Otto Heller, B.S.C. (8 March 1896 – 19 February 1970) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

long resident in the United Kingdom. He worked on more than 250 films, including ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' (1955), '' The Ladykillers'' (1955) and ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. She is mainly remembere ...

'' (1960).

Life

Otto Heller was born in a Jewish family in Prague on 8 March 1896. As a teenager, he became a projectionist in the Lucerna cinema. During World War I, he worked in a film laboratory in Vienna. After the war, he started to work as a documentary cameraman at Pragafilm. During the 1920s, he was the most requested cinematographer in Czechoslovakia. Together with

Karel Lamač Karel Lamač (27 January 1897 – 2 August 1952) was a Czech film director, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He directed more than 100 films in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Life Lama� ...

Anny Ondra Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková; 15 May 1903 – 28 February 1987) was an Austrian (German) and Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In 1933, she married ...

and

Václav Wasserman Václav Wasserman (19 February 1898 – 28 January 1967) was a Czech screenwriter, film actor and director. He wrote for 91 films between 1920 and 1958. Selected filmography * '' From the Czech Mills'' (1925) * '' The May Fairy'' (1926) * '' T ...

, he made many movies both for domestic and international audience. He often worked with

Svatopluk Innemann Svatopluk Innemann (18 February 1896 – 30 October 1945) was a Czech film director, cinematographer, screenwriter, film editor and actor. He was one of the pioneers of Czech cinema. Biography and works Innemann, was a son of the Czech director ...

Martin Frič Martin Frič (29 March 1902 – 26 August 1968) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. He had more than 100 directing credits between 1929 and 1968, including feature films, shorts and documentary films. Throughout his life, F ...

and Jan S. Kolár. Because of the rise of Nazism, he left Czechoslovakia in 1938 with Lamač. In an interview for the extra materials on the Blu-ray Disk version of The Ipcress File,

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

recollects how Otto Heller told the story of leaving

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1939. His camera crew were all Germans and they kept telling him to leave but he did not believe he needed to go and he would refuse, saying they were having a great time doing movies. Then one day his camera operator came dressed in an SS uniform and told him that he has joined the SS and urged Heller to go "now". Heller told Michael Caine that he "went to the toilet, went out through the toilet window and I never stopped running till I got to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

". He became a British citizen in 1945. Heller continued to live and make movies in UK until his death. He died in London on 19 February 1970.

Selected filmography

* '' The Arrival from the Darkness'' (1921) * '' The Poisoned Light'' (1921) * '' The Cross by the Brook'' (1921) * '' White Paradise'' (1924) * '' The Lantern'' (1925) * '' The Countess from Podskalí'' (1926) * '' The Kreutzer Sonata'' (1927) * '' Suzy Saxophone'' (1928) * ''

Eve's Daughters ''Eve's Daughters'' (; ) is a 1928 Czech-German silent film, silent drama film directed by Karel Lamač and starring Anny Ondra, Karel Lamač and Wolfgang Zilzer. The film's sets were designed by the art director Victor Trivas. Cast * Anny Ond ...

'' (1928) * '' Sinful and Sweet'' (1929) * '' Street Acquaintances'' (1929) * '' The Girl with the Whip'' (1929) * '' Sin of a Beautiful Woman'' (1929) * '' Prague Seamstresses'' (1929) * '' The Caviar Princess'' (1930) * '' The Cabinet of Doctor Larifari'' (1930) * '' Fairground People'' (1930) * '' St. Wenceslas'' (1930) * '' The Typist'' (1931) * ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...

'' (1931) * ''

The Private Secretary ''The Private Secretary'' is an 1883 farce in three acts, by Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1858), Charles Hawtrey. The play, adapted from a German original, depicts the vicissitudes of a mild young clergyman, innocently caught up in the machinatio ...

'' (1931) * '' Mamsell Nitouche'' (1932) * '' The Ringer'' (1932) * '' Kiki'' (1932) * ''

Make-Up Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created syn ...

'' (1932) * '' A Night in Paradise'' (1932) * ''

The Love Hotel ''The Love Hotel'' () is a 1933 German comedy film directed by Carl Lamac and starring Anny Ondra, Mathias Wieman and Peter Voß.Bock & Bergfelder p. 348 It was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich. The film's sets were designed by the art dir ...

