So I was born in Los Angeles on August 8, 1928. Like most youngsters, he had a favourite playground: it happened to be the old Warner Bros. Studio on Sunset Boulevard where my uncial worked as a production manager, I was also fortunate enough to land a part time job working as a darkroom accent for, Consolidated Film Industries. Consolidated Film Industries was a film laboratory and film processing company, and was one of the leading film laboratories in the Los Angeles area for many decades. CFI processed negatives and made prints for motion pictures industry, where I worked for four years. I was just 16 years old when I started.
Gladys Baker, the mother of Marilyn Monroe, worked for Consolidated as a negative film cutter; Marilyn Monroe's biological father is believed to have been fellow consolidated employee Charles Stanley Gifford. I would see Norma Jeane Mortenson at the gate of the film laboratory waiting for her mother sometimes we would site down on the kerbstone and she would talk all the time never stopped talking. She was just 18 years old.
After graduating as an electrical engineer from California Institute of Technology I was hired by Byron Haskin, ASC, and head of the Warner Bros. Special Effects Department on Stage 5 in Burbank. Since this was the largest such department in the movie business, I was able to work with some of the top cinematographers in the effects field, such as ASC fellows Edwin DuPar, Hans Koenekamp and Warren Lynch. When Warner Bros. purchased First National's studio in Burbank, California, I signed a contract and remained with the studio on and off for the next 40 years.
I also had a job as a motion picture still photographer I have created two kinds of images. The first one the making of the movie and the second Stills includes close-ups of the actors and crew, wide shots of the crew shooting the action, this work ran side by side with my movie work. . The movie set photographer is one of the unsung heroes of a motion picture camera team. It’s the still photographer’s job to capture on-set images that document the production that will later be used to promote the film. Lest you think it’s a glamorous job where you hang out and drink coffee with Michael Curtiz and go on a date with Ann Blyth (Annie)
One of my old friends recently, said to me that I should take my time and look through all my work over the last 50 years. I must have taken photographs using all types of film. And when I turn in a mixed collection of film types for processing unless I take great care in marking the film packages when I get them back from the processor what type of film is in which package is unknown. This can be a problem when you need to know what type of film was used to do a correct print.
When I was sorting out old rolls of film I came across over 30 rolls of old 120, 220,620 and 35mm format film. The films however were even more intriguing because they were used but undeveloped and had 'developed by' dates of over 50 years ago. All were black and white rolls of 120,220,620 where all Kodak Verichrome dated July 1948! Up to May 1955 the 35mm dated up to 1968. I'd already been looking around for somebody to develop the film for me.
So went down to Consolidated Film Industries film laboratory on 959 Seward St, my old company. The original CFI building at 959 Seward Street in Hollywood had been the company's home for more than 60 years. The structure was demolished and lay vacant until 2014. I went to down to see David Dawson at Warner Bros. Photo Lab on the Burbank lot, who got my film processed and the nag’s checked and printed. I hope to brings together the stories of One Old Man's time behind a film camera, an show you some of my personal still photos taken over 50 years in the film industry.
