GERRY FISHER

Born: 23 June 1926, London, UK, as Gerald Fisher.

Education: Technical College.

Career: Worked for Kodak and De Havilland Aircraft Co., then war service in the Royal Navy. Joined Alliance Riverside Studios as clapper boy in 1946. Became c.asst on doc's for Wessex Films. Worked for 6 years as focus puller for Shepperton Studios. Became c.op in 1957.

Ph commercials dir by Kevin Billington, a.o.

Was a member [now honorary member] of the BSC and the Guild of British Camera Technicians [GBCT]. His son Cary is a c.op.

Awards: BSC Award nom [1971] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1972] for 'The Go-Between'; BSC Award nom [1976; shared] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1977; shared] for 'Aces High'; 'César' Award nom [1977] for 'Monsieur Klein'; BSC Lifetime Achievement Award [2008].

Gerry Fisher: 'It was during 'Casino Royale', which I was doing with Jack [Hildyard]. I got the offer from Joe Losey to read a script, which was 'Accident', and to let him know within three days if I thought I could photograph it. So I went back to the hotel and locked myself in my room. I was saddled with these enormous decisions, (a) whether I think I can do it, (b) whether I think I dare do it and (c) whether I dare tell them that I would have to leave 'Casino Royale' in order to do it. Anyway, I did do all those things, because I read the script, which was marvelous, and a strange thing happened, I began to read a script for the first time in terms of what I would do with it, of the way I visualized it. So it fell into place, it suggested itself to me in terms of images, of how I felt it should look, although I didn't know how I was going to achieve that look. But I discovered afterwards that it's not important to know how you're going to tackle something so long as you know what you want to do.

I'd done a picture with him [Losey] called 'Modesty Blaise' on which I was the operator, and there were things in it, images, ideas that I had contributed... so much so that recently I walked into a bar and I happened to glance at the picture on the television, and I recognized it instantly as one I'd framed myself. So it wasn't just straight forward operating. And evidently, arising out of that association, Joe Losey figured he saw something in me I didn't know I had. I mean, I wasn't saying to him, "Please let me photograph your next picture." Anyway, I did it, and finished it... probably most of the people in the business were astonished that I was actually able to do it, but nobody was more astonished than me, I can assure you.' [From interview with Bob Baker & Markku Salmi in 'Film Dope', #16, February 1979.]

1976        Comme un boomerang.../Boomerang [José Giovanni] c; cred as tech adv; c.op Pierre-William Glenn was cred as doph

1976        The Last Remake of Beau Geste [Marty Feldman] c

1976        The Island of Dr. Moreau [Don Taylor] c; 2uc: Ronnie Taylor

1977        Fedora [Billy Wilder] c

1977        Les routes du sud/Roads to the South [Joseph Losey] c

1978        The Ninth Configuration/Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane [William Peter Blatty] p/c

1978        [Mozart's] Don Giovanni/Don Juan [Joseph Losey] p/c; cph: Angelo Filippini

1979        Wise Blood [John Huston] c

1979        Wolfen [Michael Wadleigh] p/c; ph New York: Fred Abeles; insert ph: Robert Bailin & Don Stern

1980        Rends-moi la clé! [Gérard Pirès] c

1980        Victory/Escape to Victory [John Huston] p/c; 2uc: Eric van Haren Noman

1981        Un matin rouge [Jean-Jacques Aublanc] c

1982        Lovesick [Marshall Brickman] c

1982        Better Late Than Never/Whose Little Girl Are You? [Bryan Forbes] c; addph; ph: Claude Lecomte

1982        Yellowbeard [Mel Damski] c

1983        Les mots pour le dire [José Pinheiro] c

1985        The Holcroft Covenant [John Frankenheimer] c; process ph: Charles Staffell

1985        Highlander [Russell Mulcahy] c; ph New York: Tony Mitchell; addph: Denis Crossan, Arthur Smith, a.o.; 2uc: John Harris;

                    aph: Peter Warrilow

1986        Man on Fire/Absinthe [Elie Chouraqui] c

1986        Le dernier des templiers [Yvan Chiffre] scheduled to start shooting in Aug 1986; status unknown

1987        Orn [Frédéric de Foucaud (= Fred de Fooko)] in preparation is Fred de Fooko's full-length anim '(H)orn - la nuit du roi';

                    status unknown

1987        Running on Empty [Sidney Lumet] c

1988        Dead-Bang [John Frankenheimer] c

1988        Black Rainbow [Mike Hodges] c

1989        The Fourth War [John Frankenheimer] scope/c; 2uc: J. Barry Herron

1989        [William Peter Blatty's] The Exorcist III [: Legion] [William Peter Blatty] c; ph Los Angeles: Jacek Laskus

