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Geoffrey Unsworth

January 06, 2023

Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth, OBE, BSC (26 May 1914 – 28 October 1978) was a British cinematographer who worked on nearly 90 feature films spanning over more than 40 years. He is best known for his work on films such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bob Fosse's Cabaret and Richard Donner's Superman.

Geoffrey Unsworth
Born
Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth

(1914-05-26)26 May 1914
Atherton, Lancashire, England
Died28 October 1978(1978-10-28) (aged 64)
Paris, France
NationalityBritish
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1939–1978

Career

Unsworth began his career working at Gaumont British from 1932 to 1937.[1] Having joined Technicolor in 1938, he acted as assistant director of photography on many notable productions, such as Powell and Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and A Matter of Life and Death (1946). After working on some of the Gainsborough melodramas, he worked at the Rank Organisation throughout the 1950s, notably on films such as A Town Like Alice and A Night to Remember.[2]

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 British Society of Cinematographers awards, three BAFTAS and two Academy Awards. Unsworth was especially in demand as cinematographer in two very different genres, period pieces and science fiction. Among the highlights of his career, he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the visually innovative 2001: A Space Odyssey (on which he was assisted by John Alcott, who would become a regular collaborator of Kubrick's) and Bob Fosse's dark musical exploration of the end of Weimar Germany, Cabaret. In Sidney Lumet's 1974 film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, his lighting and use of diffusion capture the danger and romance of the train while graceful integration of camera movement and optical effects contributes to the realism of the set while controlling the claustrophobia of the setting.

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 Oliver Cromwell biopic Cromwell in 1970, the 1972 John Barry musical Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, John Boorman's 1974 fantasy film Zardoz, The Return of the Pink Panther (the fourth film in Blake Edwards' Pink Panther series), Richard Attenborough's 1977 war epic A Bridge Too Far. In 1981, he won a posthumous Oscar for Best Cinematography for his collaborative work with Ghislain Cloquet on Roman Polanski's Tess.

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."[3] His wife Maggie worked in the British film industry, often as a script/continuity supervisor.

Awards and honours

List of awards and nominations
Ceremony Category Year Film Result
Academy Awards Best Cinematography 1965 Becket Nominated
1973 Cabaret Won
1975 Murder on the Orient Express Nominated
1981 Tess (shared with Ghislain Cloquet) Won
British Academy Film Awards Best British Cinematography 1964 Tamahine Nominated
1965 Becket Won
Best Cinematography 1969 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 Awards Best Cinematography 1969 2001: A Space Odyssey 3rd place
1972 Cabaret 4th place
1981 Tess (shared with Ghislain Cloquet) 3rd place

Selected filmography

Actor

Cinematographer

References

  1. ^ [1] "BFI Screenonline: Unsworth, Geoffrey (1914-1978) Biography". Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  2. ^ [2] "BFI Screenonline: Unsworth, Geoffrey (1914-1978) Biography". Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  3. ^ Superman – The Movie (Four-Disc Special Edition): Disc 3, "Making Superman: Filming the Legend"

External links

  • Geoffrey Unsworth at IMDb
  • Geoffrey Unsworth at the BFI's Screenonline
  • Geoffrey Unsworth at the TIME/IMAGE project

