Christopher George Joseph Challis BSC, FRPS (18 March 1919 – 31 May 2012) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

who worked on more than 70 feature films from the 1940s onwards.

Career

After working as

camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmak ...

on several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, he made his debut as director of photography on ''

The End of the River ''The End of the River'' is a British drama film made in Belém, Brazil about a Brazilian Indian boy who leaves the jungle to the city, where he is accused of murder. It was directed by Derek Twist and written by Wolfgang Wilhelm, based on ...

'' (1947) one of their projects as producers. After filming of ''The End of the River'' concluded, Challis was camera operator under

Jack Cardiff Jack Cardiff, (18 September 1914 – 22 April 2009) was a British cinematographer, film and television director, and photographer. His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor, to f ...

on '' The Red Shoes''. He did not object to the demotion as he wanted to work on the film. Following this he went back to being director of photography. He was cinematographer on most of Powell and Pressburger's later films, including ''

The Small Back Room ''The Small Back Room'', released in the United States as ''Hour of Glory'', is a 1949 film by the British producer-writer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring David Farrar and Kathleen Byron and featuring Jack Hawki ...

'' (1949), '' The Elusive Pimpernel'' (1950), ''

The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died i ...

'' (1951), '' Oh... Rosalinda!!'' (1955), '' The Battle of the River Plate'' (1956) and ''

Ill Met by Moonlight ''Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe'' is a non-fiction partly-autobiographical book written by W. Stanley Moss, a British soldier, writer and traveller. It describes an operation in Crete during the Second World War to cap ...

'' (1957). His expertise in colour cinematography meant that he was frequently chosen by British film makers of the 1950s to work on their projects, and he worked on a number of successful comedies, including ''

Genevieve Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre a ...

'' (1953), ''

The Captain's Table ''The Captain's Table'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Jack Lee based upon a novel by Richard Gordon. It stars John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins and Nadia Gray, and featured Maurice Denham, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier, ...

'' (1958) and '' Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines'' (1965). He worked on projects in other genres as well, such as '' The Spanish Gardener'' (1956), the war film ''

Sink the Bismarck! ''Sink the Bismarck!'' is a 1960 black-and-white CinemaScope British war film based on the 1959 book '' The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck'' by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert.Weiler, A.H ...

'' (1960), ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film stars ...

'' (1968), and Billy Wilder's '' The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970). He was nominated for several BAFTA Awards for Best British Cinematography, including a win in 1966 for Stanley Donen's film ''

Arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

''. Challis is credited with being the first person to create specially modified 5000-watt 'Senior' luminaries to provide cinematic lighting underwater while filming ''The Deep'' in 1976.

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

said: "It is not possible even to begin to take the full measure of the greatness of British filmmaking without thinking of Chris Challis," and: "Chris Challis brought a vibrancy to the celluloid palette that was entirely his own, and which helped make Britain a leader in that long, glorious period of classic world cinema." Challis was also an accomplished and enthusiastic still photographer. He joined The

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

in 1936, gaining his Associateship in 1945 and Fellowship in 1948. He remained a member until his death.Information from The Royal Photographic Society / http://www.rps.org

Publications

His autobiography, ''Are They Really So Awful?: A Cameraman's Chronicle'', was published by Janus Publishing Company () in March 1995. Challis also features in the book ''Conversations with Cinematographers'' (Scarecrow Press) by David A. Ellis (2012).

References

External links

*
Obituary – The TimesObituary – The ScotsmanObituary – The Guardian
on BAFTA.org. {{DEFAULTSORT:Challis, Christopher 1919 births 2012 deaths Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners British cinematographers Film people from London