James Wong Howe

by Hal Erickson film biography

Canton-born James Wong Howe was one of the few Hollywood cinematographers whom the average movie fan knew by name. Arriving in America with his family at age five, Howe settled in Washington state. At 11, he was given a cheap brownie camera as payment for doing odd jobs for a local druggist. After World War I service and a desultory career as a prizefighter, he went to work as a handyman for the Famous Players-Lasky studio in Hollywood, shooting still pictures of various costume tests just for the experience. While taking a photo of film star Mary Miles Minter, Howe hit upon a method of making her blue eyes photograph darker; Minter began talking up Howe to everyone she met, and thus his cinematography career was underway. Overcoming the racial prejudice of certain Hollywood cameramen, Howe turned out some of the best, most evocatively lit and composed work in the business; he also developed a close working association with prestigious director William K. Howard. Howe took a vacation to China during the industry's switch to talkies, and upon returning to the states discovered he was considered "old fashioned" and unemployable. His old friend Howard came to his rescue again, engaging Howe to photograph Transatlantic (1931), in which he pioneered the use of low-hanging ceilings (ten years before Orson Welles was lauded for this "innovation" in Citizen Kane!) Howe also shot Howard's The Power and the Glory (1933), another critical success. In the late 1930s, he interrupted his thriving Hollywood career for a brief stopover in England, again collaborating with Howard on the Laurence Olivier vehicle Fire over England (1937). Howe was a particular favorite of female stars because of his inherent ability to emphasize their best features and obscure their facial flaws -- especially in close-up. Arguably, Howe's most creative years were the late 1940s onward. He shot the boxing sequence in Body and Soul (1947) holding the camera in his hands and gliding about on roller skates; he economically conveyed the diverging emotions of the climax in Picnic (1956) with an overhead shot of a train leaving in one direction, a bus in the other; and illuminated a crucial scene in The Molly Maguires (1970) using only candlelight. His work on The Rose Tattoo (1958) and Hud (1963) won Academy Awards, while his riveting exploitation of a fisheye lens in the closing scene of Seconds (1966) set the standard for most "paranoia" camera shots in subsequent films. Twice during his career, Howe left camerawork for directing. He helmed the 1954 Harlem Globetrotters drama Go Man Go; and, on location in New Orleans, Howe co-directed two pilot episodes for a TV version of The Shadow, which were spliced together and released theatrically as Invisible Avenger (1959).

