Gerry Fisher obit

Gerry Fisher: Prolific cinematographer who worked with some of the finest directors of his day - most profitably, Joseph Losey

 

He was not on the list.

Gerry Fisher was one of Britain’s finest cinematographers, responsible for the look of more than 60 films, most illustriously with director Joseph Losey.

He went up the ranks from camera operator to director of photography when he shot Losey’s Accident (1967), a Harold Pinter adaptation of Nicholas Mosley’s novel, starring Dirk Bogarde as a married Oxford University professor going through a mid-life crisis as he pursues a student whose fiancé has died in a car crash. Fisher succeeded in lighting interior and exterior scenes to get moody shots reflecting the dark, pessimistic themes of the film while battling days of torrential rain over the summer of 1966.

He showed his versatility by creating a completely different, “bright” look for The Go-Between (1971), the third of Pinter’s collaborations with Losey, which started with The Servant in 1963 and were incisive in their exploration of the moral bankruptcy and thwarted desires among the English middle and upper classes.

Based on L P Hartley’s Edwardian novel about a boy who acts as messenger for a tenant farmer and his friend’s elder sister, who is married to a wounded Boer War veteran, The Go-Between starred Alan Bates and Julie Christie as the lovers conducting a passionate affair during a long, hot summer. With scenes of croquet, cricket matches and picnics, large rooms and echoing corridors, Fisher’s photography reflected the essence of the English countryside of summers long ago.

Alongside the nostalgic look, he was challenged by Losey to make 30-year-old Christie appear like the teenage heroine of the novel. “I was asked, could I make Julie Christie look 18?” Fisher told me in 1999. “My response was, ‘If you give me carte blanche so that each shot of her is entirely controlled to that purpose, it’s conceivable. She could pass as 18 provided she could play 18. But, if you think I can make Julie Christie appear 18 and others look the age they are, with her taking tea round to people sitting at tables on the lawn on a summer’s day, then no’.

“I’m very proud of the film. In many ways, it reflected my own childhood. In the long, hot summers, out of school, I would go to the fields and lie flat on my back in the corn and hear field mice and birds, and get the heat near the ground. I was very aware of that and tried to bring some of that feeling to the photography.”

Fisher was born in London, the son of Oliver, an actor, and his wife, Margaret (née Maule-Eyles). On leaving technical college, he had jobs for Kodak and the De Havilland Aircraft Company before Second World War service in the Royal Navy. In 1946, he broke into the film industry as a clapper boy at Alliance Riverside Studios, then worked as a camera assistant on documentaries for Wessex Films and, from 1947 at Shepperton Studios, on feature films, beginning with They Made Me a Fugitive (1947).

A couple of dozen pictures, including An Inspector Calls (1954) and A Kid for Two Farthings (1955, for director Carol Reed), followed in this capacity – and Fisher was focus-puller on several more – until he was promoted to camera operator for David Lean’s classic The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957).

His reputation grew as he shot another 20 films, including The Millionairess (1960), The Sundowners (1960), The VIPs (1963), Cleopatra (1963), Night Must Fall (1964) and Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) for top directors such as Guy Hamilton, Anthony Asquith, Joseph L Mankiewicz, Karel Reisz and Otto Preminger, and leading directors of photography Christopher Challis, Geoffrey Unsworth, Freddie Francis and Douglas Slocombe.

The list of Hollywood stars in front of his lens included Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, David Niven, Charlton Heston, Albert Finney, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Katharine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Ingrid Bergman and Shirley MacLaine.

Fisher was also camera operator on Modesty Blaise (1966) for Joseph Losey, who asked him to take over responsibility for one scene in Amsterdam when his director of photography, Jack Hildyard, refused to shoot it because of poor light.

Later, when Fisher was working on the James Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967) in Ireland, Losey asked him to read the script for Accident and let him know whether he could shoot it as director of photography. “I began to read a script for the first time in terms of what I would do with it, of the way I visualised it,” recalled Fisher. “So it fell into place, it suggested itself to me in terms of images, of how I felt it should look.” Fisher left the Casino Royale shoot and made his debut as a cinematographer, with Accident winning the Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Prize of the Jury.

