Charles G. Clarke ASC (March 10, 1899 – July 1, 1983) was an American

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

who worked in Hollywood for over 40 years and was treasurer and president (twice: 1948–50 and 1951–53) of the

American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...

Career

Clarke started his career as an assistant cameraman to Allen Siegler at

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

in 1915. After serving overseas with the U.S. Army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he returned to work as an assistant cameraman with the National Film Company and Oliver Morosco Company. Subsequently promoted to

on the 15-part silent

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, ge ...

The Son of Tarzan ''The Son of Tarzan'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was written between January 21 and May 11, 1915, and first published in the magazine ...

'' (1920), he worked across a broad spectrum of film, including standard film serials at the independents, to showcase musicals and major studio epics. From 1927 to 1933, he was first cameraman at the Jesse Lasky Company. He was responsible for all of the China location footage and much of the studio work for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

's ''

The Good Earth ''The Good Earth'' is a historical fiction novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in an early 20th-century Chinese village in Anhwei. It is the first book in her ''House of Earth'' trilogy, continued in '' Sons'' ...

'' (1937) but was uncredited. After working on a number of movies for

Fox Films The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox. It was the corporate successor to his earlier Greater New ...

in the 1930s, he moved to MGM. In 1938, he returned to the now

20th Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Com ...

and worked the majority of his subsequent career at the studio. He worked on low-budget Mr. Moto and

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan ...

pictures to help produce propaganda material such as '' Guadalcanal Diary'' (1943) to pictures ''

Thunderhead, Son of Flicka ''Thunderhead, Son of Flicka'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Louis King and starring Roddy McDowall, Preston Foster, and Rita Johnson. It is a sequel to the 1943 film ''My Friend Flicka''. The film was adapted to screen by Dwight C ...

'' (1945) and ''

Miracle on 34th Street ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (initially released as ''The Big Heart'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1947 American Christmas film, Christmas comedy-drama film released by 20th Century-Fox, written and directed by George Seaton and based on a story ...

'' (1947) to big

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

musicals '' Marching Along'' (1952). He was married to Marian Bowden and died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, in 1983.

Teacher

Whilst on the shoot for ''

Marines, Let's Go ''Marines, Let's Go'' is a 1961 CinemaScope DeLuxe Color Korean War film about three Marine buddies ( Tom Tryon, David Hedison and Tom Reese) on shore leave in Japan and at war in Korea. It was produced and directed by Raoul Walsh, who also wro ...

'' in Japan, Clarke suffered a minor heart attack and retired from work. However, former friend and Fox producer

Kenneth Macgowan Kenneth Macgowan (November 30, 1888 – April 27, 1963) was an American film producer. He won an Academy Award for Best Color Short Film for ''La Cucaracha'' (1934), the first live-action short film made in the three-color Technicolor process. Bi ...

persuaded Clarke to join the Theater Arts Department at UCLA. Clarke taught film school and wrote a book titled ''Professional Cinematography'' at the urging of his students in 1964. In 1976 he published ''Early Film Making in Los Angeles'', which recounted his time during the early years of Hollywood and how the technology of cinematography changed.

Selected filmography

* '' The Half Breed'' (1922) *'' Slippy McGee'' (1923) *''

Java Head Tanjung Layar, formerly Java's Eerste Punt in Dutch, and Java's First Point or Java Head in English, is a prominent cape at the extreme western end of Java, at the Indian Ocean entrance to the Sunda Strait. Java Head is a bluff at the sea's edg ...

'' (1923) *'' Salomy Jane'' (''The Law of the Sierras'') (1923) *''

The Light That Failed ''The Light That Failed'' is the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling, first published in ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'' in January 1891. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events through ...

'' (1923) *'' The Top of the World'' (1924) *'' Without Mercy'' (1925) *'' Friendly Enemies'' (1925) *''

Going Crooked ''Going Crooked'' is a 1926 American silent film, silent crime film produced and distributed by the Fox Film Corporation. It was directed by George Melford and stars Bessie Love. The film is preserved at the Museum of Modern Art, the George East ...

'' (1926) *'' Singed'' (1927) *''

Upstream Upstream may refer to: * Upstream (hydrology), the direction towards the source of a stream (against the direction of flow) * Upstream (bioprocess), part of therapeutic cell manufacturing processes from early cell isolation and cultivation until ...

'' (1927) *'' The Loves of Carmen'' (1927) *''

Sharp Shooters ''Sharp Shooters'' is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by John G. Blystone and starring George O'Brien, Lois Moran, and Noah Young. A print survives in the UCLA Film and Television Archive. ''Sharp Shooters'' contains uncredited p ...

'' (1928) *''

Riley the Cop ''Riley the Cop'' is a 1928 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by John Ford. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film movietone process. C ...

'' (1928) *''

Sin Sister ''The Sin Sister'' is a lost 1929 American Synchronized sound drama adventure film directed by Charles Klein and starring Nancy Carroll. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects u ...

'' (1929) *''

Not Quite Decent ''Not Quite Decent'' is a 1929 American sound part-talkie Pre-Code film, produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation, directed by Irving Cummings, and starring June Collyer and Louise Dresser. In addition to sequences with audible dialo ...

