Known for Camera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Robert L. Surtees, A.S.C. (August 9, 1906 – January 5, 1985) was an American cinematographer who won Academy Awards three times, for the films King Solomon's Mines, The Bad and the Beautiful and the 1959 version of Ben Hur. Robert L. Surtees began working in Hollywood as assistant cameraman to Gregg Toland, A.S.C. in the late 1920s, before moving to Germany for several years, eventually returning to Hollywood. He became one of the most accomplished cinematographers in motion pictures. His credits include Ben-Hur (1959), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), The Graduate (1967), The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970), The Last Picture Show (1971), Summer of '42 (1971), The Sting (1973), A Star is Born (1976) and Same Time, Next Year (1978). His son Bruce was also a cinematographer.
Born
August 9, 1906
Died
January 5, 1985 (age 78)
Birthplace
Covington, Kentucky, USA
Filmography
76 films


Bloodbrothers
1978 · 1h 56m
country: United States
A young man is torn between following in his brothers' footsteps or striking out on his own.


Same Time, Next Year
1978 · 1h 59m
country: United States
A man and woman meet by chance at a romantic inn over dinner and, although both are happily married to others, they find themselves in the same bed the next morning questioning how this could have happened. They agree to meet on the same weekend each year—in the same hotel room—and the years pass each has some personal crisis that the other helps them through, often without both of them understanding what is going on.


The Turning Point
1977 · 1h 59m
country: United States
As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee left the stage for marriage and motherhood, while Emma would become an international ballet icon. But when Deedee's teenage daughter is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star, the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden and the emotional truths they must face at the turning point.


A Star Is Born
1976 · 2h 20m
country: United States
Drunken, has-been rock star John Norman Howard falls in love with unknown singer Esther Hoffman after seeing her perform at a club. He lets her sing a few songs at one of his shows and she becomes the talk of the music industry. Esther's star begins to rise, while John's continues to fall. She tries desperately to get John to sober up and focus on his music, but it may be too late to save him.


The Hindenburg
1975 · 2h 5m
country: United States
Colonel Franz Ritter, a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, is assigned to the great Hindenburg airship as its chief of security. As he races against the clock to uncover a possible saboteur aboard the doomed zeppelin he finds that any of the passengers and crew could be the culprit.


The Great Waldo Pepper
1975 · 1h 48m
country: United States
A biplane pilot and WWI veteran takes up barnstorming and later a movie career in his quest for the glory days he misses.


The Sting
1973 · 2h 9m
country: United States
A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.


Oklahoma Crude
1973 · 1h 48m
country: United States
In 1913, in Oklahoma, oil derrick owner Lena Doyle, aided by her father and a hobo, is stubbornly drilling for oil despite the pressure from major oil companies to sell her land.


Lost Horizon
1973 · 2h 27m
country: United States
While escaping war-torn China, a group of Europeans crash in the Himalayas, where they are rescued and taken to the mysterious Valley of the Blue Moon, Shangri-La.


The Other
1972 · 1h 48m
country: United States
A series of gruesome accidents plague a small American farming community in the summer of 1935, encircling two identical twin brothers and their family.


The Cowboys
1972 · 2h 14m
country: United States
When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage, however, neither he nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.


The Last Picture Show
1971 · 1h 59m
country: United States
High school seniors and best friends, Sonny and Duane, live in a dying Texas town. The handsome Duane is dating a local beauty, while Sonny is having an affair with the coach's wife. As graduation nears and both boys contemplate their futures, Duane eyes the army and Sonny takes over a local business. Each struggles to figure out if he can escape this dead-end town and build a better life somewhere else.


Summer of '42
1971 · 1h 43m
country: United States
Over the summer of 1942 on Nantucket Island, three friends -- Hermie, Oscy and Benjie -- are more concerned with getting laid than anything else. Hermie falls in love with the married Dorothy, whose husband is an army pilot recently sent to the battlefront of World War II.


The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970 · 1h 42m
country: United States
A successful African American businessman has a quarrel with a white policeman, suspecting that he is having an affair with his wife. The policeman's colleagues are seeking to avoid publicity.


The Arrangement
1969 · 2h 5m
country: United States
An adman attempts to rebuild his shattered life after suffering a nervous breakdown.


Sweet Charity
1969 · 2h 33m
country: United States
Taxi dancer Charity continues to have faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.


Coogan's Bluff
1968 · 1h 34m
country: United States
Coogan, an Arizona deputy sheriff goes to New York to pick up a prisoner. While escorting the prisoner to the airport, he escapes and Coogan heads into the city to recapture him.


The Graduate
1967 · 1h 47m
country: United States
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.


Doctor Dolittle
1967 · 2h 31m
country: United States
A veterinarian who can communicate with animals travels abroad to search for a giant sea snail.


