Geoffrey Unsworth
Geoffrey Unsworth | |
---|---|
Born | Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth 26 May 1914 Atherton, Lancashire, England |
Died | 28 October 1978 Paris, France | (aged 64)
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Cinematographer |
Years active | 1939–1978 |
Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth,
.The
Career
Unsworth began his career working at
In the 1960s, Unsworth's work extended abroad, such as with the 1962 CinemaScope epic The 300 Spartans; the decade also saw him receive his first Academy Award nomination for his work on 1964's Becket. In 1965, he was responsible for photographing the Royal National Theatre's production of William Shakespeare's Othello.
His film work brought him an impressive array of awards, including five
Unsworth's work reached its widest audience with Richard Donner's Superman in 1978. He was responsible for integrating the work of a who's-who of cinematographers and visual effects designers (including Zoran Perisic, an animation stand crew member from 2001, who extended Kubrick's front projection technique for Superman), with the plausibility and sense of grandeur befitting a (mostly) reverent take on a superhero. The style he developed alongside director Donner was essentially that of a science-fiction period film; the glamorous, often highly diffused cinematography observed a panoply of images of Americana, suggesting an epic timeframe for the film's scenes, a mythical America somewhere between the 1930s of the original comics and the 1970s. The style of the sequences that did not involve extensive science-fiction elements had to match scenes displaying Superman's powers.
Unsworth's other work in the 1970s included the
For Superman, Unsworth was not named in the Special Achievement in Visual Effects Academy Award the film received, but instead as director of photography, and without a separate credit for special effects work, he would not have been eligible. Donner expressed great disgust that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not recognise Unsworth with a nomination for Best Achievement in Cinematography in 1979.
Death and legacy
Unsworth died of a heart attack in France at the age of 64 while filming Roman Polanski's Tess in 1978.
Both Superman and The First Great Train Robbery were dedicated to Unsworth's memory. As alluded to in the Superman dedication, Unsworth was an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
He was admired for his charming manner at work. For instance, Margot Kidder was flattered when he arranged lighting for her shots and insisted on concentration by saying "Quiet, I'm lighting the Lady."[4] His wife Maggie worked in the British film industry, often as a script/continuity supervisor.
Filmography
Short film
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1946 | Make Fruitful the Land | Ken Annakin | |
1950 | Mr. Know-All | Segments of Trio | |
Verger, The | |||
1955 | Cyril Stapleton and the Show Band | Michael Carreras | With Walter J. Harvey |
The Eric Winstone Bandshow | |||
1956 | Eric Winstone's Stagecoach |
Documentary shorts
Year | Title | Director |
---|---|---|
1942 | Teeth of Steel | Ronald H. Riley |
Gardens of England | Michael Hankinson | |
World Garden | Robin Carruthers | |
1943 | Power on the Land: The Story of the Mechanisation of British Farming |
Ralph Keene |
The People's Land |
Feature film
Documentary films
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1963 | An Evening with the Royal Ballet | Anthony Havelock-Allan Anthony Asquith |
Segments "La Valse", "Les Corsaire" and "Aurora's Wedding" |
1965 | Pop Gear | Frederic Goode |
Television
Year | Title | Director | Episode(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | The Magical World of Disney | Ken Annakin | "When Knighthood Was in Flower" (Part 1 & 2) |
1972 | Columbo | Richard Quine | "Dagger of the Mind" |
Awards and honours
Academy Awards
Year | Category | Title | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | Best Cinematography | Becket | Nominated |
1972 | Cabaret | Won | |
1974 | Murder on the Orient Express | Nominated | |
1979 | Tess (shared with Ghislain Cloquet) | Won |
BAFTA Awards
Year | Category | Title | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | Best British Cinematography | Tamahine | Nominated |
1965 | Becket | Won | |
1969 | Best Cinematography | 2001: A Space Odyssey |
Won |
1973 | Cabaret, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Won | |
1975 | Murder on the Orient Express, Zardoz | Nominated | |
1978 | A Bridge Too Far | Won | |
1979 | Superman | Nominated | |
1982 | Tess (shared with Ghislain Cloquet) | Won |
National Society of Film Critics
Year | Category | Title | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1969 | Best Cinematography | 2001: A Space Odyssey | 3rd place |
1972 | Cabaret | 4th place | |
1981 | Tess (shared with Ghislain Cloquet) | 3rd place |
References
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
- ^ [1] "BFI Screenonline: Unsworth, Geoffrey (1914-1978) Biography". Retrieved 26 May 2017.
- ^ [2] "BFI Screenonline: Unsworth, Geoffrey (1914-1978) Biography". Retrieved 26 May 2017.
- ^ Superman – The Movie (Four-Disc Special Edition): Disc 3, "Making Superman: Filming the Legend"