Gone With or Without fanfare

[moira finnie]

One of the great contemporary cinematographers and the son of a legendary one, Bruce Surtees, has died at 74. R. Emmet Sweeney wrote a fine Movie Morlocks piece on the cinematographer in 2009, found here. Below is the obituary from The Los Angeles Times.

Bruce Surtees dies at 74; cinematographer worked with Eastwood and Fosse

By Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times

March 2, 2012

Early in his career as one of Hollywood's top cinematographers, Bruce Surtees became known for his artful use of low-level, moody lighting in films such as Don Siegel's "The Beguiled" and "Dirty Harry" and Bob Fosse's "Lenny."

Surtees, 74, who received an Oscar nomination for his work on "Lenny" and was closely associated with Clint Eastwood on many of his films, died Feb. 23 in Carmel, Calif., of complications of diabetes, said his wife, Carol.

The son of three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Surtees, Surtees launched his career working for his father as a camera assistant on the 1965 western "The Hallelujah Trail."

He had been the camera operator on two Siegel-directed Eastwood films made by Eastwood's production company — "Coogan's Bluff" (1968) and "Two Mules for Sister Sara" (1970) — when he made his debut as a director of photography on Siegel's 1971 Civil War drama "The Beguiled," also starring Eastwood.

Eastwood then chose Surtees to be the director of photography on "Play Misty for Me," his 1971 feature film debut as a director.

Surtees went on to be the director of photography on six other Eastwood-directed films over the next decade and a half, "High Plains Drifter," "The Outlaw Josey Wales," "Firefox," "Honkytonk Man," "Sudden Impact" and "Pale Rider."

"He was very creative; he had good thoughts and ideas," Eastwood told The Times on Thursday, noting that "he wasn't afraid to take chances in shooting with low-light contrast. He was always looking to improve shots, and he could do a lot with little equipment in a very short time. He was able to make things happen."

Eastwood recalled that while making "Coogan's Bluff" in New York, Surtees sat behind him with a hand-held camera as Eastwood raced a Triumph motorcycle through Fort Tryon Park.

"So he was kind of fearless, or at least he put a lot of faith in the fact I could ride this damn thing," said Eastwood. "Then we'd turn around and have him ride backward on the motorcycle, and he'd be shooting the guy chasing me. He was just willing to try anything to get a shot."

"Lenny," a movie about comedian Lenny Bruce shot in black and white and starring Dustin Hoffman, earned Surtees his nomination for best cinematography in 1975.

In his review of the film, The Times' Charles Champlin said that Fosse and Surtees "beautifully catch the flat neon world of all-night cafeterias, the smoky squalor of strip joints and coffee houses, the gray anonymity of hotel rooms and cheap apartments. As in 'Cabaret,' atmosphere becomes the shaping force on character that it is."

"He was a rare Hollywood cinematographer who had no fear of exploring deep and profound blacks on screen," said Tom Stern, a cinematographer who works frequently with Eastwood and previously worked with Surtees as a lighting technician on many films.

"He wasn't afraid of having the character exist in either silhouette or total darkness and letting the dialogue do the work," Stern said. "He enjoyed existing outside of the mainstream, but in my opinion he gave a lot of us fellow cinematographers permission to go into previously forbidden areas of darkness."

Surtees was director of photography on two other Siegel films starring Eastwood — "Dirty Harry" (1971) and "Escape From Alcatraz" (1979) — and on Siegel's "The Shootist" (1976), starring John Wayne.

The director was a big fan of Surtees' work.

In Stuart M. Kaminsky's 1974 book "Don Siegel: Director," Siegel recalled wanting to get a shot in darkness illuminated by a single candle for "The Beguiled."

"The old way to get a picture of someone walking with a candle was to set up a complicated series of controlled lights, dimmers, clicking on, synchronized to the step of the person with the candle," Siegel said. "I didn't want that kind of thing again. So I picked young Bruce Surtees, and said, 'You've got to do it without dimmers.' If I'd said that to an old-timer, he would have said goodbye."

For the scene, Siegel said, Surtees "put a little bulb in the base of the candleholder and we shot. It took guts.

"When we saw the film, most of the screen was black except for a circle of light showing the girl's face. We didn't care that it was black, that it wouldn't show up on a television screen when the studio sold the picture to some network in a couple of years. Screw them. We liked it. It was exciting."

Stern, who received an Oscar nomination for his cinematography on the 2008 Eastwood-directed film "Changeling," described Surtees as a "gentle and joyful man."

"He was a very important mentor to me, and I always appreciated his almost childlike freshness in his approach to every situation," Stern said.

Among Surtees' other movie credits as director of photography are "Joe Kidd," "Blume in Love," "Night Moves," "Leadbelly," "Big Wednesday," "Risky Business," "Tightrope" and "Beverly Hills Cop."

He also received an Emmy nomination in 1999 for his cinematography for the A&E biographical drama "Dash and Lilly."

Surtees, whose father won Oscars in the 1950s for "King Solomon's Mines," "The Bad and the Beautiful" and "Ben-Hur," was born in Los Angeles on Aug. 3, 1937.

He studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and worked as a technician in the animation department at Disney Studios before becoming a camera assistant for his father.

In addition to Carol, his wife of 32 years, he is survived by a daughter from a first marriage that ended in divorce, Suzanne Surtees; his brother, Tom; and his sister, Nancy.

[JackFavell]

[CineMaven]

BRUCE SURTEES - R.I.P.



I don't know this cinematographer, but your pictures Jack, are illustrative of how beautiful his work was. One of his shots reminds me of a picture I took over at Bryant Park on Wednesday. But believe me, I am in no way comparing myself to him. I just note the similarity.

Another creative gone. Sad. (Love your screencap of Mary Alice, JackaaAaay). Quite beautiful.



Could I have been influenced and didn't even know it??

[JackFavell]

That's amazing, Maven! You were channeling him.

I just thought it might be nice to see some of Surtees' work here. It's so easy to understand what we've lost with actors, since we see them on screen, but less so with the people behind the scenes, even if it is a cinematographer.

Surtees made one of my favorite movies that used to show up on TV a lot, but I haven't seen in years, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid and that's where I started my search. I was surprised at his range, I thought everything was going to look murky, candlelit and oppressive, like The Beguiled, or dark and super contrasty like Lenny. I actually thought the most interesting shot shown was the one with Mary Alice from Sparkle. It's the least representative, and it shows such a dynamic range just in that single shot.

[ChiO]

He was also the cinematographer for a movie with one of the greatest noir casts ever assembled: THE OUTFIT (John Flynn 1973).

Appearing in it were:

Robert Duvall
Karen Black
Joe Don Baker
Robert Ryan
Timothy Carey
Richard Jaeckel
Sheree North
Marie Windsor
Jane Greer
Henry Jones
Elisha Cook, Jr.
Anita O'Day
Roy Roberts
Emile Meyer

And it's a pretty good movie, too.

[feaito]

That's an impressive cast ChiO...plus Anita O'Day, one of my favorite singers!

[Lzcutter]

Songwriter Robert Sherman who teamed with his brother Richard to pen a number of songs for Walt Disney's movies and Disneyland has gone to that great Tiki Room in the sky:

From the LA Times:


Disney songwriter Robert B. Sherman dies at 86
March 6, 2012 | 7:36 am

Robert B. Sherman, a songwriter who teamed with his brother Richard to write some of the best known songs for Walt Disney’s classic films, including "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" for “Mary Poppins,” has died. He was 86.

Sherman died Monday in London, his agent, Stella Richards, told the Associated Press. The cause was not disclosed.

The brothers also wrote music for other Disney films, including "The Jungle Book," ''The Aristocats" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

"It's a Small World After All," written for the 1964 New York World's Fair, was another Sherman composition.

"We were struggling songwriters hoping to get a break," Richard M. Sherman told The Times in 2009. "This was the opportunity of a lifetime. 'Mary Poppins' turned my life around, really."

A musical production of "Mary Poppins" is scheduled for the Ahmanson Theatre this summer.

The Sherman brothers were inducted into the Disney Legends in 1990.

His son, Jeff's, announcement to family and friends:


Hello to family and friends,

I have very sad news to convey.

My Dad, Robert B. Sherman, passed away tonight in London. He went peacefully after months of truly valiantly fending off death. He loved life and his dear heart finally slowed to a stop when he could fight no more.

I will write more about this incredible man I love and admire so much when I am better rested and composed. He deserves that.

In the meantime, please say a prayer for him. As he said, he wanted to bring happiness to the world and, unquestionably, he succeeded. His love and his prayers, his philosophy and his poetry will live on forever. Forever his songs and his genius will bring hope, joy and love to this small, small world.

I love you, Dad.

Safe travels.

Love,

Jeff

[Rita Hayworth]

Disney songwriter Robert B. Sherman dies at 86
March 6, 2012 | 7:36 am

My family met him in Disneyland one year after Mary Poppins first came out and he was a gracious man and shared his thoughts about the movie Mary Poppins and both Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke both made a surprise appearance and we were all was entertained by this. It was one of my fondest visits to Disneyland and he was a class act and love to share his music to the world and at end of the of the show Sherman, Andrews, and Van Dyke encouraged everyone in the audience to say this word together in harmony.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Three times joyfully ... and we all had a blast!

Lzcutter, thanks for sharing this ... he will be missed. I love his music ... its full of life and laughter!

[charliechaplinfan]

His songs will certainly live on, my kids have a CD with his songs on and sing them all the time. What a talent.

[MikeBSG]

Mr. Sherman and his brother really left an imprint on American pop culture.

Was there a documentary about the two of them in the last few years. Was it called "The Boys"? Has anyone seen it?

[moira finnie]

Mr. Sherman and his brother really left an imprint on American pop culture.

Was there a documentary about the two of them in the last few years. Was it called "The Boys"? Has anyone seen it?

The doc is called The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story (2009) and was made by the sons of Richard and Robert Sherman. The filmmakers did not know each other growing up, thanks to their fathers' seriously tense relations--despite or because of their professional success as an Oscar-winning songwriting team. Any of us who have experienced sibling tensions will recognize that indefinable need to keep each other at arm's length, even though we love that "other kid" and when working together may clearly have advantages. I thought that the movie was quite moving and the songs are like peanut butter stuck to the top of one's brain for days after hearing them. The doc is available streaming at Amazon, and on DVD at a reasonable price. It is on Netflix as a DVD too. There are several more clips from the documentary on youtube too.

