Theodor Sparkuhl

{{Short description|German-born cinematographer}} [[File:Theodor Sparkuhl color.png|thumb|Theodor Sparkuhl, c. 1940, on set]]

[[File:Blood on the Sun (1945) 1.jpg|thumb|Theodor Sparkuhl]] '''Theodor Sparkuhl''' (October 7, 1894, Hannover, Germany – June 13, 1946, Los Angeles, California) was a German-born [[cinematographer]] with 140 movies to his credit.

Sparkuhl began his career as a projectionist in 1911. He was trained as a newsreel cameraman at the German subsidiary of the French film production company [[Gaumont Film Company|Gaumont]] in 1912. During World War I he chronicled battles in the Middle East and in Russia. In 1916 he became a lighting director of feature films, working in the German film industry until 1928. He shot twelve films under the direction of [[Ernst Lubitsch]], a collaboration that ended with Lubitsch's emigration to Hollywood in 1922.

From 1928 to 1930 Sparkuhl worked for [[Associated British Picture Corporation|British International Pictures]] in London. He relocated to France in 1930, and worked on a number of films, including films directed by [[Jean Renoir]] and [[Marc Allégret]]. In December 1931 he and his family finally emigrated to Hollywood. He soon signed a contract with [[Paramount Pictures]], where he worked until 1945.

Sparkuhl's most famous films include Renoir's ''[[La Chienne]]'' (1931), the classic adventure film ''[[Beau Geste (1939 film)|Beau Geste]]'' (1939) and the seminal [[film noir]] ''[[The Glass Key (1942 film)|The Glass Key]]'' (1942). The distinctive [[low-key photography]] in the latter film and his two other early film noirs ''[[Among the Living (1941 film)|Among the Living]]'' (1941) and ''[[Street of Chance (1942 film)|Street of Chance]]'' (1942) is a remarkable change from the traditional flat lighting of the typical Hollywood crime films of the 1930s (like the [[The Glass Key (1935 film)|1935 film version]] of ''The Glass Key''). Film historians consider Sparkuhl's work in these three films to be a significant contribution to the development of the archetypical noir style and an indication of its debt to [[German Expressionism]] and French [[Poetic realism]].<ref>Silver, Ursini, Ward, and Porfirio [2010]. ''Film Noir: The Encyclopedia'', 4th rev., exp. ed. Overlook. {{ISBN|978-1-59020-144-2}}</ref>

==Selected filmography== {| width="100%" align="center |width="50% valign="top"| ===German silent films=== * ''[[I Don't Want to Be a Man]]'' (1918) * ''[[The Seeds of Life (film)|The Seeds of Life]]'' (1918) * ''[[The Ballet Girl (1918 film)|The Ballet Girl]]'' (1918) * ''[[The Flyer from Goerz]]'' (1918) *''[[The Toboggan Cavalier]]'' (1918) * ''[[Meyer from Berlin]]'' (1919) * ''[[Intoxication (film)|Intoxication]]'' (1919) * ''[[The Doll (1919 film)|The Doll]]'' (1919) * ''[[The Oyster Princess]]'' (1919) * ''[[Countess Doddy]]'' (1919) * ''[[The Merry Husband]]'' (1919) * ''[[The Woman at the Crossroads (1919 film)|The Woman at the Crossroads]]'' (1919) * ''[[Madame Dubarry (1919 film)|Madame Dubarry]]'' (1919) * ''[[My Wife, the Movie Star]]'' (1919) * ''[[Kohlhiesel's Daughters (1920 film)|Kohlhiesel's Daughters]]'' (1920) * ''[[Anna Boleyn (film)|Anna Boleyn]]'' (1920) * ''[[Romeo and Juliet in the Snow]]'' (1920) * ''[[Sumurun]]'' (1920) * ''[[The Marquise of Armiani]]'' (1920) * ''[[The Sins of the Mother]]'' (1921) * ''[[The Story of a Maid]]'' (1921) * ''[[Nights of Terror (1921 film)|Nights of Terror]]'' (1921) * ''[[The Wildcat (1921 film)|The Wildcat]]'' (1921) * ''[[The Loves of Pharaoh]]'' (1922) * ''[[The Flame (1923 film)|The Flame]]'' (1923) * ''[[The Island of Tears]]'' (1923) * ''[[The Ancient Law]]'' (1923) * ''[[The Fifth Street]]'' (1923) * ''[[Carlos and Elisabeth]]'' (1924) * ''[[Comedy of the Heart]]'' (1924) * ''[[The New Land (1924 film)|The New Land]]'' (1924) * ''[[Decameron Nights (1924 film)|Decameron Nights]]'' (1924) * ''[[The Wife of Forty Years]]'' (1925) * ''[[The Blackguard]]'' (1925) * ''[[Manon Lescaut (1926 film)|Manon Lescaut]]'' (1926) * ''[[Madame Wants No Children (1926 film)|Madame Wants No Children]]'' (1926) * ''[[The Fallen (1926 film)|The Fallen]]'' (1926) * ''[[The Boxer's Bride]]'' (1926) * ''[[Fedora (1926 film)|Fedora]]'' (1926) * ''[[The Circus of Life (1926 film)|The Circus of Life]]'' (1926) * ''[[Chance the Idol]]'' (1927) * ''[[Marie's Soldier]]'' (1927) * ''[[The Curse of Vererbung]]'' (1927) * ''[[Eva and the Grasshopper]]'' (1927) * ''[[Out of the Mist (film)|Out of the Mist]]'' (1927) * ''[[Two Under the Stars]]'' (1927) * ''[[The Last Waltz (1927 film)|The Last Waltz]]'' (1927) * ''[[The Devious Path]]'' (1928) * ''[[Love's Masquerade (1928 film)|Love's Masquerade]]'' (1928)

