Camera
Harold Rosson
EN, IT, ES cinema · 120 credits
Born
6 April 1895
Died
6 September 1988 (aged 93)
Birthplace
New York City, New York, USA
Also known as Harold G. Rosson · Hal Rosson
From Wikipedia Harold G. "Hal" Rosson, A.S.C. (April 6, 1895 – September 6, 1988) was an American cinematographer who worked during the early and classical Hollywood cinema. He is best known for his work on the 1939 fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. Harold Rosson began his film career in 1908 as an actor at the Vitagraph Studios in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York City. He became the assistant to Irvin Willat at the Mark Dintenfass Studios. In 1912 he divided his time as an office boy in a stockbrokers firm and as an assistant, extra, and handyman at the Famous Players Studio in New York. His first film for Famous Players was David Harum (1915). In December 1914, Rosson moved to California and joined Metro Pictures. During World War I, he served in the United States Army. After his demobilization, he went to work on the Marion Davies film The Dark Star. He was offered a contract with the Davies Company. In 1920 he was signed by Mary Pickford, working primarily with her brother Jack Pickford. In the 1930s, Rosson signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed the photography for some of the studio's most popular films including Treasure Island (1934), The Wizard of Oz, Duel in the Sun, and Singin' in the Rain (1952). In 1936, Rosson and fellow cinematographer W. Howard Greene were awarded an Honorary Oscar for the color cinematography of the 1936 David O. Selznick production The Garden of Allah. Rosson later said it was the first time he attempted to film in color. After a very long and successful career in Hollywood, Rosson retired in 1958. He briefly came out of retirement in 1966 for the Howard Hawks film El Dorado starring John Wayne. Rosson was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce, and had no children. While shooting the film Bombshell in 1933, actress Jean Harlow proposed to Rosson. The two had worked together previously on Red-Headed Woman, Dinner at Eight, Hold Your Man, and Red Dust and had struck up a friendship. On September 17, 1933, the two were married in Yuma, Arizona. In an interview with Leicester Wagner, Harlow recalled that she and Rosson grew closer after the death of her second husband, Paul Bern, and he encouraged her to go out and socialize. Rosson and Harlow separated in May 1934 with Harlow charging that Rosson was "rude, sullen and irritable". She was granted a divorce in March 1935. On October 11, 1936, Rosson married socialite Yvonne Crellin in Beverly Hills. They divorced in June 1945. On September 6, 1988, Rosson died, age 93, at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. He is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Known for
Filmography
El Dorado
Director of Photography
No Time for Sergeants
Director of Photography
The Enemy Below
Director of Photography
Toward the Unknown
Director of Photography
The Bad Seed
Director of Photography
Strange Lady in Town
Director of Photography
Pete Kelly's Blues
Director of Photography
Mambo
Director of Photography
Ulysses
Director of Photography
The Actress
Director of Photography
The Story of Three Loves
Director of Photography
Dangerous When Wet
Director of Photography
I Love Melvin
Director of Photography
Singin' in the Rain
Director of Photography
Love Is Better Than Ever
Director of Photography
Lone Star
Director of Photography
The Red Badge of Courage
Director of Photography
The Asphalt Jungle
Director of Photography
Key to the City
Director of Photography
To Please a Lady
Director of Photography
Any Number Can Play
Director of Photography
The Stratton Story
Director of Photography
On the Town
Director of Photography
Homecoming
Director of Photography
Command Decision
Director of Photography
Living in a Big Way
Director of Photography
The Hucksters
Director of Photography
Duel in the Sun
Director of Photography
Three Wise Fools
Director of Photography
No Leave, No Love
Director of Photography
Between Two Women
Director of Photography
An American Romance
Director of Photography
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Director of Photography
Slightly Dangerous
Director of Photography
Somewhere I'll Find You
Director of Photography
Tennessee Johnson
Director of Photography
Johnny Eager
Director of Photography
Washington Melodrama
Director of Photography
Honky Tonk
Director of Photography
Boom Town
Director of Photography
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Director of Photography
I Take This Woman
Director of Photography
The Wizard of Oz
Director of Photography
Forgotten Victory
Director of Photography
A Yank at Oxford
Cinematography
That Mothers Might Live
Director of Photography
Too Hot to Handle
Director of Photography
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Director of Photography
They Gave Him a Gun
Director of Photography
Captains Courageous
Director of Photography
Double Wedding
Director of Photography
The Devil Is a Sissy
Director of Photography
As You Like It
Director of Photography
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
Director of Photography
The Garden of Allah
Cinematography
The Ghost Goes West
Director of Photography
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Director of Photography
This Side of Heaven
Director of Photography
The Cat and the Fiddle
Director of Photography
Treasure Island
Director of Photography
Penthouse
Director of Photography
The Barbarian
Director of Photography
Bombshell
Director of Photography
Hold Your Man
Director of Photography
Turn Back the Clock
Director of Photography
Red Dust
Director of Photography
Kongo
Director of Photography
Red-Headed Woman
Director of Photography
Downstairs
Director of Photography
Tarzan the Ape Man
Director of Photography
The Squaw Man
Director of Photography
The Cuban Love Song
Director of Photography
Men Call It Love
Director of Photography
Sporting Blood
Director of Photography
En cada puerto un amor
1931
Love in Every Port
Cinematography
Son of India
Director of Photography
Madam Satan
Director of Photography
This Mad World
Director of Photography
Passion Flower
Director of Photography
Frozen Justice
Cinematography
Trent's Last Case
Director of Photography
South Sea Rose
Director of Photography
The Far Call
Cinematography
The Case of Lena Smith
Director of Photography
The Docks of New York
Director of Photography
Abie's Irish Rose
Director of Photography
The Drag Net
Director of Photography
Three Week Ends
Director of Photography
The Sawdust Paradise
Director of Photography
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Director of Photography
Open Range
Cinematography
Rough House Rosie
Director of Photography
Evening Clothes
Director of Photography
A Gentleman of Paris
Director of Photography
Man Bait
Director of Photography
Getting Gertie's Garter
Director of Photography
Service for Ladies
1927
Service for Ladies
Director of Photography
Almost a Lady
Director of Photography
Up in Mabel's Room
Director of Photography
Jim the Conqueror
Cinematography
For Wives Only
Cinematography
The Little French Girl
Cinematography
Too Many Kisses
Director of Photography
A Man Must Live
Director of Photography
Manhandled
Director of Photography
Manhattan
Cinematography
A Society Scandal
Director of Photography
Dark Secrets
1923
Dark Secrets
Director of Photography
Zaza
Director of Photography
The Glimpses of the Moon
Director of Photography
Big Brother
Director of Photography
Quicksands
Director of Photography
Through a Glass Window
Director of Photography
Buried Treasure
Director of Photography
A Virginia Courtship
Cinematography
Heliotrope
Camera Operator
The Cinema Murder
Director of Photography
The American Consul
1917
The American Consul
Director of Photography
Panthea
Director of Photography
Oliver Twist
Director of Photography