Alex Phillips

Alex Phillips , also Alex Phillips sr., Alec Phillips (born January 11, 1900 in Renfrew , Canada ; † June 14, 1977 Mexico City , Mexico ) was a Canadian-born actor and cameraman with a long career in Mexican film, one of the most productive picture designers Latin America .

Live and act

Originally from Ontario and at times raised in Tsarist Russia , Phillips served as a Canadian soldier alongside Great Britain during the First World War . Shortly after the end of the war, he was brought to film via the godmother of his regiment, the Canadian-born Hollywood star Mary Pickford . Initially, Phillips found employment as a small actor alongside screen legends such as Rudolph Valentino , John Gilbert and Ronald Colman .

Eventually Phillips switched behind the camera and began to learn his trade as an assistant (editor, camera) at 'Christie Comedies' in 1919. In 1921 he photographed a film independently for the first time. After a decade of unpromising work in US cinema, Phillips decided to move to Mexico shortly after the start of the talky-about film era. With Santa he made the first Mexican sound film at the end of 1931. In the next four decades, Alex Phillips photographed an enormous number - well over 200 productions - mostly cheaper, but in some cases extremely popular and box office films for the masses.

Mostly it was undemanding entertainment: melodramas, romances and dramas, occasionally also historical material, adventure stories and literary adaptations. Unlike his best-known Mexican colleague Gabriel Figueroa , Phillips was rarely allowed to photograph higher quality productions. Alex Phillips' most important works include some productions by Luis Buñuel ( “The Path That Leads to Heaven” , “Robinson Crusoe” ), Roberto Gavaldón ( “Palace of Sin” , “Criminal Hands” ) and Emilio Fernández ( “Desire and Passion " ). Since the early 1950s he has also been behind the camera several times in films by US and European directors shooting in Mexico. At the end of 1972 he retired.

In his more than four decades working for Mexican cinema, Alex Phillips became an important teacher for an entire generation of Mexican cameramen. His son Álex Phillips junior (1935–2007) followed in his father's footsteps in the early 1960s.

Filmography (selection)

1921: See My Lawyer 1924: Hold Your Breath 1925: Seven Days 1926: The Nervous Wreck 1926: Up in Mabel's Room 1929: The Carnation Kid 1929: Divorce Made Easy 1931: Santa 1932: Águilas frente al sol 1932: Mano a mano 1933: La mujer del puerto 1933: Revolución 1933: Su ultima canción 1934: Juarez y Maximiliano 1934: Sagario 1934: Profanación 1934: Enemigos 1934: Cruz Diablo 1935: Tribu 1935: Tu hijo 1935: Martin Garatuza 1935: La familia Dressel 1935: Sueños de amor 1935: Silencio sublime 1936: Celos 1936: Diaz, the bullfighter ( Ora Ponciano! ) 1936: Mater nostra 1936: Judas 1936: Irma la mala 1936: Suprema ley 1936: Cielito Lindo 1937: Ave sin rumbo 1937: La madrina del diablo 1937: La mujer de nadie 1937: La paloma 1938: Noches de gloria 1938: Ojos tapatios 1938: Mexico lindo 1938: La Golondrina 1939: Un viejo amor 1939: Maria 1939: Capitan Aventurero 1939: Perfidia

1939: Café Concordia 1940: El Cavilan 1940: Madre e la fuerza 1940: Hombre o demonio 1941: El secreto del sacerdote 1941: Las tres viudas de papa 1942: Secreto eterno 1942: Caballería del imperio 1942: Yolanda (Brindis al amor) 1943: El jorobado 1943: Doña Barbara 1943: Fantasia ranchera 1944: Miguel Strogoff 1944: Nana 1944: Gran Hotel 1944: Amok 1945: crepuscolo 1945: Pepita Jimenez 1946: Vertiga 1946: María Magdalena, pecadora de Magdala 1946: Palace of Sin ( La otra ) 1947: Bel Ami 1947: La diosa arrodillada 1948: Reina de reinas: La Virgen María 1948: Cortesana 1948: Revancha 1949: Bamba 1949: Coqueta 1950: Doña diabla 1950: Perdida 1950: Pobre corazón 1950: Morality Unleashed ( Aventurera ) 1951: Deseada 1951: Sacrifice of Passion ( Sensualidad ) 1951: The Path That Leads to Heaven ( Subida al cielo ) 1952: Mujeres sacrifadas 1952: Rostros olividados 1953: surf of passion 1953: The haughty ones ( Les orgueilleux ) 1953: Disappeared in Rio ( Aventura en Rio ) 1954: Robinson Crusoe 1954: Los Fernandez de Peralvillo 1954: Sombra verde

1955: Playa Prohibida 1955: Maria la voz 1955: Musica en la noche 1955: The small rebel ( The Littlest Outlaw ) 1955: Criminal hands ( En la palma de tu mano ) 1955: Adam and Eve ( Adam y Eva ) 1956: Chilam Balam 1956: Mi desconocida esposa 1956: Tizóc 1957: Los salvajes 1957: Ten days after Tulare ( Ten Days to Tulare ) 1958: King of the Bandits ( Villa! ) 1958: battle of life and death ( Last of the Fast Guns ) 1958: The Sierra Baron ( Sierra ) 1959: Hot Frontier (The Wonderful Country) 1959: Sube y baja 1959: Los hijos ajenos 1960: Mi madre es culpable 1960: For the Love of Mike 1961: Rumbo a Brasilia 1962: The last command (Geronimo) 1962: Pueblito 1962: Without Moral (Of Love and Desire) 1964: Cuando acaba la noche 1965: time of dying (Tiempo de morir) 1965: Black Storm (Viento negro) 1966: Juan Colorado 1967: La soldadera 1967: Los traidores de San Angel 1967: No hay cruces en el mar 1967: La guerrillera de Villa 1968: Corazón salvaje 1968: El zangano 1969: Andante 1970: Remolinos de pasiones 1970: Los años vacios 1971: Bang bang al hoyo 1971: Rancho al miedo 1972: The revenge of the 1000 cats (La noche de los mil gatos) 1972: El castillo de la pureza

literature

• Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 6: N - R. Mary Nolan - Meg Ryan. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 221.

Web links

• Alex Phillips in the Internet Movie Database (English)