Basil Emmott
Basil William George Emmott (born July 5, 1894 in London- Kennington (Lambeth), † January 23, 1976 in Eastbourne , Sussex ) was a British cameraman with extensive work in B-productions and a veteran of the domestic film.
Life
Emmott, who had tried his hand at being an amateur photographer at a young age, said he had made contact with film before the war: allegedly he ran his own cinema. He was drafted at the beginning of the First World War and remained in the army until 1919. After his release into civilian life, Emmott joined film as a professional.
Emmott began his active career as a laboratory assistant at the production company Gaumont and soon moved up to camera assistant and finally (1920) to cameraman, initially for productions by director CC Calvert. Over the next four and a half decades, Basil Emmott photographed a plethora of low-profile entertainment films. Early in his career, he also made several documentary expedition films, including one about a highly acclaimed flight by pilot Sir Alan Cobham ( With Cobham to the Cape ). A little later he was to shoot the anti-communist feature film The Flight Commander with Cobham . Emmott was also considered the cameraman who was the first to photograph the Victoria Falls in southern Africa .
In 1929 he was taken over by Twickenham Studios as a sound film cameraman. In his most creative period, the 1930s, Emmott shot mostly medium-length (45–55 minutes) films for the Warner Bros. -Studios in Teddington . During this time u. a. Hans Söhnker's two side trips to British film, Faithful and Patricia Gets Her Man with Emmott behind the camera. During the Second World War, his participation in The Prime Minister and The Man from Morocco seemed to pave the way for promotion to the A-League of cameramen, but even after 1945, Basil Emmott had to be content mainly with working on cheap films, most recently many productions by the directors. Old hands Vernon Sewell, Ken Hughes and Lance Comfort .
After the war, Basil Emmott was also involved in a large number of television films (commissioned by "Republic Pictures"). Shortly after completing his 70th birthday, the camera veteran with the distinctive mustache retired to the British seaside resort of Eastbourne.
Filmography (selection)
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literature
- Frank Arnau (ed.): Universal Filmlexikon , Berlin / London 1932. P. 455
Web links
- Basil Emmott in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Emmott, Basil |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Emmott, Basil William George (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British cameraman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 5, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 23, 1976 |
| Place of death | Eastbourne |