Charles Stumar

Charles J. Stumar (born August 28, 1890 in Budapest , Austria-Hungary , † June 29, 1935 at Westlake Village , California , United States ) was an American cameraman and as such a specialist in horror films of early talkies.

Live and act

Stumar came to the USA at a very young age and began his professional career in 1908 at the Lubin Co. in Philadelphia . In the late phase of the First World War , Stumar began to shoot films on his own responsibility, from 1920 as chief cameraman at Universal Studios . In 1923 he was involved in the first significant film adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame , and four years later Stumar photographed the only film version of the classic youth book Onkel Toms Hütte for almost four decades .

Immediately before the end of the silent film age, Stumar was sent to Berlin by his employer to shoot a series of mostly less important films for the German Universal branch. With Wilhelm Dieterle's almost two-hour Kini portrait of Ludwig the Second, King of Bavaria , Stumar also made an ambitious movie in 1929. After around a dozen films, Charles Stumar returned to Hollywood shortly after the start of the sound film era. There he caused a sensation with the atmospheric black and white photography of several horror film classics, especially The Mummy , The Werewolf of London and The Raven , where he congenially portrayed the two company stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi .

Charles Stumar, an experienced pilot, died in mid-1935 as a result of the crash of a special aircraft he was piloting. Under him, Robert Surtees, who later became a star cameraman, learned his trade in Berlin . Stumar's younger brother John Stumar (1892–1962), who was also born in Budapest , also worked as a cameraman.

Filmography

• 1917: Chicken Casey
• 1917: The Firefly of Tough Luck
• 1918: Little Orphant Annie
• 1918: Keys of the Righteous
• 1918: Without Honor
• 1919: Sahara
• 1919: The Lone Wolf's Daughter
• 1920: sex
• 1920: Love
• 1920: Love Madness
• 1921: Greater Than Love
• 1922: When Husbands Deceive
• 1922: Forsaking All Others
• 1922: Caught Bluffing
• 1922: The Power of a Lie
• 1923: The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( The Hunchback of Notre Dame )
• 1923: Abysmal Brute
• 1923: From the life of a lady-in-waiting (A Lady of Quality)
• 1923: The Midnight Quest
• 1924: The Gaiety Girl
• 1924: Stolen Secrets
• 1924: The Turmoil
• 1925: Raffles , the Amateur Cracksman
• 1925: Where Was I?
• 1926: The Combat
• 1926: The Cohens and the Kellys
• 1927: Perch of the Devil
• 1927: Uncle Tom's Cabin (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
• 1928: The Michigan Kid
• 1928: Foray in Love (Anybody Seen Here Kelly?)
• 1928: The Price of Fear
• 1928: Between the Ropes (The Shakedown)
• 1929: The rush of spring
• 1929: Through the Brandenburg Gate
• 1929: The silence in the forest
• 1929: The devil reporter
• 1929: The Strange Past of Thea Carter
• 1929: Ludwig the Second, King of Bavaria
• 1929: I live for you
• 1929: Secret police
• 1930: harried girls
• 1930: Witnesses wanted
• 1930: Next, please!
• 1930: The Rhineland girl
• 1930: an hour of happiness
• 1930: love on command
• 1931: Aloha
• 1931: Nice Women
• 1931: A House Divided
• 1932: Steady Company
• 1932: The Mummy ( The Mummy )
• 1933: Billion Dollar Scandal
• 1933: Black Beauty
• 1933: Saturday's Millions
• 1934: Bombay Mail
• 1934: The Countess of Monte Cristo
• 1934: Romance In The Rain
• 1934: Werewolf of London (The Werewolf of London)
• 1935: Transient Lady
• 1935: Storm Over The Andes
• 1935: Manhattan Moon
• 1935: The Raven ( The Raven )

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 7: R - T. Robert Ryan - Lily Tomlin. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 549.

Web links

• Charles J. Stumar in the Internet Movie Database (English)