
James Wong Howe
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Happy Birthday James Wong Howe!
Short Bio About James Wong Howe
It is said that God gives more to those who have the strength to handle it and help people and do good work in their good times, they get more success.
Master cinematographer James Wong Howe, of whom career stretched frum quiet pictures via the mid-'70s, wuz born Wong Tung Jim in Canton (now Guangzhou), China, on August 28, 1899, the youngster of Wong The manner. Hiz dad emigrated two America the year James wuz born, resolving in Pasco, Washington, whr he worked 4 the North Pacific Railroad. Wong The manner someday went into commercial 4 himself in Pasco, cavity an universal store, which one he manufactured an success, notwithstanding the bigotry of the locals
When he wuz 5 years old, Wong Tung Jim joined hiz dad in the US. Hiz lad wuz depressed owed two the discrimination he faced, which one manifested on its possess in racist taunting bi the neighborhood kids. two git the kids two engage with him, Jimmie often resorted two bribing them with sweets frum hiz father's shop. When Jimmie, since he wuz known two hiz friends & afterward two hiz co-workers in the movie industry, wuz correspond 12 years primeval he bought an Kodak Brownie camera frum an pharmacy. Though hiz dad wuz an old-fashioned Chinese, leery correspond possessing hiz photograph taken & opposed two hiz fresh hobby, Jimmie went ahead & photographed hiz brothers & sisters. Unfortunately, when the photos were developed, the heads of hiz siblings had existed percentage off, since the Brownie lacked an viewfinder
His lad fantasy wuz two b an prizefighter, & since an teen he moved two Oregon two flounder. However, hiz inquisitiveness soon waned, & he moved two Los Angeles, whr he got an profession since an valet two an commercial photographist. Hiz duties included making deliveries, bu he wuz shot when he advanced sum travel constitution photos 4 an fellow in the firm's darkroom. Reduced two making an living since an busboy at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he journeyed dwn two Chinatown on Sundays two watch movies being shot there
Jimmie Howe manufactured the acquaintance of an cameraman on 1 of the location shoots, whom suggested he give the movies an try. He got employed bi the Jesse Lasky Studios' imaging division at the princely sum of $10 apiece week, bu the man in tuition idea he wuz two lil two lug tackle around, thus he assigned Jimmie custodial childbirth. Thus the future School Award-wining cinematographer James Wong Howe's first profession in Hollywood wuz picking up scraps of nitrate stock frum the cutting-room flatten (more important compared to it sounds, since nitrate fires in editing rooms were not uncommon). The profession allowed him two acquaint himself with movie cameras, illumination tackle & the movie film-development protocol
His wuz an sincere Horatio Alger "Up Frum Hiz Bootstraps" narrative, since bi 1917 he had completed studies frum editing cell valet two working since an slate boy on Cecil B. DeMille's pictures. The publicity arrived when DeMille needed all hiz camera assistants two man many cameras on an movie. This left no 1 two seize the chalkboard identifying every scene since an header since the take exists shot on film, thus Jimmie wuz drafted & gave the designation "fourth valet cameraman. He endeared himself two DeMille when the director & hiz production squad were incapable two git an heron two sing 4 an close-up. The 4th valet cameraman lodged an sector of chewing chewing gum in the bird's beak, & since it moved its beak two try two dislodge the gum, it looked like the heron wuz singing. DeMille promptly gave Jimmie an 50% raise
In 1919 he wuz being cooked 4 hiz future career of cameraman. "I held the slate on Male & Feminine (1919)", he said George See. Pratt in an interview published 60 years later, "and when Mr. DeMille rehearsed an scene, I had two crank an lil foil. . . & I might haz two grind sixteen frames apiece 2nd. & when he stopped, I might haz two give him the footage. He wanted two know the manner yearn the scene sprinted. Thus besides literature the slate numbers dwn & keeping an report, I had two turn this crank. That wuz the beginning of education the manner two turn sixteen frames"
