Gilbert Taylor,
B.S.C. (12 April 1914 – 23 August 2013) was a British
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
, best known for his work on films such as ''
Dr. Strangelove
''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...
'', ''
A Hard Day's Night'' (both 1964),
''Repulsion'' (1965), ''
The Omen
''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...
'' (1976), and ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' (1977). In the course of his career, he collaborated with directors like
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...
,
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
,
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
, and
Mike Hodges
Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include ''Get Carter'' (1971), ''Pulp'' (1972), ''The Terminal Man'' (1974 ...
. He was nominated for two
BAFTA Awards
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
, and received a
Lifetime Achievement Award
Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions.
Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include:
A
* A.C. ...
from the
British Society of Cinematographers
The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British cinematographers ...
.
Early life
The son of a Hertfordshire builder, Taylor grew up in
Bushey Heath
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...
. A paternal uncle was a newsreel cameraman and contact with him from the age of ten gave Taylor early experience of working with cameras and developing film stock.
As a teenager, he studied architecture before deciding to pursue a career in film.
While his father disapproved of the film industry, populated he thought by "harridans, whores and gypsies", it was his mother who consented to their son's altered career plans.
A neighbour offered Taylor, aged 15, a job as a camera assistant to William Shenton, a cinematographer working for
Gainsborough Studios
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...
at their Islington base. In 1929, Taylor worked on the studio's final two silent films.
Shenton took Taylor to Paris where he worked on two more silent films, before returning to Gainsborough.
[Ellis, p. 74] He then worked at
Elstree
Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the ...
for
British International Pictures
Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...
, where he was clapper loader on the
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
film ''
Number Seventeen
''Number Seventeen'' is a 1932 comedy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring John Stuart, Anne Grey and Leon M. Lion. The film, which is based on the 1925 burlesque stage play '' Number Seventeen'' written by Joseph Jeffers ...
'' (1932). Despite his junior status, formally a second camera assistant, Taylor was entrusted with some of the special effects work, including the use of
mattes, to disguise the roofs of poorly-maintained buildings.
During six years service in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
as an officer in the
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...
, he became an operational cameraman flying in
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
s, documenting the damage after British bombing raids.
Taylor recalled: "This was requested by Winston Churchill, and my material was delivered to 10 Downing Street for him to view. He was keen for the public to see what our lads were doing. I did 10 of those operations, including raids on Cologne and Dresden".
Career
After demobilisation, he worked for
Two Cities Films
Two Cities Films was a British film production company. Formed in 1937, it was originally envisaged as a production company operating in the two cities of London and Rome which gave the company its name.
The driving forces behind the company were ...
. In ''
Fame Is the Spur'' (1947), he worked on a dream sequence using
deep focus
Deep focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique using a large depth of field. Depth of field is the front-to-back range of focus in an image, or how much of it appears sharp and clear. In deep focus, the foreground, middle ground, and b ...
. The
Boulting brothers
John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...
were the co-producers of the film and they placed Taylor under contract.
For the Boultings, Taylor, now promoted to full cinematographer, or director of photography, shot ''
The Guinea Pig'' (US, ''The Outsider'', 1948), ''
Seven Days to Noon
''Seven Days to Noon'' is a 1950 British drama/thriller film directed by John and Roy Boulting. Paul Dehn and James Bernard won the Academy Award for Best Story for their work on the film.
Plot
In 1950, the British Prime Minister receives ...
'' (1950) and ''
High Treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
'' (1951).
[ The text is reprinted from ] From this point, Taylor began to use bounced and reflected light gaining a more naturalistic look, whereas the use of direct light was still the common practice by his contemporaries.
Because it was necessary for London to look unpopulated in ''Seven Days to Noon'', the first of three "end of the world films" Taylor worked on, it was necessary for him to arise at five-o-clock in the morning during a seven-week shoot.
Kubrick, Lester and Polanski
Taylor worked on a number of films commended for their black and white photography, such as
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
's ''
Dr. Strangelove
''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...
'' and
Richard Lester
Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom.