1990        Company Business [Nicholas Meyer] c; 2uc: John Ward; aph: Peter Allwork

1991        Diggstown/Midnight Sting [Michael Ritchie] c

1992        The Audiovisual Encyclopedia of Scientists: Einstein/They Changed the World: Einstein [Michael Ritchie] c;

                    educational doc/52m

1993        Cops and Robbersons [Michael Ritchie] c

1995        When Saturday Comes [Maria Giese] c; cph: Grant Cameron

1996        K [Alexandre Arcady] c

1998        Furia [Alexandre Aja] c

1947        They Made Me a Fugitive/I Became a Criminal [Alberto Cavalcanti] c.asst; ph: Otto Heller

1947        The Brass Monkey/Lucky Mascot [Thornton Freeland] focus puller; ph: Basil Emmott

1947        Daughter of Darkness [Lance Comfort] c.asst; ph: Stanley Pavey

1949        No Way Back [Stefan Osiecki] c.asst; ph: Robert Navarro

1949        Old Mother Riley's New Venture/A Wild Irish Night [John Harlow] focus puller; ph: James Wilson

1949        Miss Pilgrim's Progress [Val Guest] focus puller; ph: Bert Mason

1950        State Secret/The Great Manhunt [Sidney Gilliat] c.asst; ph: Robert Krasker

1950        The Wooden Horse [Jack Lee] focus puller; ph: C.M. Pennington-Richards

1950        Maria Chapdelaine/The Naked Heart [Marc Allégret] c.asst; ph: Armand Thirard

1950        The Changing Face of Europe/The Grand Design [seg #5 'Clearing the Lines' dir by Kay Mander; doc] focus puller;

                    ph: Jonah Jones

1951        Mr. Denning Drives North [Anthony Kimmins] c.asst; ph: John Wilcox

1951        Lady Godiva Rides Again/Beauty Queen [Frank Launder] 2u c.asst; 2uc: Bill Allan; ph: Wilkie Cooper

1951        Outcast of the Islands [Carol Reed] c.asst studio scenes; ph: John Wilcox & Ted Scaife

1951        Home at Seven/Murder on Monday [Ralph Richardson] c.asst; ph: Jack Hildyard & Ted Scaife

1951        Cry, the Beloved Country/African Fury [Zoltan Korda] c.asst (studio scenes); ph: Robert Krasker

1952        The Tall Headlines/The Frightened Bride [Terence Young] c.asst; ph: C.M. Pennington-Richards

1952        Who Goes There!/The Passionate Sentry [Anthony Kimmins] c.asst; ph: John Wilcox & Ted Scaife

1952        The Holly and the Ivy [George More O'Ferrall] c.asst; ph: Ted Scaife

1952        The Ringer [Guy Hamilton] c.asst; ph: Ted Scaife

1952        Appointment in London [Philip Leacock] focus puller; ph: Stephen Dade

1953        The Intruder [Guy Hamilton] c.asst; ph: Ted Scaife

1953        The Captain's Paradise [Anthony Kimmins] focus puller; ph: Ted Scaife

1953        The Heart of the Matter [George More O'Ferrall] c.asst; ph: Jack Hildyard

1953        Beautiful Stranger/Twist of Fat/Lifeline [David Miller] c.asst; ph: Ted Scaife

1954        An Inspector Calls [Guy Hamilton] focus puller; ph: Ted Scaife

1954        The Constant Husband [Sidney Gilliat] focus puller; ph: Ted Scaife

1954        A Kid for Two Farthings [Carol Reed] focus puller; ph: Ted Scaife

1955        The Deep Blue Sea [Anatole Litvak] focus puller; ph: Jack Hildyard

1955        The March Hare [George More O'Ferrall] c.op (for 1 day); ph: Jack Hildyard

1955        My Teenage Daughter/Teenage Bad Girl [Herbert Wilcox] c.asst; ph: Max Greene

1956        Sailor Beware!/Panic in the Parlor [Gordon Parry] focus puller; ph: Douglas Slocombe

1956        Anastasia [Anatole Litvak] focus puller; ph: Jack Hildyard

1957        The Bridge on the River Kwai [David Lean] c.asst + c.op (last 6 weeks of shooting); ph: Jack Hildyard

1957        The Key [Carol Reed] c.asst; ph: Oswald Morris

1958        The Journey [Anatole Litvak] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1958        The Devil's Disciple [Guy Hamilton (replaced Alexander Mackendrick after 2 weeks)] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1959        Tarzan's Greatest Adventure [John Guillermin] c.op; ph: Ted Scaife

1959        Suddenly, Last Summer [Joseph Mankiewicz] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1959        The Sundowners [Fred Zinnemann] co-c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1960        The Millionairess [Anthony Asquith] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1960        Cleopatra [Rouben Mamoulian] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard; abandoned; some footage used in final version (1963)

1961        What a Carve Up!/No Place Like Homicide! [Pat Jackson] c.op; ph: Monty Berman

1961        The Road to Hong Kong [Norman Panama] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1962        Guns of Darkness [Anthony Asquith] c.op; ph: Robert Krasker

1962        Live Now - Pay Later [Jay Lewis] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1962        55 Days at Peking [Nicholas Ray; Guy Green & Andrew Marton (uncred; finished film)] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1963        The V.I.P.s/International Hotel [Anthony Asquith] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1963        An Evening with the Royal Ballet [Anthony Havelock-Allan & Anthony Asquith] co-c.op; ph: Geoffrey Unsworth &

                    Christopher Challis

1963        Night Must Fall [Karel Reisz] c.op; ph: Freddie Francis

1963        Circus World/The Magnificent Showman [Henry Hathaway] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1964        Guns at Batasi [John Guillermin] c.op; ph: Douglas Slocombe

1964        The Yellow Rolls-Royce [Anthony Asquith] co-c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1965        Bunny Lake Is Missing [Otto Preminger] c.op; ph: Denys Coop

1965        Modesty Blaise [Joseph Losey] c.op; ph: Jack Hildyard

1966        Casino Royale [John Huston, Val Guest, Kenneth Hughes, Robert Parrish & Joseph McGrath] c.op on Huston, Parrish

                    & McGrath seq; ph: Jack Hildyard