Lost Command
1966 · 2h 9m
country: United States
After being freed from a Vietnamese war prison, French Lt. Col. Pierre Raspeguy is sent to help quell resistance forces in Algeria. With the help of the Capt. Esclavier, who has grown weary of war, and Capt. Boisfeuras, who lives for it, Raspeguy attempts to convert a rugged band of soldiers into a formidable fighting unit, with the promise of marrying a beautiful countess if he's made a general.


The Third Day
1965 · 1h 59m
country: United States
A man stumbles out of a car crash with no memory of what transpired. Everyone who he meets suggests that he is a ruthless man with an aggressive temper. Could he be deliberately blocking out memories of his past?


The Hallelujah Trail
1965 · 2h 45m
country: United States
A wagon train heads for Denver with a cargo of whisky for the miners. Chaos ensues as the Temperance League, the US cavalry, the miners and the local Indians all try to take control of the valuable cargo.


The Collector
1965 · 1h 59m
country: United Kingdom
A man kidnaps a woman and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there.


The Satan Bug
1965 · 1h 54m
country: United States
A US government germ warfare lab has had an accident. The first theory is that one of the germs has been released and killed several scientists. The big fear is that a more virulent strain, named The Satan Bug because all life can be killed off by it should it escape, may have been stolen.


Kisses for My President
1964 · 1h 53m
country: United States
A hapless husband takes a back seat to his wife, the first female president of the United States.


PT 109
1963 · 2h 20m
country: United States
Dramatization of President John F. Kennedy's war time experiences during which he captained a PT boat, took it to battle and had it sunk by a Japanese destroyer. He and the survivors had to make their way to an island, find food and shelter and signal the Navy for rescue.


Mutiny on the Bounty
1962 · 3h 5m
country: United States
The Bounty leaves Portsmouth in 1787. Its destination: to sail to Tahiti and load bread-fruit. Captain Bligh will do anything to get there as fast as possible, using any means to keep up a strict discipline. When they arrive at Tahiti, it is like a paradise for the crew, something completely different than the living hell aboard the ship. On the way back to England, officer Fletcher Christian becomes the leader of a mutiny.


Cimarron
1960 · 2h 27m
country: United States
The epic story of a family involved in the Oklahoma Land Rush of April 22, 1889.


It Started in Naples
1960 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Mike Hamilton, a Philadelphia lawyer, comes to Naples to settle the estate of his long estranged "black sheep" brother. Once there, he discovers that the deceased has left an 8 year old boy who is being raised by Michael's sister-in-law Lucia Curcio. To complicate matters, Lucia happens to be a sexy nightclub performer.


Ben-Hur
1959 · 3h 32m
country: United States
In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge, and faith.


The Law and Jake Wade
1958 · 1h 26m
country: United States
Jake Wade breaks Clint Hollister out of jail to pay off an old debt, though it's clear there is some pretty deep hostility between them. They part, and Jake returns to his small-town marshal's job and his fiancée only to find he has been tracked there by Hollister. It seems they were once in a gang together and Jake knows where the proceeds of a bank hold-up are hidden. Hollister and his sidekicks make off into the hills, taking along the trussed-up marshal and his kidnapped bride-to-be to force the lawman to show them where the loot is.


Merry Andrew
1958 · 1h 43m
country: United States
When eccentric English teacher Andrew Larabee needs a raise in order for his fiancée to marry him, his interest in archaeology leads him to an ancient statue's burial site. But when he finds a traveling circus directly above the statue's location, he accidentally becomes part of the act. With a newfound passion for performance and an attraction to the beautiful acrobat Selena, Andrew must decide what is truly important to him.


Raintree County
1957 · 3h 8m
country: United States
In 1859, idealist John Wickliff Shawnessey, a resident of Raintree County, Indiana, is distracted from his high school sweetheart Nell Gaither by Susanna Drake, a rich New Orleans girl. This love triangle is further complicated by the American Civil War, and dark family history.


Les Girls
1957 · 1h 54m
country: United States
After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", Sybil Wren is sued for libeling her fellow dancer Angele. A Rashômon style narrative presents the story from three points of view where Sybil accuses Angele of having an affair with Barry, while Angele insists that it was actually Sybil who was having the affair. Finally, Barry gives his side of the story.


The Swan
1956 · 1h 52m
country: United States
Princess Beatrice's days of enjoying the regal life are numbered unless her only daughter, Princess Alexandra, makes a good impression on a distant cousin when he pays a surprise visit to their palace. Prince Albert has searched all over Europe for a bride and he's bored by the whole courtship routine. He is more interested in the estate's dairy than Alexandra's rose garden. And then he starts playing football with the tutor and Alexandra's brothers. Invite the tutor to the ball that night and watch how gracefully Alexandra dances with him.