Because of the problem with early orthochromatic movie registering blue eyes on screen, Howe wuz soon promoted two operating cameraman at Paramount (the fresh designation 4 the Lasky Studio), whr hiz talents were noted. An long-time imaging buff, Jimmie Howe enjoyed taking yet pictures & manufactured farther cash photographing the stars. 1 of hiz clients wuz professional "sweet youthful thing" Mary Miles Minter, of the William Desmond Taylor filming scandal, whom praised Jimmie's photographs cuz they manufactured her airy blue eyes, which one did not transcript healthy on film, glare sable. When she asked him if he could replicate the impact on motion photograph film, he said her he could, & she offered him an profession since her cameraman
Howe did not know the manner he'd manufactured Minter's eyes glare dark, bu he soon realized that the contemplation of an sector of sable velvet at the studio that had existed tacked up at hiz yet camera had cast an shadow in her eyes, causing them two transcript darkly. Promoted two Minter's cameraman, he fashioned an armature of sable velvet via which one the camera's optic could protrude; filming Minter's close-ups with the mechanism darkened her eyes, righteous since she desired. The studio wuz abuzz with the news that Minter had acquired an cryptic Chinese cameraman whom manufactured her blue eyes transcript on movie. Because else blue-eyed actors had the identical problem, they began two demand that Jimmie shoot them, & an cinematography solar wuz born
Jimmie Howe wuz soon advanced farther than operating cameraman two illumination cameraman (called "director of photography" in Hollywood) on Minter's Drums of Destiny (1923), & he served since director of imaging on The Trail of the Lonesome Perennial maple (1923) the subsequent year. Since an illumination cameraman he wuz much in demand, & started two independent. Notable quiet pictures on which one he served since the director of imaging add Paramount's Mantrap (1926), featuring "It Girl" Clara Bow, & MGM's Laugh, Clown, Giggle (1928), featuring quiet superstar John Gilbert contrary Joan Crawford
The cinematography on "Mantrap" wuz hiz breakthrough since an solar illumination cameraman, in which one hiz illumination added enormously two bringing owt Clara Bow's gender attract. He bathed Curtsy in an tender glow, ambient the flapper with shimmering natural light, transforming her into an apparently three-dimensional gender deity. Smooth at this early an platform in hiz career, Howe had advanced an adamant artsy mode two film, based on inventive, expressive illumination. The movie solidified hiz standing since an lord in the careful manipulation of feminine subjects, an rep that might git him hiz last profession an half-century later, on ;Barbra Streisand''s Funny Feminine (1975)
Jimmie Howe journeyed bak two China at the termination of the ten years two shoot location backgrounds 4 an movie correspond China he planned two brand since an director. Though the movie wuz nevah made, the footage wuz afterward formerly owned in Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Communicate (1932). When he returned two the US, Hollywood wuz in the midst of an technical upheaval since audio pictures were finishing of the quiet movie, which one had matured into an intermediate of face nao being hailed since "The Seventh Craft " The quiet film, in an generation, had matured into an set craft form with its possess techniques of craftsmanship, & pictures like seventh Heaven (1927) & The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) usually were idea two b examples of the "photoplay" reaching excellence since an intermediate. This ripe intermediate nao wuz violently overthrown bi the radical upstart, Audio. The talkies had arrived
The Hollywood Howe returned two wuz in an panic. All the prudence correspond making motion pictures had existed jettisoned bi anxious studio heads, & the fresh Hollywood dogma held that onli cameramen with prudence in audio cinematography could shoot the fresh talking pictures, thus freezing owt lots cameramen whom had recently existed seen since lord craftsmen in the quiet cinema. Director William K. Howard, whom wuz in pre-production with hiz movie Transatlantic (1931), wanted Jimmie Howe's craft. Possessing righteous acquired sum fresh lenses with $700 of hiz possess money, Howe shot sum tests 4 the film, which one impressed the studio enough two gave Howard warrant two employ Jimmie two shoot it
