John F. Seitz
John Francis Seitz, A.S.C. (June 23, 1892 – February 27, 1979) was an American cinematographer and inventor. He was nominated for seven Academy Awards.
Seitz's Hollywood career began in 1909 as a lab assistant with the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in Chicago. He went to work as a lab technician for the American Film Manufacturing Company (known as "Flying A"), also in Chicago. In 1916, during the silent era, he established himself, achieving great successes with the Rudolph Valentino film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921).
Highly regarded by director Billy Wilder, Seitz worked with him on the film noirs Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), and Sunset Blvd. (1950), receiving Academy Award nominations for each.
In 1929, he served a year as president of the American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C.) for which he had been a member since 1923. The A.S.C. named its 2002 Heritage Award after Seitz.
Besides one Golden Globe and seven Oscar nominations, he also received the Look Magazine Award for The Lost Weekend, the A.S.C. Award for Sunset Blvd., and was among the winners of the inaugural George Award from the George Eastman House for outstanding contributions to the art of cinema for the years 1915 to 1925.
He retired in 1960 and devoted himself to photographic inventions, for which he held 18 patents. An example of one Seitz invention is the matte shot: a large painting is photographed separately and later added to a scene to expand it, add effects, and/or create a sense of depth in backgrounds. He was also noted for his innovations with low-key lighting, which enhanced the film noir style.
A widower, he married screenwriter Marie Boyle in 1934 who raised his daughter Margaret Alice Marhoefer and later gave birth to a son, John Lawrence Seitz.
Seitz's Hollywood career began in 1909 as a lab assistant with the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in Chicago. He went to work as a lab technician for the American Film Manufacturing Company (known as "Flying A"), also in Chicago. In 1916, during the silent era, he established himself, achieving great successes with the Rudolph Valentino film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921).
Highly regarded by director Billy Wilder, Seitz worked with him on the film noirs Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), and Sunset Blvd. (1950), receiving Academy Award nominations for each.
In 1929, he served a year as president of the American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C.) for which he had been a member since 1923. The A.S.C. named its 2002 Heritage Award after Seitz.
Besides one Golden Globe and seven Oscar nominations, he also received the Look Magazine Award for The Lost Weekend, the A.S.C. Award for Sunset Blvd., and was among the winners of the inaugural George Award from the George Eastman House for outstanding contributions to the art of cinema for the years 1915 to 1925.
He retired in 1960 and devoted himself to photographic inventions, for which he held 18 patents. An example of one Seitz invention is the matte shot: a large painting is photographed separately and later added to a scene to expand it, add effects, and/or create a sense of depth in backgrounds. He was also noted for his innovations with low-key lighting, which enhanced the film noir style.
A widower, he married screenwriter Marie Boyle in 1934 who raised his daughter Margaret Alice Marhoefer and later gave birth to a son, John Lawrence Seitz.
Known for
Guns of the Timberland
The Man in the Net
Island of Lost Women
The Badlanders
The Deep Six
The Big Land
A Cry in the Night
Santiago
Hell on Frisco Bay
The McConnell Story
Many Rivers to Cross
Rogue Cop
The Rocket Man
Saskatchewan
Fort Algiers
Desert Legion
Invaders from Mars
Botany Bay
The Iron Mistress
The Savage
The San Francisco Story
Detective Story
When Worlds Collide
Dear Brat
The Goldbergs
Sunset Boulevard
Appointment with Danger
Captain Carey, U.S.A.
Chicago Deadline
The Great Gatsby
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Beyond Glory
The Big Clock
On Our Merry Way
Saigon
Wild Harvest
Calcutta
The Imperfect Lady
Home Sweet Homicide
The Well Groomed Bride
The Lost Weekend
The Unseen
Casanova Brown
Hail the Conquering Hero
Double Indemnity
The Hour Before the Dawn
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
Five Graves to Cairo
Lucky Jordan
The Moon and Sixpence
Winning Your Wings
This Gun for Hire
Fly-By-Night
Sullivan's Travels
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
A Little Bit of Heaven
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
Bad Little Angel
Thunder Afloat
6,000 Enemies
Prophet Without Honor
Sergeant Madden
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Young Dr. Kildare
Stablemates
The Crowd Roars
Lord Jeff
Love Is a Headache
Navy Blue and Gold
Madame X
Between Two Women
15 Maiden Lane
Poor Little Rich Girl
Captain January
The Country Doctor
The Littlest Rebel
Navy Wife
Redheads on Parade
Curly Top
One More Spring
Helldorado
Our Little Girl
Marie Galante
Springtime for Henry
All Men Are Enemies
Coming Out Party
Mr. Skitch
Paddy the Next Best Thing
Adorable
Dangerously Yours
Ladies They Talk About
6 Hours to Live
A Passport to Hell
The Woman in Room 13
Careless Lady
She Wanted a Millionaire
Over the Hill
The Age for Love
Merely Mary Ann
Hush Money
Men of the Sky
Young Sinners
Misbehaving Ladies
East Lynne
The Right of Way
Kismet
The Bad Man
Road to Paradise
Back Pay
Murder Will Out
In the Next Room
The Painted Angel
A Most Immoral Lady
Her Private Life
Hard to Get
Careers
The Squall
Saturday's Children
The Divine Lady
Adoration
Outcast
The Patsy
Across to Singapore
The Trail of '98
The Fair Co-Ed
The Magician
Mare Nostrum
The Price of a Party
The Arab
Scaramouche
Where the Pavement Ends
Trifling Women
The Prisoner of Zenda
Turn to the Right
The Conquering Power
Uncharted Seas
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Sagebrusher
The Westerners
Up Romance Road
Powers That Prey
Beauty and the Rogue
The Mate of the Sally Ann
Souls in Pawn
The Serpent's Tooth
Whose Wife?