Tribute to a Bad Man
1956 · 1h 35m
country: United States
Jeremy Rodock is a tough horse rancher who strings up rustlers as soon as looks at them. Fresh out of Pennsylvania, Steve Miller finds it hard to get used to Rodock’s ways, although he takes an immediate shine to his Greek girl Jocasta.


Oklahoma!
1955 · 2h 28m
country: United States
There's a box social coming up, and Curly asks Laurey if she'll be his date. Trouble is, Laurey thinks he's waited too long, and in a fit of pique accepts an offer from the boorish ranch hand Jud instead. Meanwhile, Laurey's friend Ado Annie is also torn between two men: cowboy Will and foreign peddler Ali Hakim. Both women struggle to know their own hearts before it's too late.


Trial
1955 · 1h 45m
country: United States
A Mexican boy accused of rape and murder becomes a pawn for Communists and red-baiters. A courtroom drama set in 1947 and underlying post-WW2 acute problems facing the USA such as stormy race relations and the growing threat of local communism.


Valley of the Kings
1954 · 1h 26m
country: United States
Hard-boiled archeologist Mark Brandon is searching for ancient tombs in Egypt when he is approached by beautiful Ann Mercedes, who convinces him to help her fulfill her deceased father's life's ambition - to provide solid proof of the biblical Joseph's travels in ancient Egypt. As an ex-pupil of Ann's father, Mark accepts and the two embark on a search for the tomb of the Pharoah Ra Hotep, said to have had some connection with Joseph. The trail to the tomb is fraught with intrigue, betrayal, murder, and the possibility that the tomb itself has been emptied of all its artifacts by ancient looters.


The Long, Long Trailer
1954 · 1h 36m
country: United States
A newly wed couple, Tacy and Nicky, travel in a trailer for their honeymoon. The journey is a humorous one that could end up destroying their marriage.


Escape from Fort Bravo
1953 · 1h 39m
country: United States
A Southern belle frees a Rebel officer and his men from a Union captain's Arizona fort.


Mogambo
1953 · 1h 56m
country: United States
On a Kenyan safari, white hunter Victor Marswell has a love triangle with seductive American socialite Eloise Kelly and anthropologist Donald Nordley's cheating wife Linda.


Ride, Vaquero!
1953 · 1h 30m
country: United States
Two Mexican outlaws, Rio and Esqueda, raised as stepbrothers, have a showdown over the issue of whether to evict new settlers from their Texas border territory.


The Bad and the Beautiful
1952 · 1h 58m
country: United States
Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers.


The Merry Widow
1952 · 1h 45m
country: United States
Marshovia, a small European kingdom, is on the brink of bankruptcy but the country may be saved if the wealthy American Crystal Radek, widow of a Marshovian, can be convinced to part with her money and marry the king's nephew count Danilo. Arriving to Marshovia on a visit, Crystal Radek change places with her secretary Kitty. Following them to Paris, Danilo has a hard time wooing the widow after meeting an attractive young woman at a nightclub, the same Crystal Radek who presents herself as Fifi the chorus girl. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.


The Wild North
1952 · 1h 37m
country: United States
In the Canadian mountains, a trapper goes on the run accused of a crime and is pursued by a rugged and determined lawman of the Royal North-West Mounted Police.


The Light Touch
1951 · 1h 33m
country: United States
After a professional art thief steals a religious painting from an Italian museum, he tries to cheat his partner by claiming the painting was accidentally destroyed but his suspicious partner and the police are determined to find it.


Quo Vadis
1951 · 2h 54m
country: United States
After fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.


The Strip
1951 · 1h 25m
country: United States
Drummer Stanley Maxton moves to Los Angeles with dreams of opening his own jazz club, but falls in with a gangster and a nightclub dancer and ends up accused of her murder.


King Solomon's Mines
1950 · 1h 43m
country: United States
Fortune hunter Allan Quatermain teams up with a resourceful woman to help her find her missing husband lost in the wilds of 1900s Africa while being pursued by hostile tribes and a rival German explorer.


Intruder in the Dust
1949 · 1h 27m
country: United States
Rural Mississippi in the 1940s: Lucas Beauchamp, a local black man with a reputation of not kowtowing to whites, is found standing over the body of a dead white man, holding a pistol that has recently been fired. Quickly arrested for murder and jailed, Beauchamp insists he's innocent and asks the town's most prominent lawyer, Gavin Stevens, to defend him, but Stevens refuses. When a local boy whom Beauchamp has helped in the past and who believes him to be innocent hears talk of a mob taking Beauchamp out of jail and lynching him, he pleads with Stevens to defend Beauchamp at trial and prove his innocence.