He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and ''Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ''S ...
's ''
A Hard Day's Night'' (both 1964). Taylor, without Kubrick who was unwilling to fly in an aircraft, filmed material in the Arctic to be used as background plates in the flying sequences.
He commented later: "''Strangelove'' was at the time a unique experience because the lighting was to be incorporated in the sets, with little or no other light used". Concerning the war room set designed by
Ken Adam
Sir Kenneth Adam (born Klaus Hugo George Fritz Adam; 5 February 1921 – 10 March 2016) was a German-British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for ''Dr. Stran ...
: "Lighting that set was sheer magic, and I don’t quite know how I got away with it all". He continued: "Much of it was the same formula based on the overheads as fill and blasting in the key on faces from the side".
Although Kubrick and Taylor had a rapport, he found the director to be autocratic. An easier project to work on was the Richard Lester film with
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
which was heavily improvised.
[ ]
With Lester, Chris Pizzello wrote in 2003, Taylor "adopted a roving, multiple-camera technique (aided by new, versatile 10:1 zoom lenses) so that the Beatles could move about freely and not worry about technicalities like hitting marks. This fast, fresh brand of filmmaking was a perfect fit for the film’s tiny budget, tight schedule and simple black-and-white aesthetic". Taylor and five other operators on the film used hand-held
Arri
The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...
flex cameras. "The key is not to hold the camera completely still", he once commented "but to let it 'breathe' with you, to move with it".
His work on ''Dr Strangelove'' led
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...
to seek Taylor for ''
Repulsion'' (1965). In committing to the Polish director's first English-language film, Taylor rejected the opportunity to work on a Bond film (''
Thunderball'') because he thought Polanski "was a very interesting guy".
According to Polanski in his 1984 autobiography, ''Repulsion''s executive producer
Michael Klinger
Michael Klinger (born 4 July 1980) is an Australian former first-class cricketer, who held the record for the most runs scored in the Big Bash League when he retired in 2019.
Until the 2008–09 season, Klinger played for Victoria and for St ...
"protested that Gil Taylor was one of the most expensive cameramen in the business, but I held out for Taylor and I got him".
Taylor said his "aim was to get a stronger negative and good shadows in the final print. The shadows are what make good movies".
Their collaboration continued with ''
Cul-de-sac
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet.
The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...
'' (1966) and ''
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' (1971), the third and last film he shot with Polanski. According to
Ronald Bergan
Ronald Bergan (né Ginsberg, 2 November 1937 – 23 July 2020) was a South African-born British writer and historian. He was contributor to ''The Guardian'' (from 1989) and lecturer on film and other subjects as well as the author (or co-author) ...
, "although shot in colour", ''Macbeth'', "is as near to black and white as possible, with its grey, misty landscape".
Taylor received BAFTA nominations over two consecutive years for the first two collaborations.
Later work in colour
Hitchcock requested Taylor work on his penultimate film ''
Frenzy
''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squar ...
'' (1972). Despite a claim in Bergan's obituary of the cinematographer that Hitchcock was unaware the two men had worked together forty years earlier, according to Taylor they had stayed in touch.
Hitchcock never looked through the camera, because of his use of storyboards, leaving decisions to Taylor.
The tracking shot, up and down a flight of stairs and then into the street, which invisibly merged shots from a studio set and street location took a day to achieve with the switch disguised by the movement of an extra in front of the camera.
Taylor's later films include ''
The Omen
''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...
'' (1976), and ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' (1977). On ''Star Wars'', he established principles about visual aesthetics which have been maintained in the later films in the series.
He told Mark Newbold in 2005:
"I wanted to give ''Star Wars'' a unique visual style that would distinguish it from other films in the science fiction genre. I wanted ''Star Wars'' to have clarity because I think space isn’t out of focus, also I was mindful that there was an enormous amount of process work to be done in America with Dykstra after we had finished shooting in England, and a crisp result would help this process".
Taylor found
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
an elusive person to consult, leading Taylor to make his own decisions as how to shoot the picture after multiple readings of the script.
