Richard Earl Cunha (March 4, 1922 – September 18, 2005) was an American cinematographer and film director. Cunha's father was Albert "Sonny" Cunha, an American songwriter. During

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 ...

, Cunha served as an aerial photographer for the military, and then was transferred to

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on Ju ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he made military training films, newsreels and documentaries. After the war, Cunha worked as a TV photographer, eventually working his way to up director of photography for the TV shows ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'' and '' Branded''. Cunha wrote and directed only a handful of films, with his four best-known ones all being low-budget, sci fi-horror

B-movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

released in 1958 by

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later released independently m ...

-- ''

Giant from the Unknown ''Giant from the Unknown'' (working titles ''Giant from Devil's Crag'' and ''The Diablo Giant'' ) is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction- horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and Arthur A. Jacobs, directed by ...

'', ''

She Demons ''She Demons'' is a 1958 American independent black-and-white science fiction horror film, produced by Arthur A. Jacobs and Marc Frederic, directed and co-written by Richard E. Cunha, that stars Irish McCalla, Tod Griffin, and Victor Sen Yu ...

'', ''

Missile to the Moon ''Missile to the Moon'' is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film drama, produced by Marc Frederic, directed by Richard E. Cunha, that stars Richard Travis, Cathy Downs, and K. T. Stevens. The film was distribu ...

'', and ''

Frankenstein's Daughter ''Frankenstein's Daughter'' is an independently made 1958 American black-and-white science fiction/ horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and George Fowley, directed by Richard E. Cunha, that stars John Ashley, Sandra Knight, Donald ...

''. In an interview with ''The Astounding B Monster Archive'', Cunha said his low-budget films had "budgets

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

were under $80,000, and we tried very hard to bring them in for approximately $65,000 or less," that the "shooting schedules were always six days," and "you don't run over on these low-budget films - you shoot the opening scenes and the end scenes, and then fill in the picture in between."

Selected filmography

As cinematographer

* '' Red Rock Outlaw '' 1950 * ''

'' (TV) 1952 * ''

'' 1958 * ''

Bloodlust! ''Bloodlust!'' is a 1961 American horror thriller film written, directed and produced by Ralph Brooke and starring Wilton Graff, June Kenney, Joan Lora, Eugene Persson, and Robert Reed. It is based on Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most ...

'' 1961 * '' The Silent Witness'' 1964 * '' Le Proscrit'' (TV) 1965

As director

* ''

'' with Irish McCalla, Ted Griffin,

Victor Sen Yung Sen Yung, later known professionally as Victor Sen Young (born Sen Yew Cheung; October 18, 1914 – c. November 9, 1980); one source lists his given name as Victor Cheung Young with the birth year 1915)) was an American character actor, best kn ...

, Rudolph Anders. 1958 * ''

'' with

Ed Kemmer Ed Kemmer (October 29, 1921 – November 9, 2004) was an American motion picture and television actor. Life Kemmer was born in Reading, Pennsylvania as Edward William Kemmerer, and served as a fighter pilot in World War II. He was shot down ove ...

, Sally Fraser,

Buddy Baer Jacob Henry "Buddy" Baer (June 11, 1915 – July 18, 1986) was an American boxer and later an actor with important parts in seventeen films, as well as roles on various television series in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1941, he came extremely cl ...

1958 * ''

'' with

Richard Travis Richard Charles Travis, (born Dickson Cornelius Savage; 6 April 1884 – 25 July 1918) was a New Zealand soldier who fought during the First World War and was posthumously decorated with the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry ...

Cathy Downs Catherine N. Downs (March 3, 1926 – December 8, 1976) was an American film actress. Biography Downs was born in Port Jefferson, New York. She was the daughter of James Nelson Downs and Edna Elizabeth Newman. A model for the Walter Thornton ...

K.T. Stevens K.T. Stevens (born Gloria Wood, July 20, 1919 – June 13, 1994) was an American film and television actress. Early years Stevens was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of film producer and director Sam Wood. She made her first film appearan ...

, Tommy Cook. 1958 * ''

'') with John Ashley, Sandra Knight, Donald Murphy, Sally Todd, Harold Lloyd. 1958 * '' Girl in Room 13''. 1960 * '' Dog Eat Dog''. 1964

As writer

* ''

''. 1958 * '' Girl in Room 13''. 1960

References

External links

*
Richard E. Cunha, 83; Directed Cult-Status '50s Horror Movies (Los Angeles Times, October 3, 2005)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunha, Richard E. 1922 births 2005 deaths American cinematographers People from Oceanside, California United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces soldiers Science fiction film directors