“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Man Behind the Camera…

Posted on April 10, 2018 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here… 

“`Ralph Woolsey was an accomplished cinematographer. He’s best known for the iconic look he developed on Batman’s initial season in 1966. The bright colors, camp costumes, and sharp camera angles were like a combination of Dr. Seuss and German Expressionism films. Batman was comic books come to life. Perhaps, it remains the only superhero television show to capture the look and feel of vintage D.C. Comics.                      RALPH WOOLSEY –>

“`He began his career as a student at the  University of Minnesota, making conservation films for the state and industrials for Bell Aircraft that were used to train United States Air Force personnel during World War II. By 1950, he was teaching cinematography at USC.

“`Woolsey worked on television Westerns, such as Cheyenne and Maverick, for which he received a first Emmy nomination. Other work included 77 Sunset Strip (another Emmy nod), The Name Of The Game and the pilot of It Takes a Thief, in which he garnered a coveted Emmy Award.

         FRANK GORSHIN              ADAM WEST          BURT WARD

“`Working with creator-producer William Dozier and director Robert Butler on  Batman, many of the distinctive scenes from the first season of the pioneering program came from Woolsey’s approach. Ralph played with perspective, shooting Frank Gorshin (as The Riddler) close to the lens. The episode also featured a nifty outdoor building climb with Batman and Robin. Though not a fan of crooked camera angles to film the villains, he came to embrace the technique.

“`Woolsey switched to feature cinema in the 1970s, including work on Little Fauss and Big Halsy, The New Centurions, The Iceman Cometh, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins, Mother Jugs and Speed, The Great Santini, and Oh God! Book II in 1980.

“`Ralph Woolsey was 104.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2018 at 12:48 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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