Differences of opinion between the director and cinematographer led to
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, for whom Taylor had shot ''The Omen'', intervening to retain him on the picture.
After the experience of working on ''Star Wars'', Taylor decided he would never work again with Lucas.
His last film credit was ''
Don't Get Me Started'' released in 1994, but he continued to work on commercials for some time afterwards.
Taylor was a founder member of the
British Society of Cinematographers
The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British cinematographers ...
, receiving their lifetime achievement award in 2001.
He received an international award from the
American Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...
(ASC) in 2006.
Personal life
Taylor met his wife, former script supervisor Dee Vaughan, while both were working on comedian
Tony Hancock
Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor.
High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...
's film, ''
The Punch and Judy Man
''The Punch and Judy Man'' is a 1963 black and white British comedy film made by Elstree Studios directed by Jeremy Summers from a script by Philip Oakes and Tony Hancock for the Associated British Picture Corporation. It was Hancock's second a ...
'' (1963), and married in 1967.
The couple had a son and daughter. Taylor also had a son and daughter from an earlier marriage. He died on 23 August 2013, aged 99, at his home on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
.
Filmography
As director of photography
* ''
The Guinea Pig'' (1948)
* ''
Seven Days to Noon
''Seven Days to Noon'' is a 1950 British drama/thriller film directed by John and Roy Boulting. Paul Dehn and James Bernard won the Academy Award for Best Story for their work on the film.
Plot
In 1950, the British Prime Minister receives ...
'' (1950)
* ''
Circle of Danger
''Circle of Danger'' is a 1951 British thriller film directed by Jacques Tourneur which stars Ray Milland, Patricia Roc, Marius Goring, Hugh Sinclair and Naunton Wayne. An American travels to England to discover the truth behind his brother's d ...
'' (1951)
* ''
High Treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
'' (1951)
* ''
The Yellow Balloon'' (1952)
* ''
Single-Handed'' (1952)
* ''
The Weak and the Wicked
''The Weak and the Wicked'' (called ''Young and Willing'' in the United States) is a 1954 British drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson based on the autobiographical novel '' Who Lie in Gaol'' by his wife, Joan Henry, starring Glynis Johns and ...
'' (1953)
* ''
Trouble in the Glen
''Trouble in the Glen'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Margaret Lockwood, Orson Welles, Forrest Tucker and Victor McLaglen. It is loosely based on Maurice Walsh's 1950 novel of the same name. It was filmed i ...
'' (1953)
* ''
Front Page Story
''Front Page Story'' is a 1954 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Allan and Eva Bartok. It was shot in black-and-white at Shepperton Studios with some location shooting in London. The film's sets we ...
'' (1954)
* ''
The Dam Busters'' (1955)
* ''
The Silken Affair
''The Silken Affair'' is a 1956 British romantic comedy film directed by Roy Kellino and starring David Niven, Geneviève Page, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Joan Sims, Irene Handl and Ronald Squire. The screenplay concerns an accountant who is creative ...
'' (1957)
* ''
Woman in a Dressing Gown
''Woman in a Dressing Gown'' is a 1957 British drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Yvonne Mitchell, Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms, and Carole Lesley. The film won four awards at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival includin ...
'' (1957)
* ''
The Good Companions
''The Good Companions'' is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley.
Written in 1929, it follows the fortunes of a concert party on a tour of England. It is Priestley's most famous novel and established him as a national figure. It won ...
'' (1957)
* ''
Ice Cold in Alex
''Ice Cold in Alex'' is a 1958 British war film set during the Western Desert campaign of World War II based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner a ...
'' (1958)
* ''
She Didn't Say No!
''She Didn't Say No!'' is a 1958 British comedy film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Eileen Herlie, Perlita Neilson and Niall MacGinnis. Based on the 1955 novel ''We Are Seven'' by Una Troy, an attractive young Irishwoman has six children ...
'' (1958)
* ''
No Trees in the Street
''No Trees in the Street'' is a 1959 British crime thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson and written by Ted Willis, from his 1948 stage play of the same name.
