Indiana Jones, Ealing Comedy Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe dead at 103

Douglas Slocombe, British cinematographer, who shot 80 films, including three Indiana Jones, Classic Ealing comedies like Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Lavender Hill Mob, has died at the age of 103.

Indiana Jones director Steven Spielberg said “Solcombe won several Baftas for the Great Gatsby (1974), The Servant (1963) (B&W) and Julia (1977), and loved making action films and a great collaborator and a beautiful human being,” He was also award the Saturn Awards for the Best Cinematography for Rollerball (1975). He also won the British Society of Cinematographers award for Julia (1977), The Great Gasby (1974) and Jesus Christ Superstar(1973). The Lion in Winter (1968), The Servant (1963).

Slocombe work also included The Italian Job and Jesus Christ Superstar. He was particularly praised for his flexible high-contrast cinematography for the horror film Dead of Night.

He was the son of journalist who was the Paris correspondent for the Daily Herald. He became a leading photographer at Ealing Studios during the 1940s after being hired on the strength of his documentary work on 84 feature films over a period of 47 years.

 

London-born Solcombe at the age of 27, as a young newsreel cameraman, had shot parts of the Nazi invasion of Poland.  He said ”I had fallen in love with photography and was making a living doing photographic features for publications such as Picture Post, Paris Match and Life Magazine.” Solcombe was nominated for an Oscar on three occasions including or Raiders and was given a lifetime achievement award by the British Society of Cinematographers in 1996. He was made an OBE in the New Year Honours list in 2008 to services to the film industry. His other films included Never Say Never Again, Rollerball and The Man in the White Suit and Whisky Galore.