Jack Hildyard
Jack Hildyard (
1908-
1990) was a
British cinematographer who worked on more than 80 films during his career. He made several films with
David Lean including
The Sound Barrier (
1952) and
Hobson's Choice (
1954), as well as
Bridge on the River Kwai (
1957), for which he won an
Academy Award for Best Cinematography and the
British Society of Cinematographers Award.
His first film was
Freedom of the Seas in
1934, as a focus-puller, before working as
camera operator on films for
Leslie Howard and others, including
Pygmalion,
The Divorce of Lady X and
Pimpernel Smith. His first film as cinematographer was
Laurence Olivier's 1944 film Henry V, an
adaptation of the
Shakespearean history. This gave him invaluable experience of colour cinematography, and his subsequent films made him one of the most sought after cameramen in England.
His other films included
Caesar and Cleopatra (
1945),
Anastasia (
1956),
The Sundowners (
1960),
55 Days at Peking (
1963)
Casino Royale (
1967) and
The Wild Geese (
1978). He photographed both of producer-director
Moustapha Akkad's films on Islamic history,
The Message and
Lion of the Desert.
He was also nominated for
BAFTA Awards for his work on
The VIPs (
1963),
The Yellow Rolls-Royce (
1964) and
Modesty Blaise (
1966).
He was awarded the British Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award in
1990.
*