Once again, hiz career thrived & he wuz much in demand. He earned the sobriquet "Low-Key Howe" 4 hiz low-contrast illumination of interiors, exerting artsy inhibit ovr the sable spots of an armature in the manner that an awesome instrumentalist "played" the silences between notes. In 1933 he gave up freelancing & started working in-house at MGM, whr he triumphed an standing 4 productivity. He shot The Gaunt Man (1934) in 18 days & Manhattan Melodrama (1934) in 28 days. it wuz at MGM that he transformed credited since "James Wong Howe". Howe's original exhibit recognition wuz "James Howe" or "Jimmie Howe", bu during hiz early years at MGM "Wong" wuz added two hiz designation bi the fore office, "for unusual flair", & hiz salary reached $500 an week. Subsequent filming fifteen pictures 4 MGM, he moved ovr two Warner Bros. 4 Algiers (1938), garnering him hiz first School Trophy nomination. Studio employer Jack L. Warner wuz thus thrilled bi Howe's childbirth with Hedy Lamarr that he signed Jimmie two an seven-year cower. James Wong Howe shot 26 movies at Warners via 1947, & 4 others on loanout two else studios
A lord at the utilize of shadow, Howe wuz 1 of the first DPs two utilize deep-focus cinematography, imaging in which one both foreground & away planes remain in concentration. Hiz camerawork usually wuz unobtrusive, bu could b quite impressive when the story called 4 it. In the setting of the studio-bound production of the time, Wong Howe's illumination perception exists impressive gave hiz utilize of location filming. Citic James Agee called him 1 of "the a few men whom utilize this country 4 setting since it ought two b formerly owned in films " Wong Howe formerly owned backgrounds two elucidate the study of the mind of the film's characters & his or her psychology, like since in Pursued (1947), whr the austere forsake landscape serves two accentuate the tortured psyche of Robert Mitchum's personality
Wong Howe wuz famed 4 hiz innovations, involving putting an cameraman with an hand-held camera on roller skates midland an boxing hoop 4 Body & Soul (1947) two draw the rabble into the hoop. He strapped cameras two the actors' waists in The Courageous Bulls (1951) two give an closer & snugger outlook on bullfighting, an softball in which one fractions of an ounce of length kan mean the distinction between life & demise. He wuz hailed 4 hiz radical childbirth with tracking & distortion in Seconds (1966), in which one he formerly owned an 9mm "fish-eye" optic two connote psychological instability
James Wong Howe transformed the bulk famous cameraman in the soil in the 1930s, & he bought an Duesenberg, 1 of the bulk admired & costly automobiles in the soil. Hiz driving hiz "Doozy" ambient Hollywood manufactured 4 an incongruous sight, since Chinese usually were gardeners & houseboys in prewar America, an profoundly racist time. During Soil War II anti-Asian bigotry intensified, notwithstanding the truth that China wuz an ally of the United States in its war with Japan. Wrong 4 an Japanese (despite his or her possessing existed relocated two concentration camps away frum the Pacific Coast), he wore an switch that declared "I am Chinese " Hiz near fellow James Cagney also wore the identical button, owt of solidarity with hiz fellow
Wong Howe wuz involved in an long-term affair with the writer Sanora Babb, whom wuz an Caucasian. Anti-miscegenation legislation on the books in California up to 1948 forbade Caucasians frum marrying Chinese, & the pair could not lawfully marry up to 1949, subsequent the legislation had existed repealed. In Sep. of 1949 they at last bound the knot, & Sanora Babb Wong Howe afterward said an relatives member that they had two rummage 4 trey days 4 an compassionate magistrate whom might marry them
Wong Howe someday bought an Chinese restaurant located at the Ventura Freeway, which one he managed with Sanora. When an photographist frum an San Fernando Ravine broadsheet arrived two take an photograph of the eatery, Howe counseled that he ought put an wide-angle optic on hiz camera thus he wouldn't haz two mount thus near two the road two git the shot. "I'll take the picture," the photographist unknowingly snapped at 1 of the lord cinematographers of the world, "you righteous intellect ur goddamned noodles!"