He also worked with Losey on Secret Ceremony (1968), A Doll’s House (1973), The Romantic Englishwoman (1975), Mr Klein (1976), Les Routes du Sud (Roads to the South, 1978) and Don Giovanni (1979). The Go-Between won the Palme d’Or, the top prize in Cannes.

Fisher’s many other films as director of photography included Ned Kelly (1970) for Tony Richardson, The Offence (1972) and Running on Empty (1988) for Sidney Lumet, Butley (1974) for Harold Pinter, Juggernaut (1974) for Richard Lester, The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother (1975) for Gene Wilder, Aces High (1976) for Jack Gold, Fedora (1978) for Billy Wilder and Wise Blood (1979) and Escape to Victory (1981) for John Huston. He ventured into horror with Blind Terror (1971, starring Mia Farrow) and fantasy with The Island of Dr Moreau (1977) and Highlander (1986).

Known by all who worked with him as a well-dressed English gentleman who drank champagne, Fisher particularly enjoyed filming in France. He made half a dozen pictures there, including his last, Furia (1999), before retiring at the age of 73. In 1997, he was made a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Art and Literature). Eleven years later, he received a British Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fisher’s wife, Jean, died three days before him. Their son, Cary, became a film camera operator himself and was director of photography for the television series CSI: NY.

Gerald Fisher, cinematographer: born London 23 June 1926; married 1951 Jean Hawkins (died 2014; one son); died Reading, Berkshire 2 December 2014.

 

Cinematographer

Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, and Michael J. Nelson in RiffTrax: Highlander (2011)

RiffTrax: Highlander

Cinematographer

2011

 

Furia (1999)

Furia

5.3

Cinematographer

1999

 

K (1997)

K

6.2

Cinematographer

1997

 

Sean Bean and Emily Lloyd in When Saturday Comes (1996)

When Saturday Comes

6.1

director of photography

1996

 

Dandelion Dead (1994)

Dandelion Dead

7.5

TV Mini Series

Cinematographer

1994

4 episodes

 

Chevy Chase and Jack Palance in Cops and Robbersons (1994)

Cops and Robbersons

5.2

director of photography

1994

 

The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993)

The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom

6.6

TV Movie

Cinematographer

1993

 

Diggstown (1992)

Diggstown

6.9

director of photography

1992

 

Gene Hackman and Mikhail Baryshnikov in Company Business (1991)

Company Business

5.7

director of photography

1991

 

The Exorcist III: Legion (1990)

The Exorcist III: Legion

7.2

Cinematographer

1990

 

The Exorcist III (1990)

The Exorcist III

6.5

director of photography

1990

 

Jürgen Prochnow and Roy Scheider in The Fourth War (1990)

The Fourth War

5.5

director of photography

1990

 

Rosanna Arquette in Black Rainbow (1989)

Black Rainbow

6.0

director of photography

1989

 

Don Johnson in Dead Bang (1989)

Dead Bang

6.1

director of photography

1989

 

River Phoenix, Christine Lahti, and Judd Hirsch in Running on Empty (1988)

Running on Empty

7.6

director of photography

1988

 

Orn (1987)

Orn

4.4

Cinematographer

1987

 

Scott Glenn and Jade Malle in Man on Fire (1987)

Man on Fire

5.8

director of photography

1987

 

Christopher Lambert in Highlander (1986)

Highlander

7.0

director of photography

1986

 

Michael Caine in The Holcroft Covenant (1985)

The Holcroft Covenant

5.7

director of photography

1985

 

Samson and Delilah (1984)

Samson and Delilah

5.5

TV Movie

director of photography

1984

 

Les mots pour le dire (1983)

Les mots pour le dire

6.0

Cinematographer

1983

 

Yellowbeard (1983)

Yellowbeard

5.9

director of photography

1983

 

Elizabeth McGovern and Dudley Moore in Lovesick (1983)

Lovesick

5.2

director of photography

1983

 

Un matin rouge (1982)

Un matin rouge

4.9

Cinematographer

1982

 

Le physique et le figuré

Short

Cinematographer

1981

 

Wolfen (1981)

Wolfen

6.3

director of photography

1981

 

Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, and Pelé in Victory (1981)

Victory

6.7

director of photography

1981

 

Rends-moi la clé! (1981)

Rends-moi la clé!

