Geoffrey Unsworth

Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth, OBE, BSC (26 May 1914 – 28 October 1978) was a British cinematographer who worked on nearly 90 feature films spanning over more than 40 years. He is best known for his work on films such as Stanley Kubrick's ''2001: A Space Odyssey (film), 2001: A Space Odyssey'', Bob Fosse's ''Cabaret (1972 film), Cabaret'' and Richard Donner's ''Superman (1978 film), Superman''.

Career

Unsworth began his career working at Gaumont British from 1932 to 1937. Having joined Technicolor in 1938, he acted as assistant director of photography on many notable productions, such as Powell and Pressburger's ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1943) and ''A Matter of Life and Death (film), A Matter of Life and Death'' (1946). After working on some of the Gainsborough melodramas, he worked at the Rank Organisation throughout the 1950s, notably on films such as ''A Town Like Alice (1956 film), A Town Like Alice'' and ''A Night to Remember (1958 film), A Night to Remember''.

In the 1960s, Unsworth's work extended abroad, such as with the 1962 CinemaScope epic ''The 300 Spartans''; the decade also saw him receive his first Academy Awards, Academy Award nomination for his work on 1964's ''Becket (1964 film), Becket''. In 1965, he was responsible for photographing the Royal National Theatre's Othello (1965 British film), production of William Shakespeare's ''Othello''.

His film work brought him an impressive array of awards, including five British Society of Cinematographers awards, three BAFTAS and two Academy Awards. Unsworth was especially in demand as cinematographer in two very different genres, period pieces and science fiction. Among the highlights of his career, he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the visually innovative ''2001: A Space Odyssey (film), 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (on which he was assisted by John Alcott, who would become a regular collaborator of Kubrick's) and Bob Fosse's dark musical exploration of the end of Weimar Republic, Weimar Germany, ''Cabaret (1972 film), Cabaret''. In Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film), 1974 film adaptation of Agatha Christie's ''Murder on the Orient Express'', his lighting and use of diffusion capture the danger and romance of the train while graceful integration of camera movement and optical effects contributes to the realism of the set while controlling the claustrophobia of the setting.

Unsworth's work reached its widest audience with Richard Donner's ''Superman (1978 film), Superman'' in 1978. He was responsible for integrating the work of a who's-who of cinematographers and visual effects designers (including Zoran Perisic (special effects), Zoran Perisic, an animation stand crew member from ''2001'', who extended Kubrick's front projection technique for ''Superman''), with the plausibility and sense of grandeur befitting a (mostly) reverent take on a superhero. The style he developed alongside director Donner was essentially that of a science-fiction period film; the glamorous, often highly diffused cinematography observed a panoply of images of Americana, suggesting an epic timeframe for the film's scenes, a mythical America somewhere between the 1930s of the original comics and the 1970s. The style of the sequences that did not involve extensive science-fiction elements had to match scenes displaying Superman's powers.

Unsworth's other work in the 1970s included the Oliver Cromwell biopic ''Cromwell (film), Cromwell'' in 1970, the 1972 John Barry (composer), John Barry musical ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', John Boorman's 1974 fantasy film ''Zardoz'', ''The Return of the Pink Panther'' (the fourth film in Blake Edwards' ''The Pink Panther (film series), Pink Panther'' series), Richard Attenborough's 1977 war epic ''A Bridge Too Far (film), A Bridge Too Far''. In 1981, he won a posthumous Oscar for Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Best Cinematography for his collaborative work with Ghislain Cloquet on Roman Polanski's ''Tess (1979 film), Tess''.

For ''Superman'', Unsworth was not named in the Special Achievement in Visual Effects Academy Award the film received, but instead as director of photography, and without a separate credit for special effects work, he would not have been eligible. Donner expressed great disgust that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not recognise Unsworth with a nomination for Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Best Achievement in Cinematography in 51st Academy Awards, 1979.

Death and legacy

Unsworth died of a heart attack in France at the age of 64 while filming Roman Polanski's ''Tess (1979 film), Tess'' in 1978.

