Karl Freund

Camera

Karl Freund

Born 1890-01-16 · Königinhof, Bohemia, Czech Republic

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Karl W. Freund, A.S.C. (January 16, 1890-May 3, 1969) was a cinematographer and film director. Born in Dvůr Králové (Königinhof), Bohemia, his career began in 1905 when, at age 15, he got a job as an assistant projectionist for a film company in Berlin where his family moved in 1901. He worked as a cinematographer on over 100 films, including the German Expressionist films The Golem (1920), The Last Laugh (1924) and Metropolis (1927). Freund emigrated to the United States in 1929 where he continued to shoot well remembered films such as Dracula (1931) and Key Largo (1948). He won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for The Good Earth (1937). In 1937, he went to Germany to bring his only daughter, Gerda Maria Freund, back to the United States, saving her from almost certain death in the concentration camps. Karl's ex-wife, Susette Freund (née Liepmannssohn), remained in Germany where she was interned at the Ravensbrück concentration camp and eventually taken in March, 1942 to Bernburg Euthanasia Center where she was murdered. Between 1921 and 1935, Freund also directed ten films, of which the best known are probably The Mummy (1932) starring Boris Karloff, and his last film as director, Mad Love (1935) starring Peter Lorre. Freund's only known film as an actor is Carl Dreyer's Michael (1924) in which he has a cameo as a sycophantic art dealer who saves the tobacco ashes dropped by a famous painter. At the beginning of the 1950s, he was persuaded by Desi Arnaz at Desilu to be the cinematographer in 1951 for the televisions series I Love Lucy. Critics have credited Freund for the show's lustrous black and white cinematography, but more importantly, Freund designed the "flat lighting" system for shooting sitcoms that is still in use today. This system covers the set in light, thus eliminating shadows and allowing the use of three moving cameras without having to modify the lighting in-between shots. And where Freund did not invent the three camera shooting system, he did perfect it for use with film cameras in front of a live audience. Freund and his production team also worked on other sitcoms produced at/through Desilu such as "Our Miss Brooks". Description above from the Wikipedia article Karl Freund, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

The Mummy poster
6.7

An ancient Egyptian priest named Imhotep is revived when a British archaeological expedition finds his mummy and one of the researchers accidentally reads an ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escapes from the field site and searches for the reincarnation of the soul of his lover.

The Mummy

1932

Uncertain Lady poster
9.0

Elliot's affair prompts his wife Doris to love millionaire Bruce. After a messy gathering, a flat tire stops Doris from chasing Bruce's departing ship, which traps Elliot and Myra on board instead, leaving Bruce free to propose to Doris ashore.

Uncertain Lady

1934

Mad Love poster
7.0

An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist husband's hands with those of a knife-throwing murderer.

Mad Love

1935

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City poster
7.5

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

1927

Madame Wants No Children poster
10.0

Playboy Paul Le Barroy, weds Elyane Parizot because he is ready for children, and his mistress, Louise Bonvin, is not. After the honeymoon, Elyane informs Paul that she doesn’t want children, either. When Paul leaves her, Elyane blames Louise and confronts the ex-mistress with a gun.

Madame Wants No Children

1926

The Countess of Monte Cristo poster
6.3

A distraught movie extra flees a movie set with a fancy costume and car. Circumstances lead her to begin impersonating a Countess, while a fellow extra takes on the role of her servant.

The Countess of Monte Cristo

1934

Madame Spy poster
7.5

Maria is married to Captain Franck of German Intelligence. He does not know she is a Russian assigned to spy on him. When he is told to uncover a leak, he vows revenge on his wife.

Madame Spy

1934

Gift of Gab poster
5.2

Conceited radio announcer irritates everyone else at the station.

Gift of Gab

1934

I Give My Love poster
7.5

After accidentally killing her no-good husband, Judy makes her true love promise not to tell her small son about his imprisoned mother. She is released ten years later...

I Give My Love

1934

Moonlight and Pretzels poster
9.0

A song plugger is stranded in a small town. There he meets a girl who later helps him to put on a show on Broadway.

Moonlight and Pretzels

1933