Weekly Movie Challenge

John F. Seitz

Biography

John Francis Seitz, A.S.C. (June 23, 1892 – February 27, 1979) was an American cinematographer and inventor. He was nominated for seven Academy Awards.

Seitz's Hollywood career began in 1909 as a lab assistant with the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in Chicago. He went to work as a lab technician for the American Film Manufacturing Company (known as "Flying A"), also in Chicago. In 1916, during the silent era, he established himself, achieving great successes with the Rudolph Valentino film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921).

Highly regarded by director Billy Wilder, Seitz worked with him on the film noirs Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), and Sunset Blvd. (1950), receiving Academy Award nominations for each.

In 1929, he served a year as president of the American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C.) for which he had been a member since 1923. The A.S.C. named its 2002 Heritage Award after Seitz.

Besides one Golden Globe and seven Oscar nominations, he also received the Look Magazine Award for The Lost Weekend, the A.S.C. Award for Sunset Blvd., and was among the winners of the inaugural George Award from the George Eastman House for outstanding contributions to the art of cinema for the years 1915 to 1925.

He retired in 1960 and devoted himself to photographic inventions, for which he held 18 patents. An example of one Seitz invention is the matte shot: a large painting is photographed separately and later added to a scene to expand it, add effects, and/or create a sense of depth in backgrounds. He was also noted for his innovations with low-key lighting, which enhanced the film noir style.

A widower, he married screenwriter Marie Boyle in 1934 who raised his daughter Margaret Alice Marhoefer and later gave birth to a son, John Lawrence Seitz.

Camera

Guns of the Timberland

1960

Director of Photography

The Man in the Net

1959

Director of Photography

Island of Lost Women

1959

Director of Photography

The Badlanders

1958

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The Deep Six

1958

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The Big Land

1957

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A Cry in the Night

1956

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Santiago

1956

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Hell on Frisco Bay

1955

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The McConnell Story

1955

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Many Rivers to Cross

1955

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Rogue Cop

1954

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The Rocket Man

1954

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Saskatchewan

1954

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Fort Algiers

1953

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Desert Legion

1953

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Invaders from Mars

1953

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Botany Bay

1952

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The Iron Mistress

1952

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The Savage

1952

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The San Francisco Story

1952

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Detective Story

1951

Additional Photography

When Worlds Collide

1951

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Dear Brat

1951

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The Goldbergs

1950

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Sunset Boulevard

1950

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Appointment with Danger

1950

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Captain Carey, U.S.A.

1950

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Chicago Deadline

1949

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The Great Gatsby

1949

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Night Has a Thousand Eyes

1948

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Beyond Glory

1948

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The Big Clock

1948

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On Our Merry Way

1948

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Saigon

1947

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Wild Harvest

1947

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Calcutta

1946

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The Imperfect Lady

1946

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Home Sweet Homicide

1946

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The Well Groomed Bride

1946

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The Lost Weekend

1945

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The Unseen

1945

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Casanova Brown

1944

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Hail the Conquering Hero

1944

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Double Indemnity

1944

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The Hour Before the Dawn

1944

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The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

1943

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Five Graves to Cairo

1943

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Lucky Jordan

1942

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The Moon and Sixpence

1942

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This Gun for Hire

1942

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Fly-By-Night

1942

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Sullivan's Travels

1941

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Dr. Kildare's Crisis

1940

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A Little Bit of Heaven

1940

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Dr. Kildare's Strange Case

1940

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Let's Talk Turkey

1939

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Bad Little Angel

1939

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Thunder Afloat

1939

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6,000 Enemies

1939

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Prophet Without Honor

1939

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Sergeant Madden

1939

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1939

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Young Dr. Kildare

1938

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Stablemates

1938

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The Crowd Roars

1938

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Lord Jeff

1938

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Love Is a Headache

1938

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Navy Blue and Gold

1937

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Madame X

1937

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Between Two Women

1937

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Carnival in Paris

1937

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15 Maiden Lane

1936

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Poor Little Rich Girl

1936

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Captain January

1936

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The Country Doctor

1936

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The Littlest Rebel

1935

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Navy Wife

1935

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Redheads on Parade

1935

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Curly Top

1935

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One More Spring

1935

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Helldorado

1935

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Our Little Girl

1935

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Marie Galante

1934

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Springtime for Henry

1934

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All Men Are Enemies

1934

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Coming Out Party

1934

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Mr. Skitch

1933

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Paddy the Next Best Thing

1933

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Adorable

1933

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Dangerously Yours

1933

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Ladies They Talk About

1933

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6 Hours to Live

1932

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A Passport to Hell

1932

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The Woman in Room 13

1932

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Careless Lady

1932

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She Wanted a Millionaire

1932

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Over the Hill

1931

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The Age for Love

1931

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Merely Mary Ann

1931

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Hush Money

1931

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Men of the Sky

1931

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Young Sinners

1931

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Misbehaving Ladies

1931

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East Lynne

1931

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The Right of Way

1930

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Kismet

1930

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The Bad Man

1930

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Road to Paradise

1930

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Sweethearts and Wives

1930

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Back Pay

1930

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Murder Will Out

1930

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In the Next Room

1930

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The Painted Angel

1929

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A Most Immoral Lady

1929

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Her Private Life

1929

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Hard to Get

1929

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Careers

1929

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The Squall

1929

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Saturday's Children

1929

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The Divine Lady

1928

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Adoration

1928

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Outcast

1928

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The Patsy

1928

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Across to Singapore

1928

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The Trail of '98

1928

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The Fair Co-Ed

1927

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The Magician

1926

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Mare Nostrum

1926

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The Price of a Party

1924

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Classmates

1924

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The Arab

1924

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Scaramouche

1923

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Where the Pavement Ends

1923

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Trifling Women

1922

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The Prisoner of Zenda

1922

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Turn to the Right

1922

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The Conquering Power

1921

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Uncharted Seas

1921

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The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

1921

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Hearts Are Trumps

1920

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Shore Acres

1920

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The Sagebrusher

1920

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The Westerners

1919

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Up Romance Road

1918

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Powers That Prey

1918

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Beauty and the Rogue

1918

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The Mate of the Sally Ann

1917

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A Game of Wits

1917

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The Bride's Silence

1917

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Souls in Pawn

1917

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The Serpent's Tooth

1917

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Whose Wife?

1917

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The Ranger of Lonesome Gulch

1916

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The Quagmire

1916

Director of Photography

John F. Seitz

Camera

Crew