The film is set in the slums of London. It depicts the life of impoverished teenager To ...
'' (1958)
* ''
Alive and Kicking'' (1959)
* ''
Operation Bullshine
''Operation Bullshine'' is a 1959 British colour comedy film directed by Gilbert Gunn and starring Donald Sinden, Barbara Murray and Carole Lesley. The working title of the film was ''Girls in Arms'' that features as a marching song in the film ...
'' (1959)
* ''
Tommy the Toreador
''Tommy the Toreador'' is a 1959 British musical comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Tommy Steele, Janet Munro, Sid James, Bernard Cribbins, Noel Purcell and Kenneth Williams.
Premise
A British ship docks in Spain and ...
'' (1959)
* ''
Bottoms Up'' (1960)
* ''
Sands of the Desert
''Sands of the Desert'' is a 1960 British adventure comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Charlie Drake in his first lead role in a feature film, Peter Arne, Sarah Branch and Raymond Huntley.
Premise
Charlie Sands, a Briti ...
'' (1960)
* ''
Petticoat Pirates
''Petticoat Pirates'' is a 1961 British comedy film directed by David MacDonald and starring Charlie Drake, Anne Heywood, Cecil Parker, John Turner and Thorley Walters
Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English c ...
'' (1961)
* ''
The Rebel/Call Me Genius'' (1961)
* ''
The Full Treatment
''The Full Treatment'' (also known as ''The Treatment'' and ''Stop Me Before I Kill!'') is a 1960 black-and-white, British thriller film directed by Val Guest and starring Claude Dauphin, Diane Cilento and Ronald Lewis. It was based on the 195 ...
'' / ''The Treatment'' (1961)
* ''
A Prize of Arms
''A Prize of Arms'' is a 1962 British crime film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Stanley Baker, Helmut Schmid, Patrick Magee and Tom Bell with early appearances by several actors including Fulton Mackay, Michael Ripper, Stephen Lewis, Geof ...
'' (1962)
* ''
It's Trad, Dad!
''It's Trad, Dad!'' (1962), known in the U.S. as ''Ring-A-Ding Rhythm'', is a British musical comedy featuring performances by a variety of Dixieland jazz bands and rock-and-roll singers. The film was one of the first produced by Amicus Produc ...
'' / ''Ring-a-Ding Rhythm'' (1962)
* ''
Hide and Seek
Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a popular children's game in which at least two players (usually at least three) conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chose ...
'' (1963)
* ''
The Punch and Judy Man
''The Punch and Judy Man'' is a 1963 black and white British comedy film made by Elstree Studios directed by Jeremy Summers from a script by Philip Oakes and Tony Hancock for the Associated British Picture Corporation. It was Hancock's second a ...
'' (1963)
* ''
Dr. Strangelove
''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...
'' (1964)
* ''
A Hard Day's Night'' (1964)
* ''
Ferry Cross the Mersey
"Ferry Cross the Mersey" is a song written by Gerry Marsden. It was first recorded by his band Gerry and the Pacemakers and released in late 1964 in the UK and in 1965 in the United States. It was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reachin ...
'' (1965)
* ''
The Bedford Incident
''The Bedford Incident'' is a 1965 British-American Cold War film starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier and co-produced by Widmark. The cast also features Eric Portman, James MacArthur, Martin Balsam and Wally Cox, as well as early appe ...
'' (1965)
* ''
Repulsion'' (1965)
* ''
Cul-de-sac
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet.
The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...
'' (1966)
* ''
Theatre of Death
''Theatre of Death'' (also known as ''Blood Fiend'') is a 1967 British horror movie directed by Samuel Gallu and starring Christopher Lee as a theatre director whose Grand Guignol theatre is thought to be linked to a series of murders.John Hamilto ...
'' / ''The Female Fiend'' (1966)
* ''
Work Is a Four-Letter Word
''Work Is a Four-Letter Word'' (also known as ''Work Is a 4-Letter Word'') is a 1968 British satirical comedy film directed by Peter Hall and starring David Warner and Cilla Black, in her only acting role in a cinematic film. The film was not we ...
