Elwood Bredell

Known for CameraBorn 1902-12-24Died 1969-02-26Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Elwood Bailey Bredell (24 December 1902 – 26 February 1969) was an American cinematographer and child silent screen actor. He is sometimes credited as Woody Bredell or Elwood Dell. Although he worked in many genres, mostly at Universal, Bredell is best known for his film noir cinematography on such movies as Phantom Lady (1944), Lady on a Train (1945) The Killers (1946), and The Unsuspected (1947). Famed Warner Bros. editor George Amy said Bredell could “light a football stadium with a single match.” Bredell was the son of stage actress Mary Palmer Nields. He was named Jesse B. Bredell, Jr., after his father. Nields later married Vaughn "Val" Paul, a silent film actor turned production manager. (Paul's son with Nields, Vaughn Jr., was Deanna Durbin's first husband.) After working as an adolescent actor in silent films, Bredell took a job as a studio lab technician while he cultivated a talent for photography. From about 1929–34, Bredell worked as a still photographer at RKO and Paramount, coinciding with his stepfather's tenures at those studios. At Paramount, Bredell apprenticed under veteran cinematographers Charles Lang and Arthur C. Miller. In 1936, Val Paul brought Bredell to Universal, where he continued his training under the studio's best cinematographer, Joseph Valentine. Bredell was promoted to cinematographer the next year, when Val produced Reckless Living (1938). Bredell's work on horror films such as Black Friday (1940), The Mummy's Hand (1940), and Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), anticipated his work in film noir. He also photographed Deann Durbin musicals and comedies such as Hold That Ghost (1941), Hellzapoppin' (1941) and The Inspector General (1949). His final credit was on the 1955 B-movie Female Jungle. From the Wikipedia article 'Elwood Bredell'Read more

Movies & web series

Two Bright Boys

Strange Faces

Snowbound

Follow the Band

Tough as They Come

Butch Minds the Baby

Mob Town

Call a Messenger

The Big Guy

Behind the Mike

La Conga Nights

The Secret Call

The Killers

Ex-Champ

Hellzapoppin'

His Butler's Sister

Hers to Hold

Cowboy in Manhattan

Phantom Lady

Escape from Hong Kong

Adventures of Don Juan

Hold That Ghost

Romance on the High Seas

Thirty Day Princess

The Unsuspected

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

The Inspector General

Lady on a Train

Journey Into Light

Tangier

Christmas Holiday

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror

South of Tahiti

Man-Made Monster

Black Friday

Can't Help Singing

So's Your Uncle

Horror Island

The Ghost of Frankenstein

Female Jungle

She Done Him Wrong

Gangs of Chicago

The Mummy's Hand

The Invisible Woman

The Mystery of Marie Roget

Double Alibi

The Strange Case of Doctor Rx

The Devil Is Driving