This is a rare gem. I knew Jack Moran, known as Jackie Moran when he was a child actor. Jack played Huck Finn in Norman Taurog's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which was photographed by James Wong Howe. I asked Jack if he recalled how the scene in the cave was lit. Jack's reply is too lengthy & epithet-laden to try to quote here, but this is what The Museum of Modern Art has to say: "Cinematographer James Wong Howe had virtually no experience with the fledgling three-strip color process when David O. Selznick hired him in 1937, and during the production he warred constantly with the technical advisers from Technicolor over choices of lighting and palette. But Howe prevailed, tossing out their gaudily colored costumes and sets in favor of warmer earth tones that were more in keeping with Twain’s portrait of antebellum life on the Mississippi. Howe also refused to light the fantastic William Cameron Menzies-designed cave sequences at their required 800-foot candle levels, which would have lit the place up like a ballroom and destroyed any illusion of two small children lost in the shadows of a vast and gloomy cavern. As biographer Todd Rainsberger notes, Howe so alienated the Technicolor Corporation that they refused to let him shoot another color film until 1949". Even tho Technicolor Corp held a grudge against James Wong Howe for his disagreements wit them, Howe got it right! Technicolor also battled with Michael Powell re his unconventional approach to the 3-strip color process, but Powell also knew what the hell he was doing. CHEERS
Sweet smell of success is one of the most beautiful and innovative shot films of all time! A true master.
Love this! Great masterclass on the fundamentals of lighting. James Wong Howe is a legend.
Amazing stuff
Wow! Thanks for sharing!
This is a rare gem. I knew Jack Moran, known as Jackie Moran when he was a child actor. Jack played Huck Finn in Norman Taurog's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which was photographed by James Wong Howe. I asked Jack if he recalled how the scene in the cave was lit. Jack's reply is too lengthy & epithet-laden to try to quote here, but this is what The Museum of Modern Art has to say: "Cinematographer James Wong Howe had virtually no experience with the fledgling three-strip color process when David O. Selznick hired him in 1937, and during the production he warred constantly with the technical advisers from Technicolor over choices of lighting and palette. But Howe prevailed, tossing out their gaudily colored costumes and sets in favor of warmer earth tones that were more in keeping with Twain’s portrait of antebellum life on the Mississippi. Howe also refused to light the fantastic William Cameron Menzies-designed cave sequences at their required 800-foot candle levels, which would have lit the place up like a ballroom and destroyed any illusion of two small children lost in the shadows of a vast and gloomy cavern. As biographer Todd Rainsberger notes, Howe so alienated the Technicolor Corporation that they refused to let him shoot another color film until 1949". Even tho Technicolor Corp held a grudge against James Wong Howe for his disagreements wit them, Howe got it right! Technicolor also battled with Michael Powell re his unconventional approach to the 3-strip color process, but Powell also knew what the hell he was doing. CHEERS
Thank you so much for sharing! Feel free to check out The Time Of Your Life (1948) on our channel with cinematography by the master James Wong Howe!
James Wong Howe was my great uncle!
Thanks
He just keeps adding lights holy shit
Hud!
amazing how much fill has fallen out of fashion