Multi-Academy Award-nominated cinematographer (13 in all), Harry
Stradling was unique in that he established his reputation both in
America and in Europe. He was the nephew of
Mary Pickford's cameraman
Walter Stradling, who provided the
connections for his first job in Hollywood. Walter died in 1918 and
Harry went on to serve his apprenticeship, working on B-movies and
short subjects for lesser companies, like Pathe and Arrow. In 1930, he
journeyed to France where he established a fruitful collaboration with
the director Jacques Feyder, working on
films which have become classics of French cinema:
Le grand jeu (1934),
Kameliendame (1934)
and, his first noteworthy success, bringing to life the Flemish
paintings of
La kermesse héroïque (1935).
The visual quality of this film so impressed producer
Alexander Korda, that he hired
both Feyder and Stradling for his London Films production,
Tatjana (1937),
starring Marlene Dietrich - hired by
Korda for the then princely sum of $350,000. Despite budgetary
constraints, which meant that many sets had be improvised and stylised,
Stradling's low key lighting gave the film an impressionistic feel and
made it look more 'expensive' than it was. It ended up furthering
Dietrich's career and led to other prestige assignments in England,
including South Riding (1938),
Die Zitadelle (1938) and
Alfred Hitchcock's
Riff-Piraten (1939). With an
impressive portfolio thus in hand, Stradling returned to Hollywood and
soon worked with 'Hitch' again on
Mr. und Mrs. Smith (1941) and
Verdacht (1941). Who can forget that
indelible scene of Cary Grant
ascending a staircase with that suspicious glass of warmed milk for
poor Joan Fontaine (the contents
of the glass rendered even more dubious by being lit from the inside
with a light bulb)? The ever- innovative Stradling also impressed
critics and audiences alike with his application of double exposure,
creating realistic-looking twins of
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. for
Blutrache (1941).
Between 1942 and 1949, Harry worked at MGM, where his close-ups of the
changing face of Hurd Hatfield, in
Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray (1945),
further established him as one of the most versatile cinematographers
in the business. For Republic, he imbued
Nicholas Ray's off-beat Trucolor
western Johnny Guitar - Gejagt, gehaßt, gefürchtet (1954) with
an immense visual style which adds to the almost lyrical quality of the
picture. Glamour and technicolour were also key ingredients in
Stradling's musicals for MGM, foremost among them
Tänzer vom Broadway (1949)
and Schwere Jungen, leichte Mädchen (1955). In
1955, Harry went across to Warner Brothers . During his nine year-long
tenure there, he earned four Academy Award nominations, culminating in
a second Oscar for his much lauded 70 mm filming of
My Fair Lady (1964). Towards the end
of his career, he contributed to boosting
Barbra Streisand's, particularly
through his meticulous soft-focus photography of
Hello, Dolly! (1969) and
Funny Girl (1968). Harry died on the
job, during filming of another Streisand vehicle,
Die Eule und das Kätzchen (1970),
and was replaced by Andrew Laszlo.
