Born: 22 November 1915, Ruislip, Middlesex, UK, as Oswald 'Ossie'/'Oz' N. Morris.

Education: Bishopshalt School [Uxbridge County School], Hillingdon, UK [until 1932].

Career: Entered film industry as gofer/clapper boy at Wembley Studios in October 1932 [until spring 1933]. 'The routine at the studio was that they made a film a week. They started on a Monday, and it had to be finished by the week-end so they could begin the next one. These were the terrible quota quickies, budgeted at a pound a foot.' Subsequently worked at British International Pictures [at Elstree Studios]. Returned to Wembley Studios [taken over by Fox Films] as c.asst in 1933 [until 1938]. Served in the Royal Air Force during WWII. Was pilot of a Lancaster bomber and flew multiple raids over France and Germany. Was transferred to transport planes and made a world tour with Field Marshal Alan Brooke [Chief of the Imperial General Staff] in October-December 1945. In January 1946 he went to work as c.op with Independent Producers at Pinewood Studios. When doph Ronald Neame turned to directing, he got his chance as a doph with 'Golden Salamander'. Retired in 1979 but returned to the studio to ph 'The Great Muppet Caper' and 'The Dark Crystal' back-to-back in 1980-81.

Was member [now honorary member] of the BSC. Became Honorary Graduate of Brunel University, West London, in 1997. Received an O.B.E. [Officer of the Order of the British Empire] in 1998. The National Film and Television School named its new building after Oswald Morris. His brother is doph Reginald H. Morris, long based in Canada.

Wrote his memoirs [with Geoffrey Bull]: 'Huston, We Have a Problem: A Kaleidoscope of Filmmaking Memories' [Scarecrow Press, 2006].

Appeared in the doc's 'Norman Jewison, Filmmaker' [1971, Douglas Jackson; on the making of 'Fiddler on the Roof'], 'Cinema' [1972; ep tv-series dir by Richard Guinea; 30m], 'John Huston [: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick]' [1988, Frank Martin], 'Elstree. Britain's Hollywood' [1989, Chris Mohr], 'Glorious Technicolor' [1998, Peter Jones] & 'Inside: "The Man with the Golden Gun"' [2000, John Cork].

Awards: BSC Award [1953] for 'Moulin Rouge'; BSC Award nom [1956] for 'Moby Dick'; BAFTA Film Award [1964; b&w] for 'The Pumpkin Eater'; BAFTA Film Award [1965; b&w] for 'The Hill'; BSC Award [1966] & BAFTA Film Award [1966; b&w] for 'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'; BSC Award [1967] for 'The Taming of the Shrew'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1968] for 'Oliver!'; 'Oscar' AA [1971], BSC Award [1971] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1972] for 'Fiddler on the Roof'; BAFTA Film Award nom [1973] for 'Sleuth'; BAFTA Film Award nom [1975] for 'The Man Who Would Be King'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1978] for 'The Wiz'; John Alcott Memorial Award [1992]; ASC International Award [2000]; BSC Lifetime Achievement Award [2003].

Oswald Morris is one of the most innovative color cinematographers in history; it's just that some of his experiments predated the 1970's when everyone was noticing. Five must sees:

- 'Moulin Rouge' - 3-strip Technicolor shot through Fog Filters, smoke, and colored lighting to create the textures of a painting by Toulouse Lautrec;

- 'Moby Dick' - Eastmancolor photography but desaturated through unique Technicolor dye transfer process involving making b&w matrices with broad-cut instead of narrow-cut filters, causing separations to contain the other two colors, creating a pastel image when recombined. Then a silver key image was added in a fourth pass;

- 'The Taming of the Shrew' - one of the earlier examples of shadowless soft set lighting to create low-contrast painterly look. Colored soft lights and fog filters;

- 'Fiddler on the Roof' - shot entirely through a brown pantyhose - stretched over the lens and held with a rubber band - for a soft, earthy palette;

- 'The Wiz' - one of the most elaborate uses of colored flashing using a Lightflex device, combined with front-lighting sets & costumes using Scotchlite front-projection material. [David Mullen, May 2005]

*****

Oswald Morris was one of the great British cinematographers, innovative, risk-taking and articulate about his work. Always obsessed with movies, he began as a clapper-boy, working on 'quota quickies', rising to camera operator before being called up. Postwar, after service as a bomber pilot, he operated for, amongst others, Guy Green, on such notable films as 'Oliver Twist' (19 years later he would shoot 'Oliver!' for Carol Reed), before getting his first cinematographer credit on 'Golden Salamander' [1949], directed by his old mentor, Ronald Neame.

He rated Green and Neame as major influences, but in the 1950s he quickly established his own parity with them, especially on the films he did with director John Huston, starting with 'Moulin Rouge' [1952]. On this, he experimented with smoke and to get the impression Huston wanted of a film that might have been made by Toulouse-Lautrec, driving Technicolor executives mad in the process. Two years later, Huston set him another challenge: that of making 'Moby Dick' visually recall old etchings and whaling prints.