'' (1967)
* ''
The Man Outside
''The Man Outside'' (, literally ''Outside, at the door'') is a play by Wolfgang Borchert, written in a few days in the late autumn of 1946. It made its debut on German radio on 13 February 1947.
''The Man Outside'' describes the hopelessness of ...
'' (1967)
* ''
A Nice Girl Like Me
''A Nice Girl Like Me'' is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Desmond Davis.
Plot
The plot revolves around a girl who lives with her shrewd aunts, goes on a trip, gets pregnant, and must lie to her aunts that the baby is not hers.
Cast
* B ...
'' (1969)
* ''
Before Winter Comes
''Before Winter Comes'' is a 1969 British comedy-drama war film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by Andrew Sinclair.
Plot
''Before Winter Comes'' takes place in the immediate aftermath of World War II. British Major Giles Burnside ...
'' (1969)
* ''
A Day at the Beach
''A Day at the Beach'' is a 1970 British film based on the 1962 book ''Een dagje naar het strand'' by Dutch author Heere Heeresma. The screenplay was written by Roman Polanski, who was originally intended to be the director, although most of ...
'' (1970)
* ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'' / ''
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' (1971)
* ''
Frenzy
''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squar ...
'' (1972)
* ''
Soft Beds, Hard Battles
''Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting, starring Peter Sellers (in several roles), Curt Jurgens, Lila Kedrova and Jenny Hanley. Sellers reunited with the Boulting brothers for this farce, in which the ...
'' / ''Undercovers Hero'' (1974)
* ''
The Omen
''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...
'' (1976)
* ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' (1977)
* ''
Damien: Omen II'' (1978)
* ''
Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
'' (1979)
* ''
Meetings with Remarkable Men
''Meetings with Remarkable Men, autobiographical in nature, is the second volume of the ''All and Everything'' trilogy written by the Greek-Armenian spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff started working on the Russian manuscript in 1927, ...
'' (1979)
* ''
Escape to Athena
''Escape to Athena'' is a 1979 British adventure comedy war film directed by George P. Cosmatos. It stars Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Roundtree, Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould. The film i ...
'' (1979)
* ''
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...
'' (1980)
* ''
Green Ice
''Green Ice'' is a 1981 British adventure film starring Ryan O'Neal. It was also released under the name ''Operation Green Ice''.
Plot
A down on his luck engineer gets involved in an adventure with a mysterious woman and an emerald magnate.
Cast
...
'' (1981)
* ''
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
'' (1981)
* ''
Losin' It
''Losin' It'' is a 1983 comedy film directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Tom Cruise, Shelley Long, Jackie Earle Haley, and John Stockwell. The plot concerns four teenagers trying to lose their virginity. ''Losin' It'' was filmed largely in Ca ...
'' (1983)
* ''
Lassiter'' (1984)
* ''
Voyage of the Rock Aliens
''Voyage of the Rock Aliens'' is a 1984 film directed by James Fargo and starring Pia Zadora and Craig Sheffer.
Plot
A guitar-shaped spaceship and Robot 1359 (voiced by Peter Cullen), search the universe for the source of rock and roll music. ...
'' (1984)
* ''
The Bedroom Window'' (1987)
* ''
Don't Get Me Started'' (1994)
Television
* ''
The Avengers''
**episode "A Sense of History" (photography) (1966)
**episode "The Forget-Me-Knot" (1968)
**episode "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues" (1968)
**episode "Invasion of the Earthmen" (1968)
**episode "Split!" (1968)
**episode "Get-A-Way!" (1968)
**episode "Look - (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers..." (1968)
**episode "Homicide and Old Lace" (1969)
* ''Breaking Up'' (1978)
As television director
* ''
Department S'' ("The Man from X", 1969)
References
External links
*
Profile and interviewby the
American Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...
, on the occasion of his International Achievement Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Gilbert
1914 births
2013 deaths
British cinematographers
People from Bushey
Royal Air Force officers
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II