Biography and filmography

Lee Garmes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lee Garmes, A.S.C. (May 27, 1898 – August 31, 1978) was an American cinematographer. During his career, he worked with directors Howard Hawks, Max Ophüls, Josef von Sternberg, Alfred Hitchcock, King Vidor, Nicholas Ray and Henry Hathaway, whom he had met as a young man when the two first came to Hollywood in the silent era. He also co-directed two films with legendary screenwriter Ben Hecht: Angels Over Broadway and Actor's and Sin.

Born in Peoria, Illinois, Garmes first came to Hollywood in 1916. His first job was as an assistant in the paint department at Thomas H. Ince Studios, but he soon became a camera assistant before graduating to full-time cameraman. His earliest films were comedy shorts, and his career did not fully take off until the introduction of sound.

Garmes was married to film actress Ruth Hall from 1933 until his death in 1978. He is interred in the Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Garmes was one of the earliest proponents of video technology, which he advocated as early as 1972. That year, he had been hired by Technicolor to photograph the short film Why, which was intended to test whether video was a viable technology for shooting feature films.

According to American Cinematographer magazine, "Although officially unaccredited, Lee Garmes photographed a considerable portion of Gone with the Wind. Many consider the famous railroad yard sequence among his finest cinematic efforts."

Garmes was one of many Hollywood veterans from the silent era interviewed by Kevin Brownlow for the television series Hollywood (1980).

Movies (100)

Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys

1978 · Producer

Why?

1973 · Cinematography

How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life

1968 · Director of Photography

A Big Hand for the Little Lady

1966 · Director of Photography

Lady in a Cage

1964 · Director of Photography

Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man

1962 · Director of Photography

Misty

1961 · Director of Photography

The Big Fisherman

1959 · Director of Photography

Happy Anniversary

1959 · Director of Photography

Never Love a Stranger

1958 · Director of Photography

The Big Boodle

1957 · Director of Photography

The Sharkfighters

1956 · Director of Photography

D-Day the Sixth of June

1956 · Director of Photography

The Bottom of the Bottle

1956 · Director of Photography

Man with the Gun

1955 · Director of Photography

The Desperate Hours

1955 · Director of Photography

Land of the Pharaohs

1955 · Director of Photography

Abdullah's Harem

1955 · Cinematography

Hannah Lee: An American Primitive

1953 · Director, Director of Photography, Producer

Thunder in the East

1952 · Director of Photography

The Lusty Men

1952 · Director of Photography

Actors and Sin

1952 · Director of Photography, Co-Director

The Captive City

1952 · Director of Photography

Detective Story

1951 · Director of Photography

That's My Boy

1951 · Director of Photography

Saturday's Hero

1951 · Director of Photography

Our Very Own

1950 · Director of Photography

The Furies

1950 · Director of Photography

My Friend Irma Goes West

1950 · Director of Photography

My Foolish Heart

1950 · Director of Photography

Roseanna McCoy

1949 · Director of Photography

The Fighting Kentuckian

1949 · Director of Photography

Caught

1949 · Director of Photography

The Paradine Case

1947 · Director of Photography

Nightmare Alley

1947 · Director of Photography

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

1947 · Director of Photography

Duel in the Sun

1946 · Director of Photography

The Searching Wind

1946 · Director of Photography

Specter of the Rose

1946 · Director of Photography, Co-Director, Co-Producer

Young Widow

1946 · Director of Photography

Love Letters

1945 · Director of Photography

Paris Underground

1945 · Cinematography

Guest in the House

1944 · Director of Photography

Since You Went Away

1944 · Director of Photography

None Shall Escape

1944 · Director of Photography

Flight for Freedom

1943 · Director of Photography

Forever and a Day

1943 · Director of Photography

China Girl

1942 · Director of Photography

Footlight Serenade

1942 · Director of Photography

Jungle Book

1942 · Director of Photography

Lydia

1941 · Director of Photography, Associate Producer

Angels Over Broadway

1940 · Director of Photography, Director, Co-Director

Beyond Tomorrow

1940 · Producer

Once in a Blue Moon

1935 · Cinematography

The Scoundrel

1935 · Director of Photography

Crime Without Passion

1934 · Director of Photography, Director

I Am Suzanne!

1933 · Director of Photography

My Lips Betray

1933 · Director of Photography

Shanghai Madness

1933 · Director of Photography

Zoo in Budapest

1933 · Director of Photography

Face in the Sky

1933 · Director of Photography

Strange Interlude

1932 · Director of Photography

Call Her Savage

1932 · Director of Photography

Smilin' Through

1932 · Director of Photography

Dreaming Lips

1932 · Technical Supervisor, Producer

Scarface

1932 · Director of Photography

Shanghai Express

1932 · Director of Photography

The Conquest of the Air

1931 · Cinematography

An American Tragedy

1931 · Director of Photography

City Streets

1931 · Director of Photography

Dishonored

1931 · Director of Photography

Fighting Caravans

1931 · Director of Photography

Kiss Me Again

1931 · Camera Operator