===Years in Britain and France=== * ''[[After the Verdict (film)|After the Verdict]]'' (1929) * ''[[Bright Eyes (1929 film)|Bright Eyes]]'' (1929) * ''[[The Lady from the Sea (1929 film)|The Lady from the Sea]]'' (1929) * ''[[The Flying Scotsman (1929 film)|The Flying Scotsman]]'' (1929) * ''[[The Informer (1929 film)|The Informer]]'' (1929) * ''[[Alf's Carpet]]'' (1929) * ''[[The Compulsory Husband]]'' (1930) * ''[[Harmony Heaven]]'' (1930) * ''[[Suspense (1930 film)|Suspense]]'' (1930) * ''[[Moritz Makes his Fortune]]'' (1931) * ''[[American Love (film)|American Love]]'' (1931) * ''[[On purge bébé]]'' (1931) * ''[[La Chienne]]'' (1931) * ''[[The Lovers of Midnight (1931 film)|The Lovers of Midnight]]'' (1931) * ''[[Black and White (1931 film)|Black and White]]'' (1931) * ''[[Baleydier]]'' (1932) |width="50% valign="top"|

===Hollywood years=== * ''[[Midnight Club (film)|Midnight Club]]'' (1933) * ''[[Too Much Harmony]]'' (1933) * ''[[Lone Cowboy (film)|Lone Cowboy]]'' (1933) * ''[[Caravan (1934 film)|Caravan]]'' (1934) * ''[[No More Women (1934 film)|No More Women]]'' (1934) * ''[[Father Brown, Detective]]'' (1934) * ''[[Enter Madame (1935 film)|Enter Madame]]'' (1935) * ''[[Four Hours to Kill!]]'' (1935) * ''[[College Scandal]]'' (1935) * ''[[The Last Outpost (1935 film)|The Last Outpost]]'' (1935) * ''[[Ship Cafe]]'' (1935) * ''[[13 Hours by Air]]'' (1936) * ''[[Forgotten Faces (1936 film)|Forgotten Faces]]'' (1936) * ''[[Yours for the Asking]]'' (1936) * ''[[The Big Broadcast of 1937]]'' (1936) * ''[[College Holiday]]'' (1936) * ''[[Internes Can't Take Money]]'' (1937) * ''[[High, Wide, and Handsome]]'' (1937) * ''[[Wells Fargo (film)|Wells Fargo]]'' (1937) * ''[[Dangerous to Know]]'' (1938) * ''[[The Texans]]'' (1938) * ''[[If I Were King]]'' (1938) * ''[[Saint Louis Blues (1939 film)|St. Louis Blues]]'' (1939) * ''[[The Lady's from Kentucky]]'' (1939) * ''[[Beau Geste (1939 film)|Beau Geste]]'' (1939) * ''[[Rulers of the Sea]]'' (1939) * ''[[The Light That Failed (1939 film)|The Light That Failed]]'' (1939) * ''[[Opened by Mistake]]'' (1940) * ''[[Queen of the Mob]]'' (1940) * ''[[Rangers of Fortune]]'' (1940) * ''[[Second Chorus]]'' (1940) * ''[[Among the Living (1941 film)|Among the Living]]'' (1941) * ''[[Pacific Blackout]]'' (1941) * ''[[The Remarkable Andrew]]'' (1942) * ''[[Star Spangled Rhythm]]'' (1942) * ''[[Wake Island (film)|Wake Island]]'' (1942) * ''[[Street of Chance (1942 film)|Street of Chance]]'' (1942) * ''[[The Glass Key (1942 film)|The Glass Key]]'' (1942) * ''[[Salute for Three]]'' (1943) * ''[[Night Plane from Chungking]]'' (1943) * ''[[Johnny Come Lately]]'' (1943) * ''[[Salty O'Rourke]]'' (1945) * ''[[Blood on the Sun]]'' (1945) * ''[[Murder, He Says]]'' (1945) * ''[[The Bachelor's Daughters]]'' (1946) |}

==External links== {{imdb name|id=0005882|name=Theodor Sparkuhl}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparkuhl, Theodor}} [[Category:German cinematographers]] [[Category:1894 births]] [[Category:1946 deaths]] [[Category:University of Bonn alumni]] [[Category:Film people from Hanover]] [[Category:German emigrants to the United States]]