Karl Freund
Personal Info
Known for
Camera
Gender
Male
Birthday
1890-01-16
Day of Death
1969-05-03 (79 years old)
Place of Birth
Königinhof, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic]
Karl Freund
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.
Acting
(1941)
You Can't Fool a Camera
as Himself
(1924)
Michael
as LeBlanc - Art Dealer
Crew
(1960)
The Golem
Director of Photography
(1953)
I Love Lucy: The Movie
Director of Photography
(1950)
Bright Leaf
Director of Photography
(1950)
Montana
Director of Photography
(1949)
South of St. Louis
Director of Photography
(1948)
Key Largo
Director of Photography
(1948)
The Decision of Christopher Blake
Director of Photography
(1948)
Wallflower
Director of Photography
(1947)
That Hagen Girl
Director of Photography
(1947)
This Time for Keeps
Director of Photography
(1946)
Undercurrent
Director of Photography
(1946)
Two Smart People
Director of Photography
(1946)
A Letter for Evie
Director of Photography
(1945)
Without Love
Director of Photography
(1945)
Dangerous Partners
Director of Photography
(1944)
The Seventh Cross
Director of Photography
(1944)
The Thin Man Goes Home
Director of Photography
(1943)
A Guy Named Joe
Director of Photography
(1943)
Cry 'Havoc'
Director of Photography
(1943)
Du Barry Was a Lady
Director of Photography
(1942)
Tortilla Flat
Director of Photography
(1942)
A Yank at Eton
Director of Photography
(1942)
The War Against Mrs. Hadley
Director of Photography
(1942)
The Affairs of Martha
Director of Photography
(1941)
The Chocolate Soldier
Director of Photography
(1941)
Blossoms in the Dust
Director of Photography
(1940)
Pride and Prejudice
Director of Photography
(1940)
Green Hell
Director of Photography
(1940)
The Earl of Chicago
Director of Photography
(1940)
We Who Are Young
Director of Photography
(1940)
Florian
Director of Photography
(1940)
Comrade X
Camera Operator
(1939)
Golden Boy
Director of Photography
(1939)
Balalaika
Director of Photography
(1939)
Tail Spin
Director of Photography
(1939)
Rose of Washington Square
Director of Photography
(1939)
Barricade
Director of Photography
(1938)
Port of Seven Seas
Director of Photography
(1938)
Letter of Introduction
Director of Photography
(1938)
Three Comrades
Director of Photography
(1938)
Man-Proof
Director of Photography
(1937)
Conquest
Director of Photography
(1937)
The Good Earth
Director of Photography
(1937)
Parnell
Director of Photography
(1936)
Camille
Director of Photography
(1936)
The Great Ziegfeld
Director of Photography
(1935)
Mad Love
Director
(1934)
Gift of Gab
Director
(1934)
Madame Spy
Director
(1934)
The Countess of Monte Cristo
Director
(1934)
I Give My Love
Director
(1933)
Moonlight and Pretzels
Director
(1933)
The Kiss Before the Mirror
Director of Photography
(1932)
The Mummy
Director
(1932)
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Director of Photography
(1932)
Afraid to Talk
Director of Photography
(1932)
Air Mail
Director of Photography
(1932)
Scandal for Sale
Director of Photography
(1932)
Back Street
Director of Photography
(1931)
Dracula
Director of Photography, Co-Director
(1931)
Up for Murder
Director of Photography
(1931)
Personal Maid
Director of Photography
(1931)
Strictly Dishonorable
Director of Photography
(1931)
The Bad Sister
Director of Photography
(1930)
The Lottery Bride
Director of Photography
(1930)
All Quiet on the Western Front
Director of Photography
(1930)
The Boudoir Diplomat
Director of Photography
(1930)
Sleeping Partners
Director of Photography
(1929)
Fräulein Else
Director of Photography
(1928)
A Knight in London
Director of Photography
(1928)
Lady Juan
Director of Photography
(1927)
Metropolis
Director of Photography, Camera Operator
(1927)
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
Author, Director of Photography, Producer
(1926)
Manon Lescaut
Director of Photography
(1926)
Tartuffe
Director of Photography
(1926)
Adventures of a Ten Mark Note
Production Supervisor
(1926)
Madame Wants No Children
Producer
(1925)
Variety
Director of Photography
(1924)
The Last Laugh
Director of Photography
(1924)
The Finances of the Grand Duke
Director of Photography
(1924)
Michael
Director of Photography
(1923)
Der Tiger des Zirkus Farini
Director of Photography
(1923)
The Expulsion
Director of Photography
(1922)
Herzog Ferrantes Ende
Director of Photography
(1922)
Das blinde Glück
Director of Photography
(1922)
The Burning Soil
Director of Photography
(1922)
Lucrezia Borgia
Director of Photography
(1922)
Marizza
Director of Photography
(1921)
The Rats
Director of Photography
(1921)
Der verlorene Schatten
Director of Photography
(1921)
Torgus
Director of Photography
(1920)
The Golem: How He Came Into the World
Director of Photography
(1920)
The Head of Janus
Director of Photography
(1920)
The Spiders: Part 2 - The Diamond Ship
Director of Photography
(1920)
Catherine the Great
Cinematography
(1920)
The Hunchback and the Dancer
Director of Photography
(1920)
Panic in the House of Ardon
Director of Photography
(1920)
Satan
Director of Photography
(1920)
Die Nacht auf Goldenhall
Director of Photography
(1919)
The Spiders: Part 1 - The Golden Sea
Director of Photography
(1919)
Augen
Cinematography, Camera Department Manager
(1919)
Phantome des Lebens
Director of Photography
(1919)
The Boy in Blue
Director of Photography
(1919)
The Arc
Director of Photography
(1919)
Die Arche. 2. Teil: Die letzten Menschen
Director of Photography
(1919)
Intoxication
Director of Photography
(1918)
Die Heimkehr des Odysseus
Director of Photography
(1918)
Agnes Arnau und ihre drei Freier
Director of Photography
(1918)
Die Dame, der Teufel und die Probiermamsell
Director of Photography
(1918)
Die blaue Laterne
Director of Photography
(1918)
Countess Kitchenmaid
Director of Photography
(1918)
Auf Probe gestellt
Director of Photography
(1918)
Das Maskenfest des Lebens
Director of Photography
(1918)
Das Geschlecht derer von Ringwall
Director of Photography
(1917)
Gefangene Seele
Director of Photography
(1917)
The Giant's Fist
Director of Photography
(1917)
Der Liebesbrief der Königin
Director of Photography
(1917)
Die Claudi vom Geiserhof
Director of Photography
(1917)
Die Ehe der Luise Rohrbach
Director of Photography
(1917)
Christa Hartungen
Director of Photography
(1916)
The White Roses
Director of Photography
(1916)
Little Angel's Wedding
Camera Operator
(1916)
The Robber Bride
Director of Photography
(1916)
Das wandernde Licht
Director of Photography
(1916)
Frau Eva
Director of Photography
(1916)
The Man in the Mirror
Director of Photography
(1916)
Bummelstudenten
Director of Photography
(1914)
Zapata's Gang
Director of Photography
(1914)
Little Angel
Director of Photography
(1914)
A Venetian Night
Director of Photography
(1914)
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Director of Photography
(1914)
Das Feuer
Writer
(1913)
The Film Prima Donna
Director of Photography
(1913)
The Suffragette
Director of Photography
(1912)
Poor Mother
Director of Photography