That Midnight Kiss
1949 · 1h 36m
country: United States
Opera singer Prudence Budell, overhears truck driver Johnny Donnetti singing opera, and persuades her opera company to give him a chance in her new opera. They fall in love, but on meeting his colleague Mary while visiting Johnny's work, Prudence becomes convinced Johnny is in love with her.


Big Jack
1949 · 1h 25m
country: United States
Wallace Beery, in his final film, plays a bandit in this period drama set in Colonial America.


Act of Violence
1949 · 1h 22m
country: United States
A former prisoner of war, Frank Enley is hailed as a hero in his California town. However, Frank has a shameful secret that comes back to haunt him when fellow survivor Joe Parkson emerges, intent on making Frank pay for his past deeds.


The Kissing Bandit
1948 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Ricardo, the milquetoast son of a Mexican bandit, would rather lead a quiet life in Boston. But the family would rather that he follow in his father's footsteps and become "The Kissing Bandit".


A Date with Judy
1948 · 1h 53m
country: United States
Best friends Judy and Carol compete for the affection of an older man during their high school dance. As Carol tries to rekindle Judy's relationship with Carol's bumbling brother, Oogie, Judy suspects that her father is having an affair with a beautiful dance instructor. The two girls team up to expose Judy's father -- who is only taking innocent dance lessons.


Big City
1948 · 1h 43m
country: United States
A young orphan in New York's Lower East Side is collectively adopted by three neighborhood men--a minister, a cantor, and a cop.


Tenth Avenue Angel
1948 · 1h 14m
country: United States
Flavia's been told that her Aunt Susan's fiancé, Steve, has been on a trip around the world, but in truth he's finished his prison term. Steve wonders how he can make some money and is approached by his old associates. When Flavia discovers the truth about Steve, she loses all faith in her family and in God, and it will take a miracle to restore Flavia's belief and keep Steve out of trouble.


The Unfinished Dance
1947 · 1h 41m
country: United States
Meg, a young ballet student, idolizes the school's top ballerina, the shallow Ariane Bouchet. Meg is distressed when she learns visiting prima ballerina Darina rather than Bouchet will play the lead in the school's production of "Swan Lake." So on opening night, Meg arranges an accident which nearly kills Darina and ends her dancing career. As a result, Bouchet becomes a star, while Meg is torn with guilt. This is a remake of the 1937 French film "Ballerina", based on a short story by Paul Morand.


Two Sisters from Boston
1946 · 1h 52m
country: United States
Abigail Chandler has written her stuffy Boston relatives that she's a successful opera singer in New York. In reality, she works at a burlesque house and is billed as High-C Susie. When her sister Martha comes for a visit, Abigail tries to hide the truth from her.


No Leave, No Love
1946 · 1h 59m
country: United States
A soldier returns with his pal from fighting in the Pacific during World War II only to discover his fiancee has married someone else. However, he falls in love with a woman at the hotel at which he is staying.


Strange Holiday
1945 · 1h 1m
country: United States
An American businessman returns from a hunting trip to find fascists have overrun the country in this propaganda film.


Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
1945 · 1h 45m
country: United States
Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.


Music for Millions
1944 · 1h 57m
country: United States
Six-year-old "Mike" goes to live with her pregnant older sister, Babs, who plays string bass in José Iturbi's orchestra. And the orchestra is rapidly turning completely female, what with the draft. As the orchestra travels around the country, Babs' fellow orchestra members intercept and hide her War Office telegram to protect the baby.


Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
1944 · 2h 18m
country: United States
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.


Two Girls and a Sailor
1944 · 2h 4m
country: United States
A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also in love with him.


Lost Angel
1943 · 1h 31m
country: United States
Alpha's been raised along scientific principles, and will make Mike Regan a great human interest story for his paper. But when his interview prompts Alpha to run away from the institute and ask him to show her some magic, Mike gets more responsibility than he bargained for. Especially since another story of his, one involving gangsters, has also come home to roost.


Election Daze
1943 · 10m
country: United States
Mickey and Froggy are candidates running to be president of the Gang's club. When the vote continues to end in a tie, the club winds up split. Buckwheat then reminds everyone of the lessons learned from Abraham Lincoln when America was once divided.


Don't You Believe It
1943 · 11m
country: United States
This Passing Parade entry looks at several historical "truths" that just aren't so: Steve Brodie never jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge; Mrs. O'Leary's cow did not start the great Chicago fire; Nero didn't fiddle while Rome burned; and Lady Godiva never rode naked through the streets of Coventry.


Nursery Rhyme Mysteries
1943 · 11m
country: United States
This Passing Parade series short examines the origins of three popular Mother Goose nursery rhymes.


Heavenly Music
1943 · 22m
country: United States
Bandleader/singer/songwriter Ted Barry arrives to heaven. The receptionist tells him that before he can take his place in the Hall of Music, a committee must review his work and decide whether he is worthy of admittance.