James Wong Howe

Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.

Cinematographer John A. Alonzo was one of the driving creative forces in the resurgence of expressionistic American movies of the late 1960s and '70s. Director Axel Schill's documentary explores Alonzo's work on key films of that era and beyond. Clips from Chinatown, Scarface, Internal Affairs and other movies accompany interviews with stars such as Richard Dreyfuss, Sally Field and contemporary cinematographer Haskell Wexler.

1973 documentary about the Oscar-winning director of photography, featuring lighting tutorials with Howe.

The story of an unsung hero in filmmaking and the racial barriers he faced growing up and into his career, through archival footage of himself and his films, and what made his camerawork so innovative and unique.

The story of Abe Saperstein and the creation of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Lamont Cranston, aka The Shadow, investigates the murder of a New Orleans bandleader.

In this unsold television pilot for a proposed travelogue series, Richard Erdman visits with the children and townsfolk of the Sacromonte district of Granada, Spain. Directed and photographed by noted master cinematographer and multi-Academy Award winner, James Wong Howe.

James Wong Howe follows artist Dong Kingman over the course of a day, in which the maestro starts and finishes a watercolor of a street in New York City.

After his wife deserts him, a doctor is obliged to abandon his practice in order to care for his infant son and ends up working as a janitor. This was the first Japanese language talking picture produced by an American production company.