Father Geek here with another bit of bad news for film lovers. Conrad Hall, a true grand master of Light and Shadow, has died from cancer this weekend.
Someone once said concerning the Academy Awards that, "just being nominated was award enough." Well, if that's true, and I feel it is, then Conrad Hall is as honored as they get. He won two Oscars, for AMERICAN BEAUTY and BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, buuuuuutttt he was nominated 7 more times, for A CIVIL ACTION... SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER... TEQUILA SUNRISE... DAY OF THE LOCUST... IN COLD BLOOD... THE PROFESSIONALS... and the tense spy drama MORITURI. As if that were not enough, he received at least 4 "Lifetime Achievement Awards" that this writer is aware of... from The LA Film Critics Association... Camera Image... The National Board of Review... and his peers over at The American Society of Cinematographers. He won two British Academy Awards (BAFTA'S) and the top award from the British Society of Cinematographers too.
Conrad was born in 1926 in Tahiti the son of the writer of "MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY", James Norman Hall, who also penned "THE HURRICANE." And he cut his filmic teeth filming that great TV genre series, "THE OUTER LIMITS." He was also once married to screen beauty Katherine Ross.
He remained active till the very end, at the time of his death, Hall was reportedly planning to make his directing debut on a comedy he had written about a gigolo going through a midlife crisis. Further, he had been serving as The Kodak Cinematographer in Residence at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Theater, Film, and Television as well.
Annnnnd, of course, just this past year (2002) he gave us the beautifully shot motion picture, THE ROAD TO PERDITION (how about that rainy night shootout). He will be missed not only as an immense and producing talent, but as a caring mentor, an educator who really cared about his students. Father Geek will remember him most for the rich contrasts and complex compositions that was Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD, the look of that B&W drama was unforgettable, and so is CONRAD L. HALL.
"Moriarty" here. I have to add a few thoughts. I'm deeply saddened at the passing of this giant, this remarkable artist who bettered every project he was part of. Just the other day, while we were working, Harry Lime and I were flipping around DirecTV looking for something to have on in the background. We found ELEKTRA GLIDE IN BLUE, which I first saw at the New Beverly with my buddy Patton about a year and a half ago.
If you're a fan of '70's films, and if you've never seen this film, you owe it to yourself to seek out a letterboxed copy or find a theatrical presentation of it that you can get in to see. It's a great little film, the flip side to EASY RIDER about a motorcycle cop (played memorably by Robert Blake) who wants to get off his bike and become a detective. Conrad Hall's work takes the film from being a strong character drama with a wicked sense of humor and makes it a beautiful, luminous work of art, and it's got one of the great last shots in film history. It was this kind of effort that marks his work as special and unique, and that has influenced a whole generation of cameramen who came up after him.
You might also seek out Todd McCarthy's exceptional documentary, VISIONS OF LIGHT, which is a celebration of the art of cinematography. In in, Hall talks about one of the great accidents in film history that took place during the making of IN COLD BLOOD. As they were shooting Blake's big monologue towards the end of the film, Hall lit the scene so the reflection of the rain outside would play across Blake's face. It wasn't until they set up to shoot that director Richard Brooks realized how much the rain looked like tears. Even though Blake is ice cold as he delivers the monologue, Hall's work allows you a look at what's going on inside the character, a perfect example of what he was capable of.
I rarely talk about the Academy Awards, but I'd say if the Academy doesn't acknowledge Hall's work by giving him the award for ROAD TO PERDITION (which he would deserve even if he were still alive), then they're not paying proper homage to this legend upon his passing. My deepest condolences to Hall, his equally talented son Conrad Hall Jr., and his entire family.