In another vein, his grainy realist work on René Clement's 'Monsieur Ripois/Knave of Hearts' led Tony Richardson to seek him out for the New Wave films, 'Look Back in Anger' and 'The Entertainer', to which he brought a harsh black-and-white realism, at least on the location-shot sequences.

Almost everything he did was notable, even when the films themselves were not; for instance, he thought 'Equus' [1976] was a 'terrible disappointment' but the way he lights the 'worshipping' sequences of boy with horse have a touch of real magic.

It is a remarkable career from an unpretentious artist who never grew complacent about his art. [Brian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of British Film]

1949        Golden Salamander [Ronald Neame] b&w

1950        Cairo Road [David MacDonald] b&w

1950        The Adventurers/The Great Adventure/Fortune in Diamonds/South African Story [David MacDonald] b&w

1950        Circle of Danger [Jacques Tourneur] b&w; addph: Gilbert Taylor

1951        Saturday Island/Island of Desire [Stuart Heisler] c

1952        The Card/The Promoter [Ronald Neame] b&w; ext ph: Ernest Steward

1952        South of Algiers/Golden Mask [Jack Lee] c

1952        So Little Time [Compton Bennett] b&w

1952        Moulin Rouge [John Huston] c; 2uc: Cyril Knowles;  replaced scheduled doph Otto Heller

1953        Stazione Termini/Indiscretion [of an American Wife] [Vittorio De Sica] b&w; brought in by prod David O. Selznick

                    to ph close shots of the stars (uncred); ph: G.R. Aldo; uncred addph: James Wong Howe

1953        Beat the Devil [John Huston] b&w

1953        Monsieur Ripois/Knave of Hearts/Lovers, Happy Lovers!/Lover Boy [René Clément] b&w

1953        Beau Brummell [Curtis Bernhardt] c; pfx: Tom Howard

1954        Moby Dick [John Huston] c; 2uc: Freddie Francis; + co-color style creator

1955        The Man Who Never Was [Ronald Neame] cs/c; pfx: Tom Howard

1956        Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison [John Huston] cs/c; cph: Jack Cardiff

1957        A Farewell to Arms [Charles Vidor (replaced John Huston)] cs/c; was replaced by doph Piero Portalupi after 12 weeks;

                    uncred addph (for 4 days): James Wong Howe

1957        The Key [Carol Reed] cs/b&w

1958        The Roots of Heaven [John Huston] cs/c; 2uc: Skeets Kelly, Henri Persin & Gilles Bonneau; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott

1958        Look Back in Anger [Tony Richardson] b&w

1959        Our Man in Havana [Carol Reed] cs/b&w

1960        The Entertainer [Tony Richardson] b&w

1960        The Guns of Navarone [J. Lee Thompson (replaced Alexander Mackendrick, who left prod after 2 weeks filming)] cs/c;

                    2uc: John Wilcox

1961        Lolita [Stanley Kubrick] b&w

1961        Satan Never Sleeps/The Devil Never Sleeps/Flight from Terror [Leo McCarey] cs/c

1962        Tom Jones [Tony Richardson] active as doph during pre-production; replaced by Walter Lassally

1962        Term of Trial [Peter Glenville] b&w

1962        Come Fly with Me [Henry Levin] p/c

1963        The Ceremony [Laurence Harvey] b&w; 2uc: Antonio Macasoli

1963        Facing the Facts [Norman Walker] 16mm/b&w; 27m; ph: Douglas Ransom (new footage); incl re-edited seq from

                    'Golden Salamander' (1949)

1963        Of Human Bondage [Kenneth Hughes (replaced Henry Hathaway, who was cred as dir add scenes) & Bryan Forbes (fill-in

                    for 1 week)] b&w; addph: Denys Coop, Freddie Francis & Arthur Ibbetson

1963        The Pumpkin Eater [Jack Clayton] b&w

1964        Mister Moses [Ronald Neame] p/c

1964        The Battle of the Villa Fiorita [Delmer Daves] p/c

1964        The Hill [Sidney Lumet] b&w

1965        The Spy Who Came In from the Cold [Martin Ritt] b&w

1965        Life at the Top [Ted Kotcheff] b&w

1965        Stop the World - I Want to Get Off [Philip Saville] Mitchell35 video-film system/b&w-c

1966        The Taming of the Shrew [Franco Zeffirelli] p/c; cph: Luciano Trasatti

1966        The Winter's Tale [Frank Dunlop] c; filmed stage play

1966        Reflections in a Golden Eye [John Huston] p/c; replaced AT (uncred); ph: Aldo Tonti (AT)

1967        Great Catherine [Gordon Flemyng] c

1967        Oliver! [Carol Reed] p/c; 2uc: Brian West

1968        Goodbye, Mr. Chips [Herbert Ross] p/c; 2uc: Brian West

1970        Fragment of Fear/Freelance [Richard Sarafian] c

1970        Scrooge [Ronald Neame] p/c; spec pfx: Jack Mills

1970        Fiddler on the Roof [Norman Jewison] p & 70bu/c

1971        Isabel de España/Isabella of Spain [Ronald Neame] prod abandoned

1972        Lady Caroline Lamb [Robert Bolt] p/c; 2uc: Patrick Carey

1972        Sleuth [Joseph L. Mankiewicz] c

1973        The Mackintosh Man [John Huston] p/c

1974        The Odessa File [Ronald Neame] p/c; 2uc: Atze Glanert

1974        The Man with the Golden Gun [Guy Hamilton] c; cph: Ted Moore (started the film, but fell ill); 2uc: John Harris

