Byron Haskin

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Byron Conrad Haskin (born April 22, 1899 in Portland , Oregon , † April 16, 1984 in Montecito , California ) was an American film director , cameraman and film producer . He has directed over 30 film productions for television and cinema, including Treasure Island , Battle of the Worlds , When the Marabunta is Threatening, or Emergency Landing in Space .

Life

After studying at Berkeley , Haskin began working as a cartoonist for a newspaper. From 1920 he was a cameraman for documentaries and advertising films for the film companies Pathé and International Newsreel. His work led to a position as assistant director at Selznick production , where he already worked on the development of special effects during the silent film era and also developed the techniques for introducing sound films . As a cameraman he also shot the classic silent film "Don Juan" with Hollywood's elite actors John Barrymore , Mary Astor , Myrna Loy and also Warner Oland , who later became a star as Charlie Chan .

From the late 1920s, Haskin began working as a director at Warner Brothers and, after a trip to England, became head of the special effects department at Warner Brothers. Haskin developed for 50 films special effects, including 1,944 for the black comedy " Arsenic and Old Lace " ( Arsenic and Old Lace ) with Cary Grant , Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre .

For Walt Disney he was the director of the first real version of his studio, the film Treasure Island ( Treasure Island , 1950) with Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver . A year later, Lex Barker appeared in front of the camera as Tarzan in Tarzan's Peril (1951). 1954 was again Robert Newton as Long John Silver in front of his camera in the sequel to the Treasure Island film in Long John Silver . Newton's portrayal of a pirate with an Irish accent is said to have been the template for countless actors in pirate roles.

In the mid-1950s, Haskin began a fruitful collaboration with producer George Pal . For him he created the science fiction classic " Battle of the Worlds " ( The War of the Worlds , 1953) based on HG Wells ' book " The War of the Worlds ". The film won the 1953 Hugo as Best Dramatic Presentation and 1954 the Oscar in the category Best Effects, Special Effects . In 1954 Haskin shot for George Pal " Wenn die Marabunta threatens " (OT: The Naked Jungle , also published in Germany under the title Der nackte Dschungel ) and in 1955 the science fiction film " Die Eroberung des Weltalls " ( Conquest of Space ) .

Haskin devoted himself to a special "special effect", the 3D film , at a time when it was actually no longer "modern". In 1960 he created “The Treasure of the Balearic Islands” ( September Storm ), which went down in film history as the first 3D film that was actually shot in the Cinemascope format (“ Das Gewand ”, one of the first films in Cinemascope, was originally advertised as “3D -Film that can be seen without (3D) glasses ”was in reality completely“ flat ”and was only projected onto a curved screen).

In 1964, Haskin created another classic of the science fiction genre, Robinson Crusoe on Mars , a variant based on Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe , which received the strange German title " Emergency Landing in Space ".

Even as a seasoned Hollywood director, Haskin was not too bad to make films for the small screen. Among other things, he made acclaimed contributions for the television series The Outer Limits and he was also involved as a producer in the pilot episode of the television series " Raumschiff Enterprise " ( Star Trek ), The Cage .

Haskin died shortly before his 85th birthday.

Awards

  • 1939: Technical Achievement Award for the basic development of a projector system for rear projections .
  • 1940: Oscar nomination for a Queen's Favorite ( The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex ) for Best Effects, Special Effects
  • 1941: Oscar nomination for The Sea Hawk in the Best Effects, Special Effects category
  • 1942: Oscar nomination for The Sea Wolf ( The Sea Wolf ) in the category Best Effects, Special Effects
  • 1943: Oscar nomination for Desperate Journey in the Best Effects, Special Effects category
  • 2004: Winner of the Retro Hugo Award for The War of the Worlds , Battle of the Worlds from 1953

Filmography (selection)

Director
Special effects
camera

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ as a replacement for Lloyd Bacon who was fired from the studio
personal data
SURNAME Haskin, Byron
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Haskin, Byron Conrad (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American director
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Portland , Oregon, USA
DATE OF DEATH April 16, 1984
Place of death Montecito , California, USA