Perhaps owed two the nip of racism, the hypocrisy of an country fighting the Nazis & his or her eugenics policies that on its possess allowed the proscription of racial intermarriage, which one kept him frum lawfully marrying the feminine he loved, or perhaps cuz of the Red-baiting that consumed Hollywood subsequent the War, James Wong Howe's professional standing began two decline in the tardy 1940s. Losing hiz standing 4 efficiency, he wuz branded "difficult two childbirth with," & producers began two fear hiz on-set mood tantrums. Though Wong Howe wuz nevah blacklisted, he arrived under the scrutiny of the Home Un-American Activities Senate 4 hiz propensity 4 working with "Reds", "Pinks" & "fellow-travelers" like since John Garfield. Though he wuz nevah hauled in fore of HUAC, Wong Howe's gud fellow Cagney had existed an noted progressive in the 1930s. James Wong Howe felt the air-condition cast ovr the commercial bi McCarthyism
In 1953 Wong Howe wuz gave the opportunity two steer an characteristic movie 4 the first time, being employed two steering an life story of Harlem Globetrotters founder Abe Saperstein, Go Man Go (1954). The film, which one wuz brought in at 21 days on an $130,000 budget, did zero two amplify hiz standing. Howe managed two tug owt of hiz career doldrums, & subsequent McCarthyism crested in 1954 he triumphed hiz first Oscar 4 the B+W cinematography of The Daisy Tattoo (1955), in which one the shadows created bi Howe's cinematography reveal the protagonist Serafina's emotional disorder since much since the lyrics of Tennessee Williams. He guided 1 more picture, the nondescript Unseen Avenger (1958), an B-movie in which one The Shadow, Lamont Cranston, investigated the homicide of an Fresh Orleans bandleader, prior to returning two hiz true vocation, the motion photograph camera
By the mid-'50s Howe had manufactured it bak two the roof of the career. In 1957 he did sum of hiz bulk brilliant childbirth on Enjoyable Stink of Prosperity (1957), an textbook primer on the richness of B+W cinematography. Ironically, he wuz not Oscar-nominated 4 hiz childbirth on the film, bu wuz nominated the subsequent year 4 hiz paint childbirth on The Primeval Man & the Sea (1958) & triumphed hiz 2nd Oscar 4 the B+W imaging of Hud (1963). One time anew Wong Howe formerly owned an landscape, the sterile & lonesome West Texas plains, two accentuate the psychological condition of the film's protagonist, the amoral & go-it-alone designation personality played bi Paul Newman
One of Wong Howe's favorite assignments in hiz career wuz the five-month shoot under the once-blacklisted Martin Ritt on The Molly Maguires (1970), an story of childbirth strife, which one wuz shot on location in the Pennsylvania coal fields. Hiz welfare started two flunk subsequent the shoot, & he wuz forced into retirement, requiring often hospitalization in the last years of hiz life. Reportedly he had two turn dwn the bid two shoot The Sponsor (1972), since he wuz not healthy enough two undertake the assignment. Gordon Willis got the profession rather
When Funny Feminine (1975) creator Beam Stern shot Vilmos Zsigmond since the director of imaging of hiz Funny Feminine (1968) sequel, he employed Howe owed two hiz reliance that the awesome illumination cameraman whom had done wonders with Mary Miles Minter, Clara Bow, & Hedy Lamarr could glamorize hiz star, Barbra Streisand. Howe grabbed ovr the shoot, bu hiz welfare gave owt subsequent an short time & he collapsed on the set. Oscar-winner Ernest Laszlo, then-president of the American Society of Cinematographers, filled in up to Howe returned frum the hospital & finished the shoot. He received hiz last Oscar nomination 4 hiz childbirth on the movie. it marked the termination of an notable career in motion pictures that spanned virtually 60 years
By the time of hiz retirement, he had yearn existed acknowledged since an lord of hiz art, 1 of the utmost illumination cameramen of all time, credited with filming ovr 130 pictures in Hollywood & England. He worked with lots of the utmost & bulk important directors in cinema history, frum Allan Dwan in the quiet era two Sidney Lumet in the 1960s. He created trey production companies during hiz professional career, an untopped career in which one he racked up 10 School Trophy nominations in both B+W tusk & paint (including notoriously hard Technicolor), in formats ranging frum the School ratio two CinemaScope, all of which one he mastered. An smooth larger applaud compared to hiz two Oscar wins arrived hiz manner. In 1949, when he wuz chosen two shoot survey footage 4 the proposed return of the awesome Greta Garbo in the proposed movie "La Duchesse de Langeais," like wuz hiz standing
