Elwood Bredell
Ava Gardner and Burt Lancaster in The Killers in 1946
Born
Jesse B. Bredell

(1902-12-24)24 December 1902
Indianapolis, Indiana
Died(1969-02-26)26 February 1969
California
Other namesWoody Bredell
Elwood Dell
Occupation(s)Cinematographer, actor
Years active1917–1955

Elwood Bailey Bredell (24 December 1902 – 26 February 1969) was an American cinematographer and child silent screen actor.[1] 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). Warner Bros. editor George Amy said Bredell could "light a football stadium with a single match".[2]

Early life

Bredell was born Jesse B. Bredell, Jr., after his father, who was married to stage actress Mary Palmer Nields. She 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.)[1]

Career

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 to 1934, Bredell worked as a still photographer at RKO and Paramount, coinciding with his stepfather's tenures at those studios.[1] At Paramount, Bredell apprenticed under veteran cinematographers Charles Lang and Arthur C. Miller.[1] In 1936, 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 Paul produced Reckless Living (1938).[1]

Bredell's work on horror films such as Black Friday (1940), The Mummy's Hand (1940), and Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), anticipated his film noir cinematography. 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.

Selected filmography

Actor

Cinematographer

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Palumbo, Ron (2018). Hold That Ghost: Including the Original Shooting Script. BearManor Media. OCLC 1033802106. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  2. ↑ Flynn, Charles and Todd McCarthy. Kings of the Bs: Working Within the Hollywood System: an Anthology of Film History and Criticism. E.P. Dutton, 1975.
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