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Hal Mohr

American cinematographer (1894–1974) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hal Mohr
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Harold Leon "Hal" Mohr,[1][2][3] A.S.C. (August 2, 1894 – May 10, 1974) was a famed movie cinematographer, noted for shooting The Jazz Singer, Hollywood's landmark semi-talkie. Mohr won an Oscar for his work on the 1935 film, A Midsummer Night's Dream, another for the 1943 version of The Phantom of the Opera, and received an Oscar nomination for lensing the 1952 film of Jan de Hartog's The Fourposter.

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Early life and career

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Born in San Francisco on August 2, 1894,[4] Mohr was one of four children born to Rosalia (née Remarque) and Michael Mohr.[2] He received all his formal education in his hometown, flunking out of Lowell High School, then attending San Francisco Polytechnic for over a year, before dropping out for a job in the film exchange.[5][6]

From a young age, Hal Mohr wanted to pursue a career in cinematography because he was curious to learn about how to make pictures move onscreen. He worked as a photo finisher in a photo lab to gain experience with the camera. When he was 19 years old, he filmed his first movie, Pam's Daughter, which was never seen by the public because of problems with the motion picture distribution company.[7]

In 1913, in an early example of an exploitation film peddled directly to theater owners, producer Sol Lesser hired Mohr to make The Last Night of the Barbary Coast. This film purported to show the last night of the depraved Barbary Coast red-light district of San Francisco before it was shut down by the police.[8] (The area was not closed down until 1917.[9]) This is now considered a lost film.[10]

Inspired by the moving shots in the Italian movie, Cabiria, Mohr developed a camera with special tracking abilities for his 1914 film, Pan's Mountain.[11] The following year, he moved to Hollywood and began working at Universal City to gain further experience in the industry.[7]

In 1927, Mohr filmed The Jazz Singer for Warner Brothers.[12]

Although Mohr mainly worked as a cinema portraitist on movies such as The Wedding March, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Technicolor The Phantom of the Opera, he was passionate about exploring the limits of the camera. Mohr shot in deep focus years before Gregg Toland – Bullets or Ballots and The Green Pastures were both shot in deep focus.[13]

Notably, Mohr is the only person to have won a competitive Academy Award without being nominated for it. In 1936, a write-in campaign won him the Best Cinematography Oscar for his work on A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), prompting an immediate rules-change by the Academy, making write-in voting impossible.[14] In 1944, Mohr became the first person to win an Oscar for both Black-and-White and Color cinematography when he won his second Academy Award,[citation needed] this time with W. Howard Greene for Best Cinematography in a Color Film, for their work on The Phantom of the Opera (1943).[15]

Mohr was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematographer for his work on The Four Poster (1952), a film based on a play of the same name, written by Jan de Hartog.[16] He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Cinematography in a Black and White Film, for his work on the same movie.[citation needed]

Other film cinematographer credits include Little Annie Rooney (1925), The Big Gamble (1931), Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941), Another Part of the Forest (1948) and The Wild One (1953).[17]

Mohr served three times as president of the American Society of Cinematographers: from 1930 to 1931;[18] then two consecutive terms, from 1963 to 1965;[19] and, finally, from 1968 to 1969.[20][21] He was one of the first members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as a senior member of its Board of Directors and the head of its Cinematography Branch for over 20 years.[22] He was also a part of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.[23] Before his death, Mohr would travel the country promoting cameramen and the industry of cinematography.[citation needed]

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Personal life and death

The first two of Mohr's three marriages ended in divorce. First, from 1919 to 1925, was Aileen Gosher (née Gocher, aka Jescher),[24][25] with whom Mohr had three children, a son, Michael,[26][27] and two daughters, Aileen and Joan.[28][29][30] The second Mrs. Mohr was actress Claire Del Mar, married in 1926 and divorced three years later.[31][32]

On December 7, 1934, Mohr married actress Evelyn Venable,[33] whom he had met on the set of the Will Rogers film David Harum.[34] Strict vegetarians,[a] they had two daughters, Dolores and Rosalia.[37]

Following a brief illness, Mohr died on May 10, 1974 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, survived by his wife and all five children.[22]

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Legacy

On Wednesday, May 26, 1976, for his many contributions to motion pictures and the film industry, Mohr received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in front of the Hollywood Pacific Theatre at 6433 Hollywood Blvd.[38][39]

Awards and nominations

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Partial filmography

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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    Venable herself was a lifelong vegetarian who, as of June 1935, was reportedly in the process of converting her husband, and who, as of August 1936, had, by her own account, succeeded.[35][36]

References

Bibliography

External links

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