The clip from The Boys shown below offers an insight into the way that the brothers were cajoled into making a song fit into a classic Disney flick--Walt's way:

[youtube][/youtube]

Btw, the Sherman composition, the wistful "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins (1964) in a sequence featuring Jane Darwell in her last film,was reportedly a Walt Disney fave):
[youtube][/youtube]

[JackFavell]

Oh geez! It never fails to make me cry.

[Lzcutter]

Moira,

Thanks for the fantastic recap of The Boys. I saw the doc on Encore earlier this year and was fascinated by the backstory of the two brothers. It is a very good documentary that explores those tensions between siblings that rarely gets talked about in family docs.

[RedRiver]

I always want Darwell to launch into, "We are the people. You can't stop the people. They just keep comin'." That is a soft, sensitive scene in this incredibly effective movie. One of Disney's best; almost certainly his best live action. There's not an awkward moment in this classic.

[Lzcutter]

Two more sad ones:

Actress Joan Taylor, a regular on The Rifleman has passed away at 82.

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Taylor played general store owner Milly Scott opposite Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford on ABC's The Rifleman for two years before leaving acting to raise a family.

Earlier, she had appeared in dozens of other TV shows, including Wagon Train, Mike Hammer, Peter Gunn, My Three Sons and 77 Sunset Strip, and in such films as The Savage (1952), War Paint (1953), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957).

Born Rose Marie Emma in Geneva, Ill., Taylor met writer-producer Freeman in the early 1950s when both were working on a production of Here Comes Mr. Jordan at the Pasadena Playhouse, and they were married in 1953.

After Freeman’s death in January 1974 following heart surgery, Taylor managed Leonard Freeman Productions and the business of Hawaii Five-O, which ran from 1968-80 on CBS and in syndication for years afterward. CBS brought back a remake in 2010.

Taylor also co-wrote the 1997 comedy film Fools Rush In starring Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek and penned an episode of the ABC drama Family in 1979.

She also was married to TV producer-director Walter E. Grauman.

Also, actor Jerome Courtland has died at 85.

From Variety:

Jerome (Jerry) Courtland, an actor who later became a producer and director in film and television, working on shows including "The Flying Nun," "The Love Boat" and "Dynasty," died of heart disease in the Santa Clarita Valley, Calif., on March 1. He was 85.

Courtland's producing career spanned more than 25 years at Walt Disney Studios and Screen Gems working on feature films including "Escape to Witch Mountain," "Ride a Wild Pony" and "Return From Witch Mountain"; TV series including "Here Come the Brides," "The Flying Nun," "The Partridge Family" and "The Interns"; and telepics including "Gidget Grows Up," "Hog Wild" and "The Million Dollar Dixie Deliverance."

Before leaving Disney in the early '80s Courtland produced animated feature "Pete's Dragon" and live actioner "The Devil and Max Devlin."

Working with Aaron Spelling in the 1980s, Courtland directed episodes of "Dynasty," "Falcon Crest," "Fantasy Island" and "Love Boat," as well as "Hotel" and "The Colbys." He also helmed episodes of "Knots Landing."

Courtland Jourolmon Jr. was born in Knoxville, Tenn. When he was 17, he attended a Hollywood party with his mother, Mary

Jourolmon, a professional singer; he met Charles Vidor, who invited him to screen test at Columbia, and he was soon signed to a seven-year contract. He made his feature debut in Vidor's "Together Again" and made a few additional films at Columbia before being inducted into the Army, where he served in the Pacific during WWII.

Courtland restarted his showbiz career after returning from service by appearing in the original Broadway production of "Flahooley."

He starred opposite a 17-year-old Shirley Temple in the film "Kiss and Tell" and gained notice for roles in "The Man From Colorado" (1948), "Battleground" (1949), "The Palomino" (1950), "The Barefoot Mailman" (1951) and "Take the High Ground" (1953).

On TV starting in the mid-'50s, Courtland had a seven-episode staring run on "The Saga of Andy Burnett" as part of "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" and appeared on episodes of "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" and "The Rifleman"; in the early '60s, with dyed blonde hair and beard, he starred in the series "Tales of the Vikings" and later guested on "Death Valley Days" and "The Virginian."

Film credits during the 1960s include the musical "O sole mio," "Queen of the Seas" and "Cafe Oriental."

In the early '90s he guested on "L.A. Law" and "Knots Landing."

In 1997 he moved to the Chicago area, where he became a professor at Columbia College, teaching acting and directing for the camera for five years. He then retired in Florida, where he authored and illustrated children's books.

Courtland was a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for more than 30 years.

He was married three times, the first to actress Polly Bergen and the second to Janet Courtland, with whom he had three sons; two daughters; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. He is survived by his third wife, Marlene, and two half sisters, Margaret England and Betty Shattuck.

A memorial service celebrating Courtland's life will be held March 31.