Karl Freund
- Known for
- Camera
- Born
- January 16, 1890
- Died
- May 3, 1969 (aged 79)
- Birthplace
- Königinhof, Bohemia, Czech Republic
Biography
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
The Golem
Movie · Director of Photography
I Love Lucy: The Movie
Movie · Director of Photography
Bright Leaf
Movie · Director of Photography
Montana
Movie · Director of Photography
South of St. Louis
Movie · Director of Photography
Key Largo
Movie · Director of Photography
The Decision of Christopher Blake
Movie · Director of Photography
Wallflower
Movie · Director of Photography
That Hagen Girl
Movie · Director of Photography
This Time for Keeps
Movie · Director of Photography
Undercurrent
Movie · Director of Photography
Two Smart People
Movie · Director of Photography
A Letter for Evie
Movie · Director of Photography
Without Love
Movie · Director of Photography
Dangerous Partners
Movie · Director of Photography
The Seventh Cross
Movie · Director of Photography
A Guy Named Joe
Movie · Director of Photography
The Thin Man Goes Home
Movie · Director of Photography
Cry 'Havoc'
Movie · Director of Photography
Du Barry Was a Lady
Movie · Director of Photography
Tortilla Flat
Movie · Director of Photography
The War Against Mrs. Hadley
Movie · Director of Photography
The Affairs of Martha
Movie · Director of Photography
A Yank at Eton
Movie · Director of Photography
The Chocolate Soldier
Movie · Director of Photography
Blossoms in the Dust
Movie · Director of Photography
Pride and Prejudice
Movie · Director of Photography
Green Hell
Movie · Director of Photography
The Earl of Chicago
Movie · Director of Photography
We Who Are Young
Movie · Director of Photography
Florian
Movie · Director of Photography
Comrade X
Movie · Camera Operator
Golden Boy
Movie · Director of Photography
Balalaika
Movie · Director of Photography
Rose of Washington Square
Movie · Director of Photography
Tail Spin
Movie · Director of Photography
Barricade
Movie · Director of Photography
Port of Seven Seas
Movie · Director of Photography
Letter of Introduction
Movie · Director of Photography
Three Comrades
Movie · Director of Photography
Man-Proof
Movie · Director of Photography
Conquest
Movie · Director of Photography
The Good Earth
Movie · Director of Photography
Parnell
Movie · Director of Photography
Camille
Movie · Director of Photography
The Great Ziegfeld
Movie · Director of Photography
The Kiss Before the Mirror
Movie · Director of Photography
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Movie · Director of Photography
Scandal for Sale
Movie · Director of Photography
Afraid to Talk
Movie · Director of Photography
Air Mail
Movie · Director of Photography
Back Street
Movie · Director of Photography
Dracula
Movie · Director of Photography
Up for Murder
Movie · Director of Photography
Personal Maid
Movie · Director of Photography
Strictly Dishonorable
Movie · Director of Photography
The Bad Sister
Movie · Director of Photography
The Lottery Bride
Movie · Director of Photography
All Quiet on the Western Front
Movie · Director of Photography
The Boudoir Diplomat
Movie · Director of Photography
Sleeping Partners
Movie · Director of Photography
Fräulein Else
Movie · Director of Photography
A Knight in London
Movie · Director of Photography
Lady Juan
Movie · Director of Photography
Metropolis
Movie · Director of Photography, Camera Operator
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
Movie · Director of Photography
Manon Lescaut
Movie · Director of Photography
Tartuffe
Movie · Director of Photography
Variety
Movie · Director of Photography
The Last Laugh
Movie · Director of Photography
The Finances of the Grand Duke
Movie · Director of Photography
Michael
Movie · Director of Photography
The Tiger of the Farini Circus
Movie · Director of Photography
The Expulsion
Movie · Director of Photography
Herzog Ferrantes Ende
Movie · Director of Photography
Das blinde Glück
Movie · Director of Photography
The Burning Soil
Movie · Director of Photography
Lucrezia Borgia
Movie · Director of Photography
Marizza
Movie · Director of Photography
The Lost Shadow
Movie · Director of Photography
The Rats
Movie · Director of Photography
Torgus
Movie · Director of Photography
The Boy in Blue
Movie · Director of Photography
The Golem: How He Came into the World
Movie · Director of Photography
The Head of Janus
Movie · Director of Photography
The Spiders: Part 2 - The Diamond Ship
Movie · Director of Photography
The Hunchback and the Dancer
Movie · Director of Photography
Panic in the House of Ardon
Movie · Director of Photography
Satan
Movie · Director of Photography
Die Nacht auf Goldenhall
Movie · Director of Photography
The Spiders: Part 1 - The Golden Sea
Movie · Director of Photography
Eyes
Movie · Camera Department Manager
Phantome des Lebens
Movie · Director of Photography
Die Arche. 2. Teil: Die letzten Menschen
Movie · Director of Photography
The Arc
Movie · Director of Photography
Intoxication
Movie · Director of Photography
The Return of Odysseus
Movie · Director of Photography
Agnes Arnau und ihre drei Freier
Movie · Director of Photography
Die Dame, der Teufel und die Probiermamsell
Movie · Director of Photography
Die blaue Laterne
Movie · Director of Photography
Countess Kitchenmaid
Movie · Director of Photography
Auf Probe gestellt
Movie · Director of Photography
Das Geschlecht derer von Ringwall
Movie · Director of Photography
Das Maskenfest des Lebens
Movie · Director of Photography
Gefangene Seele
Movie · Director of Photography
The Giant's Fist
Movie · Director of Photography
Der Liebesbrief der Königin
Movie · Director of Photography
Die Claudi vom Geiserhof
Movie · Director of Photography
Die Ehe der Luise Rohrbach
Movie · Director of Photography
Christa Hartungen
Movie · Director of Photography
The White Roses
Movie · Director of Photography
Little Angel's Wedding
Movie · Camera Operator
Das wandernde Licht
Movie · Director of Photography
Mrs. Eva
Movie · Director of Photography
The Man in the Mirror
Movie · Director of Photography
The Robber Bride
Movie · Director of Photography
Bummelstudenten
Movie · Director of Photography
Zapata's Gang
Movie · Director of Photography
Little Angel
Movie · Director of Photography
A Venetian Night
Movie · Director of Photography
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Movie · Director of Photography
Das Feuer
Movie · Director of Photography
The Suffragette
Movie · Director of Photography
The Film Prima Donna
Movie · Director of Photography
Poor Mother
Movie · Director of Photography