Toland, Gregg Wesley

Toland, Gregg Wesley,

1904–48, American cinematographer, b. Charleston, Ill. One of Hollywood's most accomplished and influential cinematographers, Toland worked for Samuel GoldwynGoldwyn, Samuel
, 1882–1974, American film producer, b. Warsaw, Poland. Goldwyn arrived in the United States in 1896, and with Jesse L. Lasky and Cecil B. De Mille he organized the Jesse Lasky Feature Photoplay Company, coproducing The Squaw Man (1913).
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 from 1929, first serving as primary cameraman in 1931. Five years later he began working with William Wyler, making These Three (1936), Dead End (1937), Wuthering Heights (1939), which earned Toland an Academy Award, The Little Foxes (1941), and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946; Academy Award, best picture). Perhaps Toland's most famous cinematography was for Orson WellesWelles, Orson,
1915–85, American actor, director, and producer, b. Kenosha, Wis. From childhood he evinced a precocious talent and lofty sense of self-assurance in theatrical matters.
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's masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941). Toland exhibited a unique continuity of vision; he shot actors and scenes from imaginative angles, exploited the artistic and mood-evoking possibilities of black and white and light and shadow, and employed the "deep focus" technique for which he became famous. Some other highlights of his career are Intermezzo (1939), John FordFord, John,
1895–1973, American film director, b. Cape Elizabeth, Maine, as John Martin Feeney. Ford began directing in 1917 after an apprenticeship with his brother Francis.
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's The Grapes of Wrath and The Long Voyage Home (both: 1940), and Song of the South (1946).