3.8

Cinematographer

1981

 

Stacy Keach in The Ninth Configuration (1980)

The Ninth Configuration

6.7

director of photography

1980

 

Don Giovanni (1979)

Don Giovanni

7.5

director of photography

1979

 

Brad Dourif, Ned Beatty, Harry Dean Stanton, Dan Shor, and Amy Wright in Wise Blood (1979)

Wise Blood

6.9

director of photography

1979

 

William Holden and Marthe Keller in Fedora (1978)

Fedora

6.8

director of photography

1978

 

Roads to the South (1978)

Roads to the South

5.5

Cinematographer

1978

 

Ann-Margret, Marty Feldman, and Michael York in The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977)

The Last Remake of Beau Geste

6.0

director of photography

1977

 

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)

The Island of Dr. Moreau

5.9

director of photography

1977

 

Alain Delon in Mr. Klein (1976)

Mr. Klein

7.5

director of photography

1976

 

John Gielgud, Malcolm McDowell, Ray Milland, Christopher Plummer, Trevor Howard, Peter Firth, Richard Johnson, and Simon Ward in Aces High (1976)

Aces High

6.6

director of photography

1976

 

Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, and Madeline Kahn in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother

6.0

director of photography

1975

 

The Romantic Englishwoman (1975)

The Romantic Englishwoman

6.0

director of photography

1975

 

Dogpound Shuffle (1975)

Dogpound Shuffle

7.0

director of photography

1975

 

Brannigan (1975)

Brannigan

6.1

director of photography

1975

 

Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, Shirley Knight, David Hemmings, Clifton James, and Roy Kinnear in Juggernaut (1974)

Juggernaut

6.6

director of photography

1974

 

S*P*Y*S (1974)

S*P*Y*S

4.5

director of photography

1974

 

Butley (1974)

Butley

6.7

director of photography

1974

 

Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Paul Scofield, and Anna Calder-Marshall in ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1969)

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

5.9

TV Series

Cinematographer

1973

1 episode

 

A Doll's House (1973)

A Doll's House

6.0

director of photography

1973

 

The Nelson Affair (1973)

The Nelson Affair

6.4

director of photography

1973

 

Sean Connery and Ian Bannen in The Offence (1973)

The Offence

6.9

photographed by

1973

 

John Fraser in The Man and the Snake (1972)

The Man and the Snake

6.5

Short

Cinematographer

1972

 

Laurence Naismith in The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972)

The Amazing Mr. Blunden

6.8

director of photography

1972

 

Orson Welles, Michel Bouquet, and Susan Hampshire in Malpertuis (1971)

Malpertuis

6.6

images

1971

 

Richard Harris in Man in the Wilderness (1971)

Man in the Wilderness

6.8

director of photography

1971

 

Mia Farrow, Diane Grayson, and Paul Nicholas in See No Evil (1971)

See No Evil

6.6

director of photography

1971

 

The Go-Between (1971)

The Go-Between

7.1

director of photography

1971

 

All the Right Noises (1970)

All the Right Noises

6.1

photographed by

1970

 

Macho Callahan (1970)

Macho Callahan

5.5

photographed by

1970

 

Ned Kelly (1970)

Ned Kelly

5.1

Cinematographer

1970

 

Marianne Faithfull, Michael Pennington, and Nicol Williamson in Hamlet (1969)

Hamlet

6.9

Cinematographer

1969

 

James Mason, Vanessa Redgrave, David Warner, and Simone Signoret in The Sea Gull (1968)

The Sea Gull

6.6

photography by

1968

 

Robert Mitchum, Elizabeth Taylor, and Mia Farrow in Secret Ceremony (1968)

Secret Ceremony

6.2

lighting cameraman (as Gerald Fisher)

1968

 

Amsterdam Affair (1968)