'' (1929) *'' Words and Music'' (1929) *''

The Veiled Woman ''The Veiled Woman'' is a 1929 American Synchronized sound drama film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring Lia Torá, Lupita Tovar and Walter McGrail, also featuring Bela Lugosi.Kohner p. 347 While the film has no audible dialog, it was rel ...

'' (1929) *''

Oh, For a Man! ''Oh, For a Man!'' is a 1930 American black-and-white musical comedy film based on a short story, "Stolen Thunder" by Mary F. Watkins. The original story appeared in The Saturday Evening Post June 7, 1930. Lugosi's character of Frescatti was lat ...

'' (1930) *''

Temple Tower ''Temple Tower'' is a 1930 American pre-Code crime film directed by Donald Gallaher and starring Kenneth MacKenna, Marceline Day. and Peter Gawthorne. The film depicts the character of Bulldog Drummond, a British adventurer, and is based on the ...

'' (1930) *'' So This Is London'' (1930) *''

Girls Demand Excitement ''Girls Demand Excitement'' is a 1931 American pre-Code film starring Virginia Cherrill, John Wayne, and Marguerite Churchill. Wayne and Churchill had starred in the widescreen Western epic ''The Big Trail'' the previous year. The movie was ...

'' (1931) *''

Annabelle's Affairs ''Annabelle's Affairs'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Victor McLaglen, Jeanette MacDonald and Roland Young. The film is based on the 1916-17 play ''Good Gracious Annabelle'' by Cla ...

'' (1931) *''Second Hand Wife'' (''The Illegal Divorce'') (1933) *''Hot Pepper (1933 film), Hot Pepper'' (1933) *''The Cat and the Fiddle (film), The Cat and the Fiddle'' (1934) *''Tarzan and His Mate'' (1934) *''Viva Villa!'' (1934) *''The Winning Ticket'' (1935) *''The Casino Murder Case (film), The Casino Murder Case'' (1935) *''Woman Wanted (1935 film), Woman Wanted'' (1935) *''The Perfect Gentleman (film), The Perfect Gentleman'' (1935) *''The Garden Murder Case (film), The Garden Murder Case'' (1936) *''Every Sunday'' (1936) *''The Thirteenth Chair (1937 film), The Thirteenth Chair'' (1937) *''Charlie Chan in Honolulu'' (1938) *''Pardon Our Nerve'' (1939) *''Frontier Marshal (1939 film), Frontier Marshal'' (1939) *''The Cisco Kid, The Return of the Cisco Kid'' (1939) *''Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation'' (1939) *''The Cisco Kid, Viva Cisco Kid'' (1940) *''Street of Memories'' (1940) *''Romance of the Rio Grande'' (1941) *''Dead Men Tell'' (1941) *''The Cowboy and the Blonde'' (1941) *''The Bride Wore Crutches'' (1941) *''Moontide'' (1942) *''A Gentleman at Heart'' (1942) *''Time to Kill (1942 film), Time to Kill'' (1942) *''Hello, Frisco, Hello'' (1943) *'' Guadalcanal Diary'' (1943) *''

'' (1945) *''Smoky (1946 film), Smokey'' (1946) *''Three Little Girls in Blue'' (1946) *''

'' (1947) *''Captain from Castile'' (1947) *''That Wonderful Urge'' (1948) *''The Iron Curtain (film), The Iron Curtain'' (1948) *''Green Grass of Wyoming'' (1948) *''Sand (1949 film), Sand'' (1949) *''Slattery's Hurricane'' (1949) *''I'll Get By (film), I'll Get By'' (1950) *''The Big Lift'' (1950) *''Golden Girl (Timely Comics), Golden Girl'' (1951) *''Red Skies of Montana'' (1952) *''Kangaroo (1952 film), Kangaroo'' (1952) *''Stars and Stripes Forever (film), Stars and Stripes Forever'' (1952) *''City of Bad Men'' (1953) *''Destination Gobi'' (1953) *''Night People (1954 film), Night People'' (1954) *''Suddenly (1954 film), Suddenly'' (1954) *''Black Widow (1954 film), Black Widow'' (1954) *''Prince of Players'' (1955) *''Violent Saturday'' (1955) *''The Virgin Queen (1955 film), The Virgin Queen'' (1955) *''The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit'' (1956) *''Carousel (film), Carousel'' (1956) *''Stopover Tokyo'' (1957) *''The Wayward Bus (film), The Wayward Bus'' (1957) *''The Barbarian and the Geisha'' (1958) *''The Hunters (1958 film), The Hunters'' (1958) *''These Thousand Hills'' (1959) *''Holiday for Lovers'' (1959) *''The Sound and the Fury (1959 film), The Sound and the Fury'' (1959) *''Flaming Star'' (1960) *''Return to Peyton Place (film), Return to Peyton Place'' (1961) *''Madison Avenue (film), Madison Avenue'' (1961)

References

External links

American Society of CinematographersCinematography.comInternational Cinematographers Guild
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Charles G. 1899 births 1983 deaths American cinematographers Recipients of the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation People from Potter Valley, California Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners Presidents of the American Society of Cinematographers