filmography snapshot

1925

1930

1935

1940

1945

1950

1955

1960

Year	Title	Rating
1921	The Breaking Point Cinematographer
1923	Call of the Canyon Cinematographer
1923	Drums of Fate Cinematographer
1923	Spanish Dancer Cinematographer
1924	Peter Pan Cinematographer
1925	King on Main Street Cinematographer
1925	Not So Long Ago Cinematographer
1926	Mantrap Cinematographer
1926	Sea Horses Cinematographer
1926	The Song and Dance Man Cinematographer
1927	Sorrell and Son Cinematographer
1927	The Rough Riders Cinematographer
1928	Four Walls Cinematographer
1928	Laugh, Clown, Laugh Cinematographer
1928	The Perfect Crime Cinematographer
1929	Desert Nights Cinematographer
1930	Today Cinematographer
1931	Surrender Cinematographer
1931	The Criminal Code Cinematographer
1931	The Spider Cinematographer
1931	The Yellow Ticket Cinematographer
1931	Transatlantic Cinematographer
1932	After Tomorrow Cinematographer
1932	Amateur Daddy Cinematographer
1932	Chandu the Magician Cinematographer
1932	Dance Team Cinematographer
1932	Man About Town Cinematographer
1933	Beauty for Sale Cinematographer
1933	Hello Sister! Cinematographer
1933	The Power and the Glory Cinematographer
1934	Have a Heart Cinematographer
1934	Hollywood Party Cinematographer
1934	Manhattan Melodrama Cinematographer
1934	Stamboul Quest Cinematographer
1934	The Show-Off Cinematographer
1934	The Thin Man Cinematographer
1934	Viva Villa! Cinematographer
1935	Biography of a Bachelor Girl Cinematographer
1935	Mark of the Vampire Cinematographer
1935	O'Shaughnessey's Boy Cinematographer
1935	The Flame Within Cinematographer
1935	The Night Is Young Cinematographer
1935	Three Live Ghosts Cinematographer
1936	Under the Red Robe Cinematographer
1936	Whipsaw Cinematographer
1937	Farewell Again Cinematographer
1937	Fire Over England Cinematographer
1937	The Prisoner of Zenda Cinematographer
1938	Algiers Cinematographer
1938	Comet over Broadway Cinematographer
1938	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Cinematographer
1939	Daughters Courageous Cinematographer
1939	Dust Be My Destiny Cinematographer
1939	On Your Toes Cinematographer
1939	The Oklahoma Kid Cinematographer
1939	They Made Me a Criminal Cinematographer
1940	A Dispatch from Reuters Cinematographer
1940	Abe Lincoln in Illinois Cinematographer
1940	City for Conquest Cinematographer
1940	Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet Cinematographer
1940	Saturday's Children Cinematographer
1940	Torrid Zone Cinematographer
1941	Kings Row Cinematographer
1941	Navy Blues Cinematographer
1941	Out of the Fog Cinematographer
1941	Shining Victory Cinematographer
1941	The Strawberry Blonde Cinematographer
1942	The Hard Way Cinematographer
1942	Yankee Doodle Dandy Cinematographer
1943	Air Force Cinematographer
1943	Hangmen Also Die! Cinematographer
1943	The North Star Cinematographer
1944	Passage to Marseille Cinematographer
1945	Confidential Agent Cinematographer
1945	Counter Attack Cinematographer
1945	Danger Signal Cinematographer
1945	Objective, Burma! Cinematographer
1946	My Reputation Cinematographer
1947	Body and Soul Cinematographer
1947	Nora Prentiss Cinematographer
1947	Pursued Cinematographer
1948	Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House Cinematographer
1948	The Time of Your Life Cinematographer
1950	The Baron of Arizona Cinematographer
1950	The Eagle and the Hawk Cinematographer
1950	Tripoli Cinematographer
1951	Behave Yourself! Cinematographer
1951	He Ran All the Way Cinematographer
1951	The Brave Bulls Cinematographer
1951	The Lady Says No Cinematographer
1952	Come Back, Little Sheba Cinematographer
1952	The Fighter Cinematographer
1953	Jennifer Cinematographer
1953	Main Street to Broadway Cinematographer
1954	Go, Man, Go! Director
1955	Picnic Cinematographer
1955	The Rose Tattoo Cinematographer
1956	Death of a Scoundrel Cinematographer
1957	Drango Cinematographer
1957	Sweet Smell of Success Cinematographer
1958	Bell, Book and Candle Cinematographer
1958	The Invisible Avenger Director
1958	The Old Man and the Sea Cinematographer
1959	The Last Angry Man Cinematographer
1959	The Story on Page One Cinematographer
1960	Song Without End Cinematographer
1961	Tess of the Storm Country Cinematographer
1963	Hud Cinematographer
1964	The Outrage Cinematographer
1965	The Glory Guys Cinematographer
1966	Seconds Cinematographer
1966	This Property Is Condemned Cinematographer
1967	Hombre Cinematographer
1968	The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Cinematographer
1969	The Last of the Mobile Hotshots Cinematographer
1970	The Horsemen Cinematographer
1970	The Molly Maguires Cinematographer
1975	Funny Lady Cinematographer
1993	Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography Archival Appearance

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Active

1921 - 1976

Born

August 28, 1899 in Kwantung (Canton), China

Died

July 12, 1976 in Los Angeles, CA

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