Joseph Biroc was destined to become one of the most versatile
cinematographers in Hollywood, working on films of almost every genre.
He started as a lab assistant in 1918, based at Paragon Studio, located
in America's first 'film capital', Ft.Lee, New Jersey. From there, he
moved on to the Paramount facility in Long Island as a camera
assistant, and, by 1927, found himself in Hollywood. Under contract to
RKO, he took on a number of jobs as second cameraman, frequently
uncredited. One of his first A-grade features was the western
Pioniere des wilden Westens (1931), assisting
Edward Cronjager. Serving his
apprenticeship under George J. Folsey,
Biroc became a fully-fledged lighting cameraman in 1940, but World War
II put his career on hold.
During the war years, Biroc advanced to the rank of captain with the
U.S. Army Signal Corps and was afforded the unique distinction of being
the first American cameraman to film the liberation of Paris in 1944.
After the war, he worked with
Joseph Walker as co-director of
photography on the perennial Christmas favourite
Ist das Leben nicht schön? (1946).
During the 1950's, Biroc tackled a variety of subjects, ranging from
the tough film noir Cry Danger (1951)
to the sci-fi cult classic
Endstation Mars (1952). He also
filmed the first ever movie shot in 3-D,
Bwana, der Teufel (1952). A turning point
in his career came when he met the idiosyncratic director
Robert Aldrich, while shooting an
episode of the TV series
China Smith (1952). This led to a
productive collaboration, encompassing sixteen motion pictures. The
most memorable of these include the brilliantly atmospheric thriller
Wiegenlied für eine Leiche (1964),
(Biroc used candles, shadows and silhouettes to effectively convey
mystery and impending danger); and the sun-drenched all-star character
study,
Der Flug des Phoenix (1965).
Another fruitful collaboration was with producer
Irwin Allen, who hired Biroc to head
the Action Unit (with
Fred J. Koenekamp leading the First
Unit) for the filming of his 14 million dollar disaster epic,
Flammendes Inferno (1974),
undertaken on eight of 20th Century Fox's biggest sound stages. In
charge of shooting the most dramatic (and dangerous) scenes , Biroc
worked with legendary special effects men
A.D. Flowers and
L.B. Abbott (who was persuaded to come out
of retirement for this project). Biroc employed eight cameras in
tandem, covering as many angles and positions as possible, zoom lenses
used to conveying a sense of movement where physical space was
restrictive. Timing was also of critical importance: the LA Fire
Department overseeing the security aspects of the propane-fed
pyrotechnics, limited periods where the fire was at its most intense to
no more than 20 to 30 seconds. Scenes had to be shot within this
limited time frame. As destroyed sets were rebuilt or repaired, there
were delays with continuity, sometimes over several weeks. As Biroc
later remarked "it wasn't only a question of everyone and everything
having to be in the right place after that long an interval of time, it
was also a matter of our being able to pick up on the look and mood
created by Fred's unit" (American Cinematographer, Feb. 1975). For his
work on 'Towering Inferno', Biroc became - deservedly- co-recipient
(with Koenekamp) of the 1974 Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
For the remainder of the decade, Biroc did some of his best work for
the small screen. He imbued a sense of realism (and was accordingly
nominated for an Emmy) to one of the best political mini-series ever
filmed, the gripping
Washington: Hinter verschlossenen Türen (1977),
a fictionalisation of Watergate and the Nixon administration. In stark
thematic contrast, he worked with
Mel Brooks on the seminal comedy
western Der wilde wilde Westen (1974),
and with Jim Abrahams and
David Zucker on the equally
hilarious airborne farce
Die unglaubliche Reise in einem verrückten Flugzeug (1980). With an impressive
159 credits as cinematographer to his name, Biroc retired in 1986 and
was two years later awarded the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award.
