Rudolph Maté

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Rudolph Maté , also Rudy Maté , born as Rudolf Mayer , (born January 21, 1898 in Krakow , Austria-Hungary ; † October 27, 1964 in Beverly Hills , California , USA ) was an Austrian-American cameraman and film director .

Life

Rudolph Maté was born in Kraków in 1898 . After graduating from the University of Budapest , he entered the film business with the help of the Hungarian producer and director Alexander Korda . First he worked in Hungary for Korda as a camera assistant. Later he was active all over Europe, so z. B. in England at the side of the well-known cameraman Karl Freund . In France , Maté's big breakthrough finally came when he made test recordings for director and screenwriter Carl Theodor Dreyer in 1928 . He was so enthusiastic about the young man's work that he gave him the post of chief cameraman for his film The Passion of the Virgin of Orléans ( La passion de Jeanne d'Arc ). Further positions followed under established directors such as Fritz Lang and René Clair . Then Maté was also the door to Hollywood open. There he was soon one of the most renowned cameramen and was nominated for a total of five Oscars in five consecutive years, including a. for Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent ( Foreign Correspondent , 1940) and Kordas Hamilton Woman ( That Hamilton Woman , 1941). However, he always came away empty-handed.

At the end of the 1940s, Maté switched to directing and made more than two dozen films, mostly with tight budgets, including victims of the underworld ( DOA , 1950) and the youngest day ( When Worlds Collide ).

Most of the time you can tell by looking at Maté's directorial work that he was actually a cameraman by nature. His photography is often characterized by images with a high depth of field and overly dominant foreground objects, such as in Rauhe Gesellen ( The Violent Men ) from 1955.

Rudolph Maté died of a heart attack on October 27, 1964 at the age of 66 .

Filmography (selection)

camera

Director

Nominations

Rudolph Maté was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Cinematography for five consecutive years during his Hollywood career , but never won one:

  • 1941: The foreign correspondent
  • 1942: Lord Nelson's last love
  • 1943: The big hit
  • 1944: Sahara
  • 1945: The goddess is dancing

Web links

Commons : Rudolph Maté  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Maté, Rudolph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mayer, Rudolf; Maté, Rudy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian-American cameraman and film director
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Krakow , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 1964
Place of death Beverly Hills , California , USA