Pioneering Czech cinematographer Ota (later anglicised to 'Otto')
Heller started as a cinema usher and then worked as a projectionist at
a cinema in Prague. He first came to prominence as a military reporter
and cameraman on the Italian Front during World War I and was
subsequently involved in filming the funeral of
Emperor Franz Josef. After the war,
he joined Pragafilm as full cinematographer and worked on numerous
silent films in his own country. From the early 1930's, Heller was
increasingly sought-after by German film producers. He settled in the
U.K. in 1940 to evade the German annexation of Czechoslovakia and
adopted British citizenship five years later.
Heller was much admired for his versatility and imaginative camera work
on many diverse subjects (both in B&W and in colour), ranging from the
'noirish'
Sträfling 3312 - Auf der Flucht (1947)
to the gothically-lit Pushkin adaptation
Pique Dame (1949);
from colourful adventure subjects like
Der rote Korsar (1952) and
Weißer Herrscher über Tonga (1954),
to the stylised austerity of
Richard III. (1955); from Ealing's
classic Ladykillers (1955)
with its Hitchcockian camera tilts and angles, to the stark realism and
drab exteriors of the Cold War in
Ipcress - streng geheim (1965).
