Michel Kelber
Michel Kelber (born April 9, 1908 in Kiev , Ukraine , † October 23, 1996 in Boulogne-Billancourt ) was a French cameraman .
Live and act
Michel Kelber first came to France in 1912, but returned to Russia from Paris for the summer vacation in 1914 , where the family was surprised by the outbreak of World War I. Only in 1919 was Kelber able to leave the country with his parents. Back in Paris, he studied art and architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts before joining Boris Kaufman in 1928 as camera assistant .
There Kelber initially worked on avant-garde films, later under the guidance of Harry Stradling . From 1932 Michel Kelber independently photographed a few short films under the direction of Claude Autant-Lara , his long-time companion. In 1933 he made his first full-length feature film as head cameraman: Kurt Gerrons Incognito . In the last pre-war decade, Kelber worked with numerous high-profile entertainment film directors, including Marc Allégret ( Zouzou ), Kurt Bernhardt ( L'or dans la rue ), Marcel L'Herbier ( Under false suspicion ), Julien Duvivier ( Game of Memory ), GW Pabst ( Jeunes filles en détresse and The white slave ), Robert Siodmak ( girl trafficker ) and again Autant-Lara ( L'affaire du courrier de Lyon ), for which he wrote two of the most important films in both careers after the war ( devil in body and red and black ) should take photos. During the filming of Air pur , the Second World War broke out and almost the entire film crew was called to arms.
After the occupation of France, Kelber stayed (apart from a few visits to France) primarily in Switzerland , where he shot L'école des femmes with Max Ophüls and A woman disappears with Jacques Feyder . In 1942, Kelber followed a call from the Spanish film industry and moved from his home in Juan-les-Pins in Vichy France, which had not been occupied until then , to Madrid for almost four years . His cinematic achievements there were not, however, artistically demanding.
Back in Paris, shortly after the end of the war, Kelber was involved in a few, artistically high-class productions such as Jean Cocteau's The Terrible Parents and the artificial and surreal film Ruy Blas, the Queen's Lover, and René Clair's The Pact with the Devil, largely influenced by Cocteau . Afterwards, since the mid-50s, Kelber photographed persistent A-entertainment like French Can Can , his best color film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame , Bitter was the victory and ruler of the seas , especially in splendid colors and precious furnishings . On the other hand, there are also numerous average films photographed by Kelber: routinely shot mass-produced goods such as several Eddie Constantine agent thrillers.
Occasionally Kelber had worked for US productions made in France, but also returned to Madrid for Spanish films (such as Juan Antonio Bardem's classic film Hauptstrasse ). In later years Michel Kelber shot for television, including the German-French-Canadian multi-part series The Secret of the White Masks .
In around half a century of regular film activity, an impressive cross-section of world entertainment gathered in front of Michel Kelber's camera, including Bette Davis , Jean Gabin , Gérard Philipe , Anthony Quinn , Romy Schneider , Nadja Tiller , Danielle Darrieux , Gina Lollobrigida , Olivia de Havilland , Curd Jürgens , Raf Vallone , Jean Seberg , Gert Fröbe , Hildegard Knef , Jeanne Moreau , Hardy Krüger , Horst Buchholz , Adolphe Menjou and, last but not least, Elvis Presley .
Filmography
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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 4: H - L. Botho Höfer - Richard Lester. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 345.
Web links
- Michel Kelber in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Oil Pirates. Internet Movie Database , accessed June 10, 2015 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kelber, Michel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French cameraman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 9, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kiev |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 23, 1996 |
| Place of death | Boulogne-Billancourt |