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BBC on Jack Cardiff Not much at the moment, but I'm sure it will be updated soon.

Genuinely a considerable loss - one of the great British cinematographers. He would be a major figure simply on the basis of his work for Powell & Pressburger.

And don't forget his directing career - comparatively minor when considering his work as a cinematographer, but there is much of interest. I have a soft spot for The Mutations, an odd, vaguely tasteless spin on Freaks that I found so interesting I volunteered to write a piece about it for Harvey Fenton's (never published) Flesh & Blood 2.

Sad, sad news. One of the true gents of the film industry, who had a delicate touch with almost everyone he worked.

His work for P & P and on The African Queen are beyond praise. Truly sad news.

Sad news - interviewed him on stage before Fest screening of AMOLAD in 1997... He was also a mean stills photographer and painter - I saw a very accomplished exhibition of his oil paintings in the Palais @ Cannes... Indeed it was his knowledge of the Old Masters and their techniques that persuaded Technicolor to let him train on their course, rather than any great prior experience of cinematography... He writes about the influence of the Old Masters in this piece for the National Gallery London here....Two smaller things that come to mind - the trophies on the wall montage in BLIMP, his first job for P&P, and two interesting Technicolor shorts he shot in India in 1938... Oh, and Marilyn Monroe, who he worked with on PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL, said "He was the best in the world..."



He returned the compliment like so...

Dr Amicus wrote:I have a soft spot for The Mutations, an odd, vaguely tasteless spin on Freaks that I found so interesting I volunteered to write a piece about it for Harvey Fenton's (never published) Flesh & Blood 2.

Another Tom Baker classic though (sadly?) he's not nude in this one!

Very nice tribute by Ellipsis - from the limited amount I've read it seems rare to find someone with an in depth knowledge of their subject who at the same time is not afraid or disdainful of technological innovations and experimentation in new areas.

I'm probably biased as to its quality as it was the first film I ever bought by mail order after getting my very first cheque book! It is a bit moot now that I've bought 'worse' films but I remember feeling worried about using my newly acquired responsibility to pick up a copy of a disreputable horror film - but I really wanted to see what Julie Ege being turned into a plant was like!

And the VHS I received a copy of had its own Tom Baker intro!

That reminds me of a film I guiltily love more and was just watching again a couple of weeks ago - Girl On A Motorcycle (aka Naked Under Leather!) with Alain Delon and Marianne Faithull. It is in no way a great film (like The Mutations) but very interesting and very 60s (psychadelia and fondue parties abound!) It does a lot with an extremely thin plot (not that audiences were going for that of course) and the motorcyle riding scenes are extremely fake in the close ups but there is something wonderfully memorable about Faithfull flitting between staid husband and exciting lover on her true love, the motorcycle itself!

I especially liked the way Faithfull at one point stops at the side of the road to reminisce about a previous trip along the same road and we get her flashback passing the same spot she has stopped at, an interesting way of introducing a flashback that will pre-empts events that occur in her later journey (setting up encounters with the customs officials and so on)

And the way that Faithfull, caught up in her joyous motorcycling reverie about the uselessness of men, happily shouts "Bastards! You're all bastards!" to no one in particular (but with an intercut shot of a surprised passer by) is very funny!

Sad to hear about Cardiff, since I only just saw Blimp in 35mm last night, and Life and Death in 35mm on Monday!

His work for P & P is astonishing though. As much as I love the beautiful work in Black Narcissus, for me nothing can top that opening sequence in Life and Death - hauntingly, achingly beautiful.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

What a blow!

I took a glance at her imdb bio, and saw that her last appearance was playing Larry's mother on Curb Your Enthusiasm, in an episode entitled "The End". Creepy.

Dom DeLuise has passed.

Barmy wrote:Dom DeLuise has passed.

Here's an article...

He was only 75? He was one of those actors who always seemed old to me--I thought he was in his 80s. Anyway, RIP.

It's the Hot Stuff curse: all three stars of that movie died in the last 16 months. Anyway, thanks for the laffs, Dom.

I'm two days too late, but I'll always remember Dom DeLuise for this.

Mickey Carroll, one of the last surviving Munchkins from Wizard of Oz

"Murder in the First" director Marc Rocco, son of Alex Rocco (Mo Green in "The Godfather"), found dead in his home.

Frank Aletter, character actor and one-time spouse to Miss America Lee Meriwether, has died at the age of 83.

Sid Laverents, amateur filmmaker extraordinaire, has passed at the age of 100. This obituary from the NYTimes does a decent job summing up his work and impact.