January 06, 2023
geoffrey, unsworth, geoffrey, gilyard, unsworth, 1914, october, 1978, british, cinematographer, worked, nearly, feature, films, spanning, over, more, than, years, best, known, work, films, such, stanley, kubrick, 2001, space, odyssey, fosse, cabaret, richard, . Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth OBE BSC 26 May 1914 28 October 1978 was a British cinematographer who worked on nearly 90 feature films spanning over more than 40 years He is best known for his work on films such as Stanley Kubrick s 2001 A Space Odyssey Bob Fosse s Cabaret and Richard Donner s Superman Geoffrey UnsworthBornGeoffrey Gilyard Unsworth 1914 05 26 26 May 1914Atherton Lancashire EnglandDied28 October 1978 1978 10 28 aged 64 Paris FranceNationalityBritishOccupationCinematographerYears active1939 1978 Contents 1 Career 2 Death and legacy 3 Awards and honours 4 Selected filmography 4 1 Actor 4 2 Cinematographer 5 References 6 External linksCareer EditUnsworth began his career working at Gaumont British from 1932 to 1937 1 Having joined Technicolor in 1938 he acted as assistant director of photography on many notable productions such as Powell and Pressburger s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp 1943 and A Matter of Life and Death 1946 After working on some of the Gainsborough melodramas he worked at the Rank Organisation throughout the 1950s notably on films such as A Town Like Alice and A Night to Remember 2 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 British Society of Cinematographers awards three BAFTAS and two Academy Awards Unsworth was especially in demand as cinematographer in two very different genres period pieces and science fiction Among the highlights of his career he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the visually innovative 2001 A Space Odyssey on which he was assisted by John Alcott who would become a regular collaborator of Kubrick s and Bob Fosse s dark musical exploration of the end of Weimar Germany Cabaret In Sidney Lumet s 1974 film adaptation of Agatha Christie s Murder on the Orient Express his lighting and use of diffusion capture the danger and romance of the train while graceful integration of camera movement and optical effects contributes to the realism of the set while controlling the claustrophobia of the setting 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 Oliver Cromwell biopic Cromwell in 1970 the 1972 John Barry musical Alice s Adventures in Wonderland John Boorman s 1974 fantasy film Zardoz The Return of the Pink Panther the fourth film in Blake Edwards Pink Panther series Richard Attenborough s 1977 war epic A Bridge Too Far In 1981 he won a posthumous Oscar for Best Cinematography for his collaborative work with Ghislain Cloquet on Roman Polanski s Tess 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 EditUnsworth 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 3 His wife Maggie worked in the British film industry often as a script continuity supervisor Awards and honours EditList of awards and nominations Ceremony Category Year Film ResultAcademy Awards Best Cinematography 1965 Becket Nominated1973 Cabaret Won1975 Murder on the Orient Express Nominated1981 Tess shared with Ghislain Cloquet WonBritish Academy Film Awards Best British Cinematography 1964 Tamahine Nominated1965 Becket WonBest Cinematography 1969 2001 A Space Odyssey Won1973 Cabaret Alice s Adventures in Wonderland Won1975 Murder on the Orient Express Zardoz Nominated1978 A Bridge Too Far Won1979 Superman Nominated1982 Tess shared with Ghislain Cloquet WonNational Society of Film Critics Awards Best Cinematography 1969 2001 A Space Odyssey 3rd place1972 Cabaret 4th place1981 Tess shared with Ghislain Cloquet 3rd placeSelected filmography EditActor Edit The First Great Train Robbery 1978 uncredited Cinematographer Edit The People s Land 1941 Gardens of England 1941 World Garden 1942 a film about Kew Gardens Teeth of Steel 1942 World Garden 1942 Make Fruitful the Land 1945 The Laughing Lady 1946 The Man Within 1947 Jassy 1947 Scott of the Antarctic 1948 The Blue Lagoon 1949 The Spider and the Fly 1949 Double Confession 1950 Trio 1950 The Clouded Yellow 1951 Where No Vultures Fly 1951 The Planter s Wife 1952 Turn the Key Softly 1953 The Million Pound Note 1953 The Purple Plain 1954 The Seekers 1954 A Town Like Alice 1956 Jacqueline 1956 Tiger in the Smoke 1956 Hell Drivers 1957 A Night to Remember 1958 North West Frontier 1959 Whirlpool 1959 On the Double 1961 The 300 Spartans 1962 Tamahine 1963 Becket 1964 Othello 1965 Genghis Khan 1965 You Must be Joking 1965 Half a Sixpence 1967 The Bliss of Mrs Blossom 1968 2001 A Space Odyssey 1968 The Assassination Bureau 1969 The Reckoning 1969 Three Sisters 1970 Cromwell 1970 Say Hello to Yesterday 1971 Unman Wittering and Zigo 1971 Alice s Adventures in Wonderland 1972 Cabaret 1972 Voices 1973 Baxter 1973 Zardoz 1974 Murder on the Orient Express 1974 The Abdication 1974 Lucky Lady 1975 Royal Flash 1975 The Return of the Pink Panther 1975 A Matter of Time 1976 A Bridge Too Far 1977 Superman 1978 The First Great Train Robbery 1978 Tess 1979 with Ghislain Cloquet Superman II 1980 with Robert Paynter Superman II The Richard Donner Cut 2006 with Robert PaynterReferences Edit 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 External links EditBFI British Film Institute website Geoffrey Unsworth at IMDb Geoffrey Unsworth at the BFI s Screenonline Geoffrey Unsworth at the TIME IMAGE project Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Geoffrey Unsworth amp oldid 1109505093, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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