Amsterdam Affair

5.3

Cinematographer

1968

 

Oskar Werner in Interlude (1968)

Interlude

6.4

photographed by

1968

 

Dirk Bogarde and Susannah York in Sebastian (1968)

Sebastian

6.1

director of photography (as Gerald Fisher)

1968

 

The Mikado (1967)

The Mikado

7.2

Cinematographer

1967

 

Accident (1967)

Accident

6.8

director of photography

1967

 

Camera and Electrical Department

David Niven, Art Carney, and Catherine Hicks in Better Late Than Never (1983)

Better Late Than Never

5.5

director of photography: additional photography

1983

 

Casino Royale (1967)

Casino Royale

5.0

camera operator (uncredited)

1967

 

Terence Stamp and Monica Vitti in Modesty Blaise (1966)

Modesty Blaise

5.0

camera operator

1966

 

Against the Tide

7.0

Short

camera operator

1965

 

Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)

Bunny Lake Is Missing

7.3

camera operator

1965

 

Ingrid Bergman, Shirley MacLaine, Alain Delon, Rex Harrison, George C. Scott, Omar Sharif, and Jeanne Moreau in The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)

The Yellow Rolls-Royce

6.4

camera operator

1964

 

Guns at Batasi (1964)

Guns at Batasi

7.1

camera operator

1964

 

Rita Hayworth, John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale, and John Smith in Circus World (1964)

Circus World

6.1

camera operator (uncredited)

1964

 

Albert Finney and Susan Hampshire in Night Must Fall (1964)

Night Must Fall

6.5

camera operator

1964

 

Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Louis Jourdan in The V.I.P.s (1963)

The V.I.P.s

6.3

camera operator

1963

 

An Evening with the Royal Ballet (1963)

An Evening with the Royal Ballet

8.1

camera operator

1963

 

Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)

Cleopatra

7.0

camera operator: UK (uncredited)

1963

 

Charlton Heston, David Niven, and Ava Gardner in 55 Days at Peking (1963)

55 Days at Peking

6.7

camera operator (uncredited)

1963

 

Ian Hendry and June Ritchie in Live Now - Pay Later (1962)

Live Now - Pay Later

6.5

camera operator

1962

 

Guns of Darkness (1962)

Guns of Darkness

6.1

camera operator

1962

 

The Road to Hong Kong (1962)

The Road to Hong Kong

6.1

camera operator

1962

 

No Place Like Homicide! (1961)

No Place Like Homicide!

6.3

camera operator

1961

 

Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, and Peter Ustinov in The Sundowners (1960)

The Sundowners

7.1

camera operator (as Gerald Fisher)

1960

 

The Millionairess (1960)

The Millionairess

5.4

camera operator

1960

 

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

Suddenly, Last Summer

7.4

camera operator

1959

 

Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, and Laurence Olivier in The Devil's Disciple (1959)

The Devil's Disciple

6.9

camera operator (as Gerald Fisher)

1959

 

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959)

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure

6.4

camera operator (as Gerald Fisher)

1959

 

Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner in The Journey (1959)

The Journey

6.8

camera operator (as Gerald Fisher)

1959

 

William Holden and Sophia Loren in The Key (1958)

The Key

6.7

assistant camera

1958

 

Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, Geoffrey Horne, and Ann Sears in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

The Bridge on the River Kwai

8.1

additional camera operatorassistant camera (uncredited, uncredited)

1957

 

Anastasia (1956)

Anastasia

7.0

focus puller (uncredited)

1956

 

Panic in the Parlor (1956)

Panic in the Parlor

6.3

assistant camera (uncredited)

1956

 

Teenage Bad Girl (1956)

Teenage Bad Girl

5.5

assistant camera (uncredited)

1956

 

The March Hare (1956)

The March Hare

5.1

camera operator: second unit (uncredited)

1956

 

The Deep Blue Sea (1955)

The Deep Blue Sea

6.4

assistant camera

1955

 

Diana Dors, Jonathan Ashmore, and Joe Robinson in A Kid for Two Farthings (1955)

A Kid for Two Farthings

6.4

assistant camera (uncredited)

