Ira Harry Morgan (2 April 1889 – 10 April 1959) 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 ...

. He successfully transitioned from

silent movies A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

to sound films.

Early years

Morgan broke in as a

cameraman 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 necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

with Gaumont News, a pioneer of

newsreels A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, info ...

. Later he was behind the camera for

Essanay Essanay Studios, officially the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, was an early American film, motion picture movie studio, studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago by George Kirke Spoor and Broncho Billy Anderson, Gilbert M. Anderson, ...

, where the

Broncho Billy Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (born Maxwell Henry Aronson; March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who was the first star of the Western film genre. He was a founder and star ...

western series was filmed at

Niles Canyon Niles Canyon is a canyon in the San Francisco Bay Area formed by Alameda Creek, known for its heritage railroad and silent movie history. The canyon is largely in an unincorporated area of Alameda County, while the western portion of the cany ...

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. A ...

in California. After Essanay discontinued production in 1918, Morgan joined director

King Vidor King Wallis Vidor ( ; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...

Career

During his long career, Morgan worked extensively for major studios such as

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 ...

as well as independent producers. Notably, he worked with former Essanay colleague

Roland Totheroh Roland Herbert Totheroh (November 29, 1890 – June 18, 1967) was an American cinematographer most notable for being the regular cameraman on the films of Charlie Chaplin. He worked with Chaplin from 1915 until the 1940s in over 30 films. He was ...

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered ...

's '' Modern Times'' (1936). Other credits included George W. Hill's '' Tell It to the Marines'' (1926) with

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often gr ...

James Cruze James Cruze (born Jens Cruz Bosen;Sadoul, Georges (1972). Dictionary of Films'. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 53. . See also: * Parish, James Robert; Pitts, Michael R. (1974). Film Directors: A Guide to Their American Fi ...

's '' Washington Merry-Go-Round'' (1932) with

Lee Tracy William Lee Tracy (April 14, 1898 – October 18, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is known foremost for his portrayals between the late 1920s and 1940s of fast-talking, wisecracking news reporters, press agents, law ...

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...

's '' Jimmy the Gent'' (1934) with

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...

, Frank Buck’s ''

Tiger Fangs ''Tiger Fangs'' is a 1943 American adventure film, adventure/thriller film directed by Sam Newfield and starring Frank Buck (animal collector), Frank Buck and June Duprez. It was distributed Producers Releasing Corporation. The film's sets were de ...

'' (1943), '' Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More'' (1944), ''

Jungle Jim Jungle Jim is the fictional hero of a series of jungle adventures in various media. The series began on January 7, 1934, as an American newspaper comic strip chronicling the adventures of Asia-based hunter Jim Bradley, who was nicknamed Jungle ...

'' (1948), '' The Lost Tribe'' (1949), ''

Chain Gang A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was nota ...

'' (1950), and ''

Revenue Agent ''Revenue Agent'' is a 1950 American film directed by Lew Landers. Plot The accountant's wife is having an affair with his boss. In retribution the husband calls the Internal Revenue Service to expose a large tax evasion racket to smuggle gold bu ...

'' (1950). In 1944 Morgan was working for

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

. His creative photography for the

East Side Kids The East Side Kids were characters in a series of 22 films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. The series was a low-budget imitation of the Dead End Kids, a successful film franchise of the late 1930s. History The 1935 Sidney ...

comedy '' Bowery Champs'' was noticed by the film's producer,

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman's specialty was producing low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financi ...

. When Katzman moved to

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, he took Ira Morgan with him. Morgan went on to photograph many of Columbia's feature films, westerns, serials, and even two-reel comedies. He also worked in Columbia's television division,

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...

, and was a staff cameraman for ''

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin ''The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin'' is an American children's Western television series that aired 164 episodes from October 1954 to May 1959 on the ABC television network. The show starred Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orphaned in an Indian rai ...

'' until his death in 1959.

Partial filmography

* '' Enchantment'' (1921) * ''

Beauty's Worth ''Beauty's Worth'' is a 1922 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Robert G. Vignola, starring Marion Davies as an unsophisticated Quaker who ventures to a seaside resort, meets a Bohemian artist, and falls in love. Plot As described ...

'' (1922) * '' Enemies of Women'' (1923) * '' Tell It to the Marines'' (1926) * '' The Taxi Dancer'' (1927) * '' Spring Fever'' (1927) * ''

Buttons A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Duke Steps Out ''The Duke Steps Out'' is a 1929 American synchronized sound comedy-drama film directed by James Cruze and starring William Haines and Joan Crawford. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with ...

'' (1929) * ''

The Great Gabbo ''The Great Gabbo'' is a 1929 American Pre-Code early sound musical drama film directed by James Cruze, based on Ben Hecht's 1928 short story "The Rival Dummy", and starring Erich von Stroheim and Betty Compson. The film features songs by Lynn C ...

'' (1929) * '' Washington Merry-Go-Round'' (1932) * '' The Unwritten Law'' (1932) * ''

Whistlin' Dan ''Whistlin' Dan'' is a 1932 American pre-Code Western (genre), Western film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Ken Maynard, Joyzelle Joyner (wife of Phil Rosen), and Georges Renavent. It was released on March 20, 1932, by Tiffany Productions. ...

'' (1932) * ''

Son of a Sailor A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

'' (1933) * '' Jimmy the Gent'' (1934) * '' A Girl of the Limberlost'' (1934) * ''

Redhead Red hair, also known as ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 2–6% of people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive alle ...

'' (1934) * ''

Lost in the Stratosphere ''Lost in the Stratosphere'' is a 1934 American aviation Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Melville W. Brown and starring William Cagney, Edward J. Nugent, and June Collyer. In one of his few roles in front of the cameras, Cagne ...

'' (1934) * '' Unknown Blonde'' (1934) * '' Girl Overboard'' (1937) * '' The Westland Case'' (1937) * '' Damaged Goods'' (1937) * ''

'' (1943) * ''

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service ''Charlie Chan in the Secret Service'' is a 1944 mystery film starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. It is the first film made by Monogram Pictures after the series was dropped by 20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly ...

'' (1944) * '' Detective Kitty O'Day'' (1944) * '' The Chinese Cat'' (1944) * '' Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More'' (1944) * '' Sweethearts of the U.S.A.'' (1944) * '' Docks of New York'' (1945) * '' The Strange Mr. Gregory'' (1946) * ''

'' (1948) * '' The Lost Tribe'' (1949) * '' The Mutineers'' (1949) * '' The Blazing Trail'' (1949) * ''

'' (1950) * ''

'' (1950) * '' The Cyclops'' (1957)

References

External links

* 1889 births 1959 deaths American cinematographers People from Sonoma County, California {{US-cinematographer-stub