Both ''Superman'' and ''The First Great Train Robbery'' were dedicated to Unsworth's memory. As alluded to in the ''Superman'' dedication, Unsworth was an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

He was admired for his charming manner at work. For instance, Margot Kidder was flattered when he arranged lighting for her shots and insisted on concentration by saying "Quiet, I'm lighting the Lady."Superman – The Movie (Four-Disc Special Edition): Disc 3, "Making Superman: Filming the Legend" His wife Maggie worked in the British film industry, often as a script/continuity supervisor.

Awards and honours

Selected filmography

Actor

*''The First Great Train Robbery'' (1978) - (uncredited)

Cinematographer

''The People's Land''
(1941)

''Gardens of England''
(1941)

''World Garden''
(1942), a film about Kew Gardens

''Teeth of Steel''
(1942)

''World Garden''
(1942)

''Make Fruitful the Land''
(1945)
* ''The Laughing Lady'' (1946)
* ''The Man Within (film), The Man Within'' (1947)
* ''Jassy (film), Jassy'' (1947)
* ''Scott of the Antarctic (film), Scott of the Antarctic'' (1948)
* ''The Blue Lagoon (1949 film), The Blue Lagoon'' (1949)
* ''The Spider and the Fly (1949 film), The Spider and the Fly'' (1949)
* ''Double Confession'' (1950)
* ''Trio (film), Trio'' (1950)
* ''The Clouded Yellow'' (1951)
* ''Where No Vultures Fly'' (1951)
* ''The Planter's Wife (1952 film), The Planter's Wife'' (1952)
* ''Turn the Key Softly'' (1953)
* ''The Million Pound Note'' (1953)
* ''The Purple Plain'' (1954)
* ''The Seekers (1954 film), The Seekers'' (1954)
* ''A Town Like Alice (1956 film), A Town Like Alice'' (1956)
* ''Jacqueline (1956 film), Jacqueline'' (1956)
* ''Tiger in the Smoke'' (1956)
* ''Hell Drivers (film), Hell Drivers'' (1957)
* ''A Night to Remember (1958 film), A Night to Remember'' (1958)
* ''North West Frontier (film), North West Frontier'' (1959)
* ''Whirlpool (1959 film), Whirlpool'' (1959)
* ''On the Double (film), On the Double'' (1961)
* ''The 300 Spartans'' (1962)
* ''Tamahine'' (1963)
* ''Becket (1964 film), Becket'' (1964)
* ''Othello (1965 British film), Othello'' (1965)
* ''Genghis Khan (1965 film), Genghis Khan'' (1965)
* ''You Must Be Joking! (1965 film), You Must be Joking'' (1965)
* ''Half a Sixpence (film), Half a Sixpence'' (1967)
* ''The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom'' (1968)
* ''2001: A Space Odyssey (film), 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968)
* ''The Assassination Bureau'' (1969)
* ''The Reckoning (1969 film), The Reckoning'' (1969)
* ''Three Sisters (1970 Olivier film), Three Sisters'' (1970)
* ''Cromwell (film), Cromwell'' (1970)
* ''Say Hello to Yesterday'' (1971)
* ''Unman, Wittering and Zigo (film), Unman, Wittering and Zigo'' (1971)
* ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1972)
* ''Cabaret (1972 film), Cabaret'' (1972)
* ''Voices (1973 film), Voices'' (1973)
* ''Baxter!'' (1973)
* ''Zardoz'' (1974)
* ''Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film), Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974)
* ''The Abdication'' (1974)
* ''Lucky Lady'' (1975)
* ''Royal Flash (film), Royal Flash'' (1975)
* ''The Return of the Pink Panther'' (1975)
* ''A Matter of Time (film), A Matter of Time'' (1976)
* ''A Bridge Too Far (film), A Bridge Too Far'' (1977)
* ''Superman (1978 film), Superman'' (1978)
* ''The First Great Train Robbery'' (1978)
* ''Tess (1979 film), Tess'' (1979) with Ghislain Cloquet
* ''Superman II'' (1980) with Robert Paynter
* ''Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut'' (2006) with Robert Paynter

References

External links

BFI: British Film Institute website
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Geoffrey Unsworth at the TIME/IMAGE project

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unsworth, Geoffrey
1914 births
1978 deaths
Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners
Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners
British cinematographers
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People from Leigh, Greater Manchester