'' (1933) * '' Daughter of the Regiment'' (1933) * '' Public Not Admitted'' (1933) * ''

Simone Is Like That ''Simone Is Like That'' (French: ''Simone est comme ça'') is a 1933 French comedy film directed by Karl Anton and starring Meg Lemonnier, Henri Garat and Pierre Etchepare. It was produced by the French subsidiary of Paramount Pictures at the co ...

'' (1933) * '' Polish Blood'' (1934) * ''

The Switched Bride ''The Switched Bride'' (German: ''Die vertauschte Braut'') is a 1934 German comedy film directed by Karel Lamac and starring Anny Ondra, Anton Walbrook and Fritz Odemar.Continuity and Crisis in German Cinema, 1928-1936. p.19 It was shot at the ...

'' (1934) * ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published in Serial (literature), serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea pris ...

'' (1934) * '' A Woman Who Knows What She Wants'' (1934) * '' The Young Count'' (1935) * '' Raging Barbora'' (1935) * '' The Eleventh Commandment'' (1935) * ''

Knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

'' (1935) * ''

Dreams Come True Dreams Come True or Dream Come True may refer to: Organizations * Dreams Come True (British charity) * Dreams Come True (American non-profit) Film and television * ''Dreams Come True'' (film), a 1936 British musical film * " "Dreams Come True" ...

'' (1936) * '' Tomorrow We Live'' (1936) * '' Port Arthur'' (1936) * '' Secret Lives'' (1937) * ''

Threats A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation fo ...

'' (1940) * ''

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

'' (1940) * '' Gaiety George'' (1946) * ''

They Made Me a Fugitive ''They Made Me a Fugitive'' (also known as ''They Made Me a Criminal''; U.S. title: ''I Became a Criminal'') is a 1947 British black-and-white film noir directed by Alberto Cavalcanti and starring Sally Gray and Trevor Howard. It was written b ...

'' (1947) * '' Golden Arrow'' (1949) * '' The Queen of Spades'' (1949) * '' I'll Get You for This'' (1951) * '' The Rainbow Jacket'' (1954) * '' The Divided Heart'' (1954) * '' The Ladykillers'' (1955) * ''

'' (1955) * '' The Vicious Circle'' (1957) * '' The Silent Enemy'' (1958) * ''

'' (1960) * '' Victim'' (1961) * '' Light in the Piazza'' (1962) * '' West 11'' (1963) With

Michael Winner Michael Robert Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was an English filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...

. * '' The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb'' (1964) * ''

Woman of Straw ''Woman of Straw'' is a 1964 British crime thriller directed by Basil Dearden and starring Gina Lollobrigida and Sean Connery. It was written by Robert Muller (screenwriter), Robert Muller and Stanley Mann, adapted from the 1954 novel ''La Femme ...

'' (1964) * '' The Ipcress File'' (1965) * '' Masquerade'' (1965) * ''

That Riviera Touch ''That Riviera Touch'' is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. It is the second feature-length film made by the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise. Plot After Eric Simpson nearly gives ...

'' (1966) * '' Alfie'' (1966) * ''

Funeral in Berlin ''Funeral in Berlin'' is a 1964 spy novel by Len Deighton set between Saturday 5 October and Sunday 10 November 1963. It was the third of Deighton's novels about an unnamed British agent. It was preceded by '' The IPCRESS File'' (1962) and '' ...

'' (1966) * ''

Billion Dollar Brain ''Billion Dollar Brain'' is a 1967 British spy film, espionage film directed by Ken Russell and based on the 1966 novel ''Billion-Dollar Brain'' by Len Deighton. The film features Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer, the anti-hero prota ...

'' (1967) * '' I'll Never Forget What's 'Isname'' (1967) * '' Duffy'' (1968) * '' Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?'' (1969) * '' Bloomfield'' (1971)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heller, Otto 1896 births 1970 deaths Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners Mass media people from Prague Jews from Bohemia 20th-century Czech Jews Czech cinematographers