1955

 

Marriage a la Mode (1955)

Marriage a la Mode

6.3

focus puller (uncredited)

1955

 

Ginger Rogers, Herbert Lom, and Stanley Baker in Twist of Fate (1954)

Twist of Fate

5.9

assistant camera

1954

 

Alastair Sim in An Inspector Calls (1954)

An Inspector Calls

7.5

focus puller (uncredited)

1954

 

Jack Hawkins in The Intruder (1953)

The Intruder

6.7

assistant camera (uncredited)

1953

 

Alec Guinness, Yvonne De Carlo, and Celia Johnson in The Captain's Paradise (1953)

The Captain's Paradise

6.8

focus puller (uncredited)

1953

 

The Heart of the Matter (1953)

The Heart of the Matter

6.6

assistant camera (uncredited)

1953

 

Raiders in the Sky (1953)

Raiders in the Sky

6.5

assistant camera (uncredited)

1953

 

Mai Zetterling in The Ringer (1952)

The Ringer

6.4

assistant camera

1952

 

Denholm Elliott, Celia Johnson, Margaret Leighton, and Ralph Richardson in The Holly and the Ivy (1952)

The Holly and the Ivy

7.3

assistant camera (uncredited)

1952

 

The Passionate Sentry (1952)

The Passionate Sentry

5.5

assistant camera (uncredited)

1952

 

The Frightened Bride (1952)

The Frightened Bride

5.8

assistant camera (uncredited)

1952

 

Margaret Leighton and Ralph Richardson in Murder on Monday (1952)

Murder on Monday

6.7

assistant camera (uncredited)

1952

 

The Changing Face of Europe (1951)

The Changing Face of Europe

7.1

assistant camera (segment "Clearing the Lines")

1951

 

Mr. Denning Drives North (1951)

Mr. Denning Drives North

6.7

assistant camera (uncredited)

1951

 

Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)

Cry, the Beloved Country

7.0

assistant camera: interiors (uncredited)

1951

 

Kerima in Outcast of the Islands (1951)

Outcast of the Islands

6.9

assistant camera (uncredited)

1951

 

Diana Dors in Bikini Baby (1951)

Bikini Baby

5.8

assistant camera: second unit

1951

 

Michèle Morgan and Kieron Moore in The Naked Heart (1950)

The Naked Heart

5.0

assistant camera

1950

 

The Wooden Horse (1950)

The Wooden Horse

6.9

focus puller (uncredited)

1950

 

The Great Manhunt (1950)

The Great Manhunt

7.0

assistant camera

1950

 

Miss Pilgrim's Progress (1949)

Miss Pilgrim's Progress

6.0

assistant camera

1949

 

No Way Back (1949)

No Way Back

5.7

assistant camera (uncredited)

1949

 

Old Mother Riley's New Venture (1949)

Old Mother Riley's New Venture

4.0

focus puller (uncredited)

1949

 

Herbert Lom, Avril Angers, Carole Landis, and Carroll Levis in Brass Monkey (1948)

Brass Monkey

5.2

focus puller (uncredited)

1948

 

Anne Crawford in Daughter of Darkness (1948)

Daughter of Darkness

6.6

assistant camera

1948

 

Trevor Howard and Sally Gray in I Became a Criminal (1947)

I Became a Criminal

7.2

assistant camera (uncredited)

1947

 

Producer

Dirk Bogarde and Susannah York in Sebastian (1968)

Sebastian

6.1

producer

1968

 

Self

Swan Song: The Story of Billy Wilder's Fedora

8.0

Self

2014

 

The Making of 'Highlander' II - Der visuelle Stil

8.0

Video

Self

2007

 

Jo le magnifique

Self

2005

 

Joseph Losey: The Man with Four Names (1998)

Joseph Losey: The Man with Four Names

6.9

Self

1998

 

Ken Adam - Production Designer

Self

1990

 

Group Madness

8.1

TV Movie

Self (uncredited)

1983

 

Regie: Billy Wilder

TV Movie

Self

1978

 

Trece oficios cinematográficos

TV Series

Self

1976

1 episode