Gordon Jennings,

A.S.C. 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 ci ...

(1896 – January 11, 1953) was an American

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual ...

s artist. He received seven

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

(mainly for Best Special Effects) and was nominated for eight more in the same category. After starting 1919 in Hollywood as

camera assistant A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed. "Pulling focus" refers to ...

he worked from 1932 until 1953 on the visual and special effects of more than 180 films. His older brother was cinematographer Devereaux Jennings (1884-1952), who filmed, for instance,

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

's monumental '' The General'' in 1926.

Awards and nominations

Jennings received seven Academy Awards (mainly for "Best Special Effects") and was nominated for eight more. In 1942, he beat himself winning the Academy Award for his work in 1941 on '' I Wanted Wings'' with

Farciot Edouart Farciot Edouart, ASC (born Alexander Farciot Edouart; November 5, 1894 – March 17, 1980) was a motion picture special effects artist and innovator, a recognized specialist and innovator in the area of "process photography", also known as rear pro ...

against his second nomination for '' Aloma of the South Seas'' with Louis Mesenkop. In 1952, he was decorated twice for '' When Worlds Collide'' and with an "Award for Technical Achievement". His last receipt of an Academy Award was posthumous, when ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' was decorated during the 1954 ceremony. Won or decorated * 1938: ''

Spawn of the North ''Spawn of the North'' is a 1938 American adventure film about rival fishermen in Alaska starring George Raft and featuring Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff and John Barrymore. The picture was directed by Henry Hathaway and was an ...

'',

Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Moti ...

"for outstanding achievement in creating Special Photographic and Sound Effects in the Paramount production, Spawn of the North" * 1941: '' I Wanted Wings'' * 1942: '' Reap the Wild Wind'' * 1944: Scientific or Technical Award (Class III) "for the design and construction of the Paramount nodal point tripod" * 1951: '' When Worlds Collide'', Category "Special Effects", not competitively but as

Special Achievement Academy Award The Special Achievement Award is an Academy Award given for an achievement that makes an exceptional contribution to the motion picture for which it was created, but for which there is no annual award category. Many of the film projects that recei ...

* 1951: Scientific or Technical Award (Class II) "for the design, construction and application of a servo-operated recording and repeating device" * 1953: ''

'', Category "Special Effects", not competitively but as

(posthumous) Nominated * 1939: ''

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

'' * 1940: ''

Typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

'' * 1940: ''

Dr. Cyclops ''Dr. Cyclops'' is a 1940 American science fiction horror film from Paramount Pictures, produced by Dale Van Every and Merian C. Cooper, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, and starring Thomas Coley, Victor Kilian, Janice Logan, Charles Halton, ...

'' * 1941: '' Aloma of the South Seas'' * 1943: ''

So Proudly We Hail! ''So Proudly We Hail!'' is a 1943 American war film directed and produced by Mark Sandrich and starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard – who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance – a ...

'' * 1944: ''

The Story of Dr. Wassell ''The Story of Dr. Wassell'' is a 1944 American World War II film set in the Dutch East Indies, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and starring Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso and Dennis O'Keefe. The film was based on a book of the same name by ...

'' * 1947: ''

Unconquered Unconquered or The Unconquered may refer to: Films * ''Unconquered'' (1917 film), a drama film by Frank Reicher * ''Unconquered'' (1947 film), an adventure film by Cecil B. DeMille * ''The Unconquered'' (documentary) or ''Helen Keller in Her Sto ...

'' * 1950: '' Samson and Delilah''

Filmography

* '' The Island of Doctor Moreau'' (1933) * '' Peter Ibbetson'' (1935) * '' The Plainsman'' (1936) * '' If I Were King'' (1938) * ''

I Married a Witch ''I Married a Witch'' is a 1942 American fantasy romantic comedy film, directed by René Clair, and starring Veronica Lake as a witch whose plan for revenge goes comically awry, with Fredric March as her foil. The film also features Robert Benchl ...

'' (1942) * ''

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigne ...

'' (1943) * '' Lady in the Dark'' (1944) * '' Rainbow Island'' (1944) * '' Here Come the Waves'' (1944) * '' Love Letters'' (1945) * '' Kitty'' (1945) * '' The Lost Weekend'' (1945) * ''

Two Years Before the Mast ''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the ...

'' (1946) * ''

Golden Earrings ''Golden Earrings'' is a 1947 romantic spy film made by Paramount Pictures and starring Ray Milland and Marlene Dietrich. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen and produced by Harry Tugend from a screenplay by Frank Butler, Helen Deutsch and Ab ...

'' (1947) * '' Wild Harvest'' (1947) * '' Sorry, Wrong Number'' (1948) * '' The Big Clock'' (1948) * '' Miss Tatlock's Millions'' (1948) * ''

Bride of Vengeance ''Bride of Vengeance'' is a 1949 adventure film set in the Italian Renaissance era, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Plot Lucrezia Borgia's brother Cesare Borgia has her second husband Prince Bisceglie killed in order to marry her to Alfonso I d' ...

'' (1949) * ''

Song of Surrender ''Song of Surrender'' is a 1949 drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Wanda Hendrix and Claude Rains. Plot Cast *Wanda Hendrix as Abigail Hunt *Claude Rains as Elisha Hunt *Macdonald Carey as Bruce Eldridge *Andrea King as Phylli ...

'' (1949) * ''

Rope of Sand ''Rope of Sand'' is a 1949 adventure-suspense film noir directed by William Dieterle, produced by Hal Wallis, and starring Burt Lancaster and three stars from Wallis's ''Casablanca'' - Paul Henreid, Claude Rains and Peter Lorre. The film introduce ...

'' (1949) * '' The Furies'' (1950) * '' When Worlds Collide'' (1951) * '' The Turning Point'' (1952) * '' Thunder in the East'' (1952) * '' Anything Can Happen'' (1952) * ''

Son of Paleface ''Son of Paleface'' is a 1952 American Comedy Western film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Bob Hope, Jane Russell, and Roy Rogers. The film is a sequel to '' The Paleface'' (1948). Written by Tashlin, Joseph Quillan, and Robert L. We ...

'' (1952) * '' The Greatest Show on Earth'' (1952) * ''

'' (1953) * ''

Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

'' (1953) * '' The Stooge'' (1953) * ''

Shane Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a su ...

'' (1953) * ''

Stalag 17 ''Stalag 17'' is a 1953 American war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen confined with 40,000 prisoners in a World War II German prisoner of war camp "somewhere on the Danube". Their compound holds 630 Sergeants representi ...

'' (1953) * ''The Eternal Woman'' (1954)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Gordon 1896 births 1953 deaths Special effects people Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Artists from Salt Lake City Academy Honorary Award recipients Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners