On the occasion of the Toronto premiere of Craig McCall’s new documentary Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff, we are proud to present a programme of some of Cardiff’s greatest accomplishments—many in new restorations—displaying the astonishing range of this great cinema artist.
Events in Jack Cardiff: Cameraman
MichaelPowell, Emeric Pressburger
A bomber pilot bails out of his crippled plane sans parachute, and then requests in the hereafter to cheat death so he might pursue a newfound love. A dazzlingly inventive fantasy which makes clever use of then-scarce Technicolor stock.
JohnHuston
In German East Africa at the outbreak of World War I, spinster missionary Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) convinces rum-besotted Canadian skipper Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) to take his rickety skiff on a dangerous journey downriver to destroy a German gunboat.
Joseph L.Mankiewicz
A luscious Ava Gardner stars as Maria Vargas, a performer in a Spanish cantina who is transformed, via the ministrations of the ex-alcoholic director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart), into world-famous movie star Maria D’Amata.
MichaelPowell, Emeric Pressburger
When a group of Anglican nuns, led by a young Sister Superior (Deborah Kerr), takes up residence in a crumbling Himalayan palace, they find themselves intoxicated by the exotic sensuality of their surroundings, leading to madness, murder, and distinctly non-pious longings.
CraigMcCall
This fascinating portrait of the artist chronicles Cardiff’s career from his early days as Technicolor protégé to the height of his profession, in demand by major filmmakers from all over the world. Features a treasure trove of on-set footage behind the making of such films as Legend of the Lost, The Vikings, and The African Queen.
AlbertLewin
Cardiff’s supreme achievement, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman stars Ava Gardner as the irresistible Pandora Reynolds, a woman who falls for a dark and brooding man cursed by immortality. TIFF BLB will be screening a newly restored print of this film.
MichaelPowell, Emeric Pressburger
This story of a talented ballerina torn between her love for a young composer and her art, The Red Shoes is one of the most gorgeous colour films ever made, and inspired countless filmmakers after its release including the award-winning film director Martin Scorsese.
Notes
The career of renowned cinematographer Jack Cardiff (who recently passed away at age ninety-four) stretched across eight decades and numerous advances in film style and technology. Selected in 1936 as one of the first trainees for the new Technicolor process, Cardiff masterfully used shadows to deepen and enrich his colour cinematography. Many stars he worked with, including Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner and Audrey Hepburn, have never looked more luscious than in Cardiff’s luminescent renderings. Working with directors ranging from Alfred Hitchcock to John Huston, Cardiff earned a reputation as one of the finest cinematographers in international cinema. On the occasion of the Toronto premiere of Craig McCall’s new documentary Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff, we are proud to present a programme of some of Cardiff’s greatest accomplishments—many in new restorations—displaying the astonishing range of this great cinema artist.