Beauty Break: Douglas Slocombe, Cinematographer
Monday, February 22, 2016 at 10:30PM 
Douglas Slocombe (1913-2016)Sad news to report. The former "oldest living Oscar nominee" cinematographer Douglas Slocombe died today just two weeks after his 103rd birthday. (If you're curious that makes the goddess Olivia de Havilland, who turns 100 this July, the oldest living Oscar nominee or winner)
Imagine shooting the boulder-roll opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark or lighting its snake pit scene with torches! Douglas Slocombe did it. His other two nominations sprang from far more feminine pictures, the Jane Fonda Best Picture nominee Julia (1977. Also: Meryl Streep's film debut!) and the Maggie Smith vehicle Travels With My Aunt (1972).
More on his iimpressive career and some images from key films after the jump...
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1980)
The British DP was far more popular with BAFTA than with Oscar with several more nominations and three wins: The Servant (1963), The Great Gatsby (1974) and Julia (1977).
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
The L Shaped Room (1962)
The Servant (1963)
Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
Travels With My Aunt (1972)
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Other famous films he shot include The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), Boom! (1968), The Lion in Winter (1968), Jesus Christ Superstar! (1973) and Rollerball (1975).
The Great Gatsby (1974)
Rollerball (1975)
Julia (1977)
Lady Jane (1986)
His last two pictures were the Helena Bonham-Carter feature Lady Jane (1986) and his third and final Spielberg/Ford picture Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
It's a rich filmography from a man with a beautiful eye for images and light
Reader Comments (9)
A criticism I don't agree with is Last Crusade looks like a TV movie. He was partially blind when he made it. The excessive amounts of studio lighting was necessary for him to work. His first two Indy outings were moody and dark. The crispness of Last Crusade was off-putting to some fans.
Very nice. The framing of Fonda and Redgrave is still memorable to me. Another 70's jewel that needs preservation.
Anyone who hasn't seen "Kind Hearts & Coronets" do yourself a favour and see it asap.
Slocombe had a gift for framing actors in iconic ways, Vanessa Redgrave and Jane Fonda have rarely looked as beautiful as they did in "Julia".
First reaction to this post: find out who is the costume designer of Travels With My Aunt. It's Anthony Powell. Never seen the movie.
I didn't know he did The Servant.
He was one of the greats.
I must admit I never quite loved the look of Raiders (it feels so at odds with the story's sensibility) and it always gets in the way of me fully adoring that movie. It's also really odd in the context of Slowcombe's body of work, which is otherwise full of the kind of warm, nostalgic hues that Raiders could've used more of.
But the thing about Slowcombe is, there are roughly 37 other examples where his work very much and very pointedly elevated a movie.
Kind Hearts and Coronets is probably my favourite of his (as it would be of just about anyone's) filmography. It's so rare to have a comedy with such elegant and inspired visuals, especially without being showy or distracting about it.
The Servant too, is of course a stunner. And to me the warmth Slowcombe brought to things as varied as The Fearless Vampire Killers and The Lion in Winter and Julia made the experience of those films stick in my memory in a vivid and tactile way they otherwise certainly wouldn't have. I love it when DOPs develop such a strong authorial stamp that also serves the stories they're helping to tell.
The Fearless Vampire Killers is such an underrated picture. The ballroom scene is the first scene of any movie I remember seeing and its impact is in huge part due to Slocombe's impeccable camerawork and lighting. The fact that he hardly ever used a light meter is a testament to his immense talent as a cinematographer. Luckily his movies are still there to be watched end re-watched ...
LOVE Julia! So weirdly underrated.
A master of cinema