Elwood Bredell
- Camera
- December 24, 1902 · Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
- February 26, 1969
Biography
Elwood Bailey Bredell (24 December 1902 – 26 February 1969) was an American cinematographer and child silent screen actor. He is sometimes credited as Woody Bredell or Elwood Dell. Although he worked in many genres, mostly at Universal, Bredell is best known for his film noir cinematography on such movies as Phantom Lady (1944), Lady on a Train (1945) The Killers (1946), and The Unsuspected (1947). Famed Warner Bros. editor George Amy said Bredell could “light a football stadium with a single match.” Bredell was the son of stage actress Mary Palmer Nields. He was named Jesse B. Bredell, Jr., after his father. Nields later married Vaughn "Val" Paul, a silent film actor turned production manager. (Paul's son with Nields, Vaughn Jr., was Deanna Durbin's first husband.) After working as an adolescent actor in silent films, Bredell took a job as a studio lab technician while he cultivated a talent for photography. From about 1929–34, Bredell worked as a still photographer at RKO and Paramount, coinciding with his stepfather's tenures at those studios. At Paramount, Bredell apprenticed under veteran cinematographers Charles Lang and Arthur C. Miller. In 1936, Val Paul brought Bredell to Universal, where he continued his training under the studio's best cinematographer, Joseph Valentine. Bredell was promoted to cinematographer the next year, when Val produced Reckless Living (1938). Bredell's work on horror films such as Black Friday (1940), The Mummy's Hand (1940), and Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), anticipated his work in film noir. He also photographed Deann Durbin musicals and comedies such as Hold That Ghost (1941), Hellzapoppin' (1941) and The Inspector General (1949). His final credit was on the 1955 B-movie Female Jungle. From the Wikipedia article 'Elwood Bredell'
Known for
Filmography
- Female Jungle · Cinematography
- Journey Into Light · Cinematography
- The Inspector General · Cinematography
- Adventures of Don Juan · Cinematography
- Romance on the High Seas · Cinematography
- The Unsuspected · Cinematography
- The Killers · Cinematography
- Tangier · Cinematography
- Smooth as Silk · Cinematography
- Lady on a Train · Cinematography
- Can't Help Singing · Cinematography
- Christmas Holiday · Cinematography
- Phantom Lady · Cinematography
- His Butler's Sister · Cinematography
- So's Your Uncle · Cinematography
- Hers to Hold · Cinematography
- Cowboy in Manhattan · Cinematography
- Follow the Band · Cinematography
- The Amazing Mrs. Holliday · Cinematography
- How's About It · Cinematography
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror · Cinematography
- Private Buckaroo · Cinematography
- Tough as They Come · Cinematography
- Escape from Hong Kong · Cinematography
- The Mystery of Marie Roget · Cinematography
- The Strange Case of Doctor Rx · Cinematography
- Butch Minds the Baby · Cinematography
- The Ghost of Frankenstein · Cinematography
- Hellzapoppin' · Cinematography
- South of Tahiti · Cinematography
- Mob Town · Cinematography
- Hold That Ghost · Cinematography
- Man-Made Monster · Cinematography
- Horror Island · Cinematography
- The Invisible Woman · Cinematography
- The Mummy's Hand · Cinematography
- La Conga Nights · Cinematography
- Gangs of Chicago · Cinematography
- Double Alibi · Cinematography
- Black Friday · Cinematography
- The Big Guy · Cinematography
- Call a Messenger · Cinematography
- Two Bright Boys · Cinematography
- Ex-Champ · Cinematography
- Strange Faces · Cinematography
- Behind the Mike · Cinematography
- Thirty Day Princess · Still Photographer
- She Done Him Wrong · Still Photographer
- The Billion Dollar Scandal · Still Photographer
- The Devil Is Driving · Still Photographer
- The Secret Call · Still Photographer
- Snowbound · Cinematography
- The Magic Eye · Cordy (as Elwood Burdell)
- Southern Justice · Daws Anthony