 1948
  • The Baron of Arizona, 1950
  • He Ran All the Way, 1951
  • Main Street to Broadway, 1953
  • Picnic, 1955
  • The Rose Tattoo, 1955
  • Sweet Smell of Success, 1957
  • Bell, Book and Candle, 1958
  • Hud, 1963
  • This Property Is Condemned, 1966
  • Seconds, 1966
  • Hombre, 1967
  • The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, 1968
  • The Molly Maguires, 1970
  • Funny Lady, 1975

Career

Background

Howe was born Wong Tung Jim in Taishan, Canton Province (now Guangdong), China in 1899. His father Wong Howe moved to America that year to work on the Northern Pacific Railway and in 1904 sent for his family. The Howes settled in Pasco, Washington, where they owned a general store. A Brownie camera, said to have been bought at Pasco Drug (a now-closed city landmark) when he was a child, sparked an early interest in photography. After his father’s death, the teenaged Howe moved to Oregon to live with his uncle and briefly considered (1915–16) a career as a bantamweight boxer. After compiling a record of 5 wins, 2 losses and a draw, Retrieved May 31, 2011. Howe moved to the San Francisco Bay area in hopes of attending aviation school but ran out of money and went south to Los Angeles, California. Once there, Howe took several odd jobs, including work as a commercial photographer’s delivery boy and as a busboy at the Beverly Hills Hotel. After a chance encounter with a former boxing colleague who was photographing a Mack Sennett short on the streets of Los Angeles, Howe approached cinematographer Alvin Wyckoff and landed a low-level job in the film lab at Famous Players-Lasky Studios. Soon thereafter he was called to the set of The Little American to act as an extra clapper boy, which brought him into contact with silent film director Cecil B. DeMille. Amused by the sight of the diminutive Asian holding the slate with a large cigar in his mouth, DeMille kept Howe on and launched his career as a camera assistant. To earn additional money, Howe took publicity stills for Hollywood stars.