Descended from a wealthy family of landowners in what was then
Austria-Hungary, Franz Planer understood the importance of photography
as an art form early in his life. He first stood behind the camera as a
portrait photographer, working out of Vienna from 1910. He soon
branched out, filming newsreels in Paris and, in 1919, joined the
growing German film industry as chief cameraman for Emelka (which
became Bavaria Studios in 1932), in Munich. During the 1920s and early
1930's, he acquired a reputation for style, having
worked as cinematographer for such distinguished directors as
F.W. Murnau
and Wilhelm Thiele, most of his films
being commercially popular entertainments.
Anticipating the "Anschluss" - the forcible annexation of Austria by
Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler - Planer
left Austria in 1937 and, using the pseudonym Frank F. Planer, sought
work in Hollywood. He joined the American Society of Cinematorgaphers
and was signed under contract at Columbia from 1938-45, and, again,
from 1949-50 (in between working at Universal from 1947-49), filming in
a variety of different genres. At this stage in his career, he often
used real-life locations and shot primarily in black-and-white, in
almost semi-documentary style. Like other European cinematographers, he
was heavily influenced by German expressionism and used chiaroscuro
lighting and stark contrasts between light and shade to achieve
thematic mood requirements - particularly for films noir, such as
Gewagtes Alibi (1949) and
Der Henker saß am Tisch (1950). Planer's
creative collaboration with director
Max Ophüls is frequently cited as among his
best work, notably the melancholic romantic drama
Brief einer Unbekannten (1948).
During the 1950s Planer was much in demand and used by many of
Hollywood's top directors, including
Robert Siodmak,
John Huston,
Edward Dmytryk and
Stanley Kramer. Increasingly comfortable
with color photography from 1954, Planer worked on several A-grade
productions. He created a particularly realistic feel for
Die Caine war ihr Schicksal (1954) and
Geschichte einer Nonne (1959) by
utilizing sparse, functional interiors. Unusual camera
angles/perspectives, tracking shots and objects inserted between camera
and subject contributed to the look of the popular
Frühstück bei Tiffany (1961).
Planer never won an Academy Award, though he was nominated five times:
for Zwischen Frauen und Seilen (1949),
Der Tod eines Handlungsreisenden (1951),
Ein Herz und eine Krone (1953),
Geschichte einer Nonne (1959) and
Infam (1961).