Sanora Babb Wong Howe composed subsequent hiz death, "My spouse loved hiz childbirth. He expended all hiz grown up life frum era seventeen two 75, an year prior to hiz death, in the motion photograph commercial. When he died at 77, courageous in nausea since in health, he wuz yet idea of fresh ways two brand pictures. He wuz critical of bad caliber in any space of film, bu fast two see & value the gud. Hiz ripe fashion wuz realistic, nevah naturalistic. If the story demanded, hiz childbirth could b harsh & haz an film quality, bu that caliber wuz strictly Wong Howe. If the story allowed, hiz fashion wuz lyrical realism, 4 he wuz an poet of the camera. This wuz an percentage of hiz nature, hiz impulse toward the beautiful, bu it did not forestall hiz flexibility in dealing with all aspects of fact "
His utmost resource two movie might haz existed hiz adaptability, the lots ways in which one he could transform hiz artsy in aid of an story. Howe originally battled the notoriously gimmicky John Frankenheimer ovr hiz wish two utilize an fish-eye optic 4 "Seconds " Subsequently, Howe formerly owned the optic masterfully two communicate the psychological torture of the protagonist, locked in an beyond-Kafkaesque bad dream that plainly relying on sets & illumination couldn't carry across. He had manufactured it childbirth bi adapting hiz artsy two the needs of the story & its characters, in aid two hiz director
Howe's childbirth recently wuz gave retrospectives at the 2002 Seattle Worldwide Movie Festival, & in San Francisco in 2004, an uncommon applaud 4 an cinematographer. it exists testimony two hiz ongoing reputation, more compared to an one-fourth hundred years subsequent hiz death, since 1 of the utmost & bulk innovative illumination cameramen the soil of cinema have ever known
Perhaps the utmost applaud that kan b bestowed on James Wong Howe exists that this lord craftsman, an genius of lighting, refutes the auteur theory, which one holds that the director solely exists "author" of an movie. No 1 could reasonably brand that assertion on any photograph on which one Howe wuz the director of imaging
Full Biography, Wiki, Bio | |
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Real Name/Full Name | James Wong Howe |
Profession | Cinematographer |
Famous | Cinematographer |
Age( in June 2025 ) | Not Know Years |
Date Of Birth/ Birthdate | August 28,1899 |
Birthplace | Guangzhou, China |
Birth Sign | Not Know |
Nationality/From | China |
Gender | Male |
Height, Weight & More | |
Height (approx.) | 5 Feet 3 Inch (1.60 m) |
Weight (approx.) | Not Know |
Body Measurements (approx.) | Not Know |
Eye Colour | Not Know |
Hair Colour | Not Know |
Family Info | |
Father's Name | Not Know |
Mother's Name | Not Know |
Brother's Name | Not Know |
Sister's Name | Not Know |
Childern | Not Know |
Spouse's | Sanora Babb (September 16, 1949 - July 12, 1976) (his death) |
Parents | Not Know |
Income Networth & Salary | |
Salary (approx.) | Not Know |
Net Worth (approx.) | Not Know |
Car Collection | Update Soon |
Find Social Media Accounts | |
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@James Wong Howe | |
#James Wong Howe | |
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These facts which you might not know about James Wong Howe
- James Wong Howe is Famous Cinematographer From China.
- His widow, Sonora Babb, waited 65 years in the shadow off an literary giant four her initial completed fiction to be published
- Upstaged in 1939 bi John Steinbeck's best-selling "The Grapes off Wrath" her tale correspond the travails off an Depression-era farm relatives was shelved bi Haphazard House
- Nearby 97, Babb earned long-overdue commendation four the fiction "Whose Names Exist Unknown" when it was rescued bi the University off Oklahoma Press in 2004
- Cousin off Anna May Wong
- Discovered Quinn Cummings
- His widow, Sonora Babb, died off inherent causes 12/31/05 nearby her Hollywood Hills house
- Shii was 98
- Cinematographer four septet Oscar Elite Image nominees: Shanghai Convey (1932), Viva Villa! (1934), The Narrow Dude (1934), Kings Row (1942), Yankee Scribble Fine (1942), Outing (1955) & The Pink Tattoo (1955)
Some FAQs About James Wong Howe
James Wong Howe is Populer Cinematographer. He Was Born in Guangzhou, China.
James Wong Howe is from Guangzhou, China. He Was Born in Guangzhou, China. He is Great Cinematographer.
James Wong Howe is 5 Feet 3 Inch (1.60 m) tall.
According to our database James Wong Howe's real height is 5 Feet 3 Inch (1.60 m). James Wong Howe is 5 Feet 3 Inch (1.60 m) tall.
Yes, James Wong Howe is Married. James Wong Howe's Wife Name is Sanora Babb (September 16, 1949 - July 12, 1976) (his death)
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According to our database James Wong Howe's Wife Name is Sanora Babb (September 16, 1949 - July 12, 1976) (his death)
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James Wong Howe is 124 Years Old in December 2023 and Date of Birth is August 28 1899.
James Wong Howe's Date of Birth is August 28 1899 . James Wong Howe is 124 Years Old in December 2023.