1975        The Man Who Would Be King [John Huston] p/c; 2uc: Alex Thomson

1976        The Seven-Per-Cent Solution [Herbert Ross] p/c; 2uc: Alex Thomson

1976        Equus [Sidney Lumet] c

1977        The Wiz [Sidney Lumet] c; 2uc: Jack Priestley; matte ph: Dennis Glouner & Bill Taylor

1979        Just Tell Me What You Want [Sidney Lumet] c

1980        The Great Muppet Caper [Jim Henson] c; uwph: Charles Lagus; aph: Albert Werry

1981        The Dark Crystal [Jim Henson & Frank Oz] p/c; miniature efx ph: Paul Wilson; matte ph: Neil Krepela

1973        Dracula [Dan Curtis] tvm; released theatrically outside USA

1932        Born Lucky [Michael Powell] clapper boy; ph: Peter/Frank Goodliffe

1932        After Dark [Albert Parker] clapper boy; ph: Geoffrey Faithfull

1933        Money for Speed [Bernard Vorhaus] clapper boy; ph: Eric Cross (int) & Freddy Ford (ext)

1933        Follow the Lady [Adrian Brunel] clapper boy; ph: ?

1933        Two Wives for Henry [Adrian Brunel] clapper boy; ph: ?

1934        Rolling in Money [Albert Parker] clapper boy; ph: ?

1934        Josser on the Farm [T. Hayes Hunter] clapper boy; ph: Desmond Dickinson or Alex Bryce

1934        The Third Clue [Albert Parker] clapper boy; ph: Alex Bryce

1934        His Majesty and Co. [Anthony Kimmins] clapper boy; ph: Alex Bryce

1934        Blossom Time [- A Romance to the Music of Franz Schubert]/April Romance [Paul L. Stein] clapper boy; ph:

                    Otto Kanturek

1934        Mr. Cinders [Fred (Friedrich) Zelnick] clapper boy; ph: Otto Kanturek

1935        Abdul the Damned [Karl Grüne] clapper boy; ph: Otto Kanturek

1935        Smith's Wives [Manning Haynes] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce

1935        The White Lilac [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce

1935        Old Roses [Bernard Mainwaring] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce

1935        All at Sea [Anthony Kimmins] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce

1935        Sexton Blake and the Mademoiselle [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce

1935        Late Extra [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Roy Kellino

1935        Blue Smoke [Ralph Ince] c.asst; ph: Alex Bryce

1936        Troubled Waters [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Roy Kellino

1936        Wedding Group/Wrath of Jealousy [Alex Bryce & Campbell Gullan] c.asst; ph: Arthur Crabtree

1936        The Big Noise [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant

1936        Blind Man's Bluff [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant

1936        Highland Fling [Manning Haynes] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant

1936        Café Mascot [Lawrence Huntington] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant

1936        The End of the Road [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Jack Parker & Stanley Grant

1936        Strange Experiment [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame

1937        The Black Tulip [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant

1937        The Biter Bit/Calling All Ma's [Redd Davis] c.asst; ph: Roy Kellino

1937        Concerning Mr. Martin [Roy Kellino] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant

1937        Variety Hour [Redd Davis] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame

1937        Against the Tide [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame

1937        The £5 Man [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant

1937        Catch as Catch Can/Atlantic Episode [Roy Kellino] c.asst; ph: Stanley Grant

1937        The Londonderry Air [Alex Bryce] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame

1938        Murder in the Family [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame

1938        Second Thoughts/The Crime of Peter Frame [Albert Parker] c.asst; ph: Ronald Neame

1938        Who Goes Next? [Maurice Elvey] c.op; ph: Ronald Neame

1939        I Met a Murderer [Roy Kellino] c.op; ph: Roy Kellino

1946        Green for Danger [Sidney Gilliat] c.op; ph: Wilkie Cooper

1947        Captain Boycott [Frank Launder] c.op; ph: Wilkie Cooper

1947        Blanche Fury [Marc Allégret] c.op; ph: Guy Green (int) & Geoffrey Unsworth (ext)

1948        Oliver Twist [David Lean] c.op; ph: Guy Green

1948        The Passionate Friends/One Woman's Story [David Lean] c.op; ph: Guy Green

1948        Fools Rush In [John Paddy Carstairs] c.op; ph: Geoffrey Unsworth