Harold Rosson

Harold Rosson

From Wikipedia

Harold G. "Hal" Rosson, A.S.C. (April 6, 1895 – September 6, 1988) was an American cinematographer who worked during the early and classical Hollywood cinema. He is best known for his work on the 1939 fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. Harold Rosson began his film career in 1908 as an actor at the Vitagraph Studios in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York City. He became the assistant to Irvin Willat at the Mark Dintenfass Studios. In 1912 he divided his time as an office boy in a stockbrokers firm and as an assistant, extra, and handyman at the Famous Players Studio in New York. His first film for Famous Players was David Harum (1915). In December 1914, Rosson moved to California and joined Metro Pictures. During World War I, he served in the United States Army. After his demobilization, he went to work on the Marion Davies film The Dark Star. He was offered a contract with the Davies Company. In 1920 he was signed by Mary Pickford, working primarily with her brother Jack Pickford. In the 1930s, Rosson signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed the photography for some of the studio's most popular films including Treasure Island (1934), The Wizard of Oz, Duel in the Sun, and Singin' in the Rain (1952). In 1936, Rosson and fellow cinematographer W. Howard Greene were awarded an Honorary Oscar for the color cinematography of the 1936 David O. Selznick production The Garden of Allah. Rosson later said it was the first time he attempted to film in color. After a very long and successful career in Hollywood, Rosson retired in 1958. He briefly came out of retirement in 1966 for the Howard Hawks film El Dorado starring John Wayne. Rosson was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce, and had no children. While shooting the film Bombshell in 1933, actress Jean Harlow proposed to Rosson. The two had worked together previously on Red-Headed Woman, Dinner at Eight, Hold Your Man, and Red Dust and had struck up a friendship. On September 17, 1933, the two were married in Yuma, Arizona. In an interview with Leicester Wagner, Harlow recalled that she and Rosson grew closer after the death of her second husband, Paul Bern, and he encouraged her to go out and socialize. Rosson and Harlow separated in May 1934 with Harlow charging that Rosson was "rude, sullen and irritable". She was granted a divorce in March 1935. On October 11, 1936, Rosson married socialite Yvonne Crellin in Beverly Hills. They divorced in June 1945. On September 6, 1988, Rosson died, age 93, at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. He is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Camera

1966

El Dorado
Movie

Director of Photography

1957

The Enemy Below
Movie

Director of Photography

1956

Toward the Unknown
Movie

Director of Photography

1956

The Bad Seed
Movie

Director of Photography

1955

Pete Kelly's Blues
Movie

Director of Photography

1955

Strange Lady in Town
Movie

Director of Photography

1954

Ulysses
Movie

Director of Photography

1954

Mambo
Movie

Director of Photography

1953

The Actress
Movie

Director of Photography

1953

Dangerous When Wet
Movie

Director of Photography

1953

The Story of Three Loves
Movie

Director of Photography

1953

I Love Melvin
Movie

Director of Photography

1952

Lone Star
Movie

Director of Photography

1952

Singin' in the Rain
Movie

Director of Photography

1952

Love Is Better Than Ever
Movie

Director of Photography

1951

The Red Badge of Courage
Movie

Director of Photography

1950

To Please a Lady
Movie

Director of Photography

1950

The Asphalt Jungle
Movie

Director of Photography

1950

Key to the City
Movie

Director of Photography

1949

On the Town
Movie

Director of Photography

1949

Any Number Can Play
Movie

Director of Photography

1949

The Stratton Story
Movie

Director of Photography

1948

Command Decision
Movie

Director of Photography

1948

Homecoming
Movie

Director of Photography

1947

The Hucksters
Movie

Director of Photography

1947

Living in a Big Way
Movie

Director of Photography

1946

Duel in the Sun
Movie

Director of Photography

1946

Three Wise Fools
Movie

Director of Photography

1946

No Leave, No Love
Movie

Director of Photography

1944

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Movie

Director of Photography

1944

An American Romance
Movie

Director of Photography

1943

Slightly Dangerous
Movie

Director of Photography

1942

Tennessee Johnson
Movie

Director of Photography

1941

Johnny Eager
Movie

Director of Photography

1941

Honky Tonk
Movie

Director of Photography

1941

Washington Melodrama
Movie

Director of Photography

1940

Boom Town
Movie

Director of Photography

1940

I Take This Woman
Movie

Director of Photography

1939

The Wizard of Oz
Movie

Director of Photography

1938

Too Hot to Handle
Movie

Director of Photography

1937

Double Wedding
Movie

Director of Photography

1937

The Emperor's Candlesticks
Movie

Director of Photography

1937

Captains Courageous
Movie

Director of Photography

1937

They Gave Him a Gun
Movie

Director of Photography

1936

The Devil Is a Sissy
Movie

Director of Photography

1935

The Ghost Goes West
Movie

Director of Photography

1934

The Scarlet Pimpernel
Movie

Director of Photography

1934

Treasure Island
Movie

Director of Photography

1934

The Cat and the Fiddle
Movie

Director of Photography

1933

Bombshell
Movie

Director of Photography

1933

Hold Your Man
Movie

Director of Photography

1933

The Barbarian
Movie

Director of Photography

1932

Red Dust
Movie

Director of Photography

1932

Kongo
Movie

Director of Photography

1932

Downstairs
Movie

Director of Photography

1932

Red-Headed Woman
Movie

Director of Photography

1932

Tarzan the Ape Man
Movie

Director of Photography

1931

Sporting Blood
Movie

Director of Photography

1931

The Squaw Man
Movie

Director of Photography

1930

Passion Flower
Movie

Director of Photography

1930

Madam Satan
Movie

Director of Photography

1930

This Mad World
Movie

Director of Photography

1929

Trent's Last Case
Movie

Director of Photography

1929

The Case of Lena Smith
Movie

Director of Photography

1928

Three Week Ends
Movie

Director of Photography

1928

The Docks of New York
Movie

Director of Photography

1928

Abie's Irish Rose
Movie

Director of Photography

1928

Abie's Irish Rose
Movie

Director of Photography

1928

Abie's Irish Rose
Movie

Director of Photography

1928

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Movie

Director of Photography

1927

Service for Ladies
Movie

Director of Photography

1927

Getting Gertie's Garter
Movie

Director of Photography

1927

Man Bait
Movie

Director of Photography

1924

Manhandled
Movie

Director of Photography

1924

A Society Scandal
Movie

Director of Photography

1923

Zaza
Movie

Director of Photography

1923

Quicksands
Movie

Director of Photography

1922

Through a Glass Window
Movie

Director of Photography

1917

Panthea
Movie

Director of Photography

1916

Oliver Twist
Movie

Director of Photography

1916

Oliver Twist
Movie

Director of Photography

Crew

1938

A Yank at Oxford
Movie

Cinematography

1936

1931

1931

1931

1929

Frozen Justice
Movie

Cinematography

1927

Open Range
Movie

Cinematography

1926

1926

For Wives Only
Movie

Cinematography

1924

Manhattan
Movie

Cinematography

1921

Infos

Full Name
Harold Rosson
Gender
Male
Date of Birth
4/6/1895
Date of Death
9/6/1988
Also Known As

Harold G. Rosson

Hal Rosson