Oswald Morris - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Morris grew up in what was then Middlesex (now the London Borough of Hillingdon), and attended the Bishopshalt School. His interest in the cinema began at an early age; during summer vacations, he would work as a projectionist at the local movie theatre. Dropping out in 1932, he started working in the film industry at Wembley Studios as an unpaid gofer for Michael Powell, among others, eventually graduating to the positions of clapper boy and camera assistant on quota quickies. His career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served as a bomber pilot with the RAF, achieving the rank of Flight Lieutenant and winning both the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Force Cross . After leaving the service, he joined Pinewood Studios as an assistant to such people as Ronald Neame and David Lean at their company Cineguild, before acting as director of photography (on the film Golden Salamander) for the first time in 1949. Neame has referred to Morris as "probably the greatest cameraman in the world". In the 1960 film of John Osborne's The Entertainer, on which Morris was the cinematographer, his name was incorporated into the story in one scene where a radio transmission mentioned the fictional "Sergeant Ossie Morris".

Morris collaborated with film director John Huston on eight films, beginning with Moulin Rouge in 1952. Although his previous experience with Technicolor had been limited, he devised many stylish effects - through the use of diffused and filtered light, fog, and bold color choices - for the film, and his innovations drew critical praise from the critics. He received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, for his work on the musicals Oliver! (1968), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), and The Wiz (1978), and won the award for his work on Fiddler on the Roof. Morris' brother Reginald Herbert Morris was also a cinematographer based in Canada.

Morris was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1998. He published his memoirs, Huston, We Have a Problem: A Kaleidoscope of Filmmaking Memories (ISBN 978-0810857063), in 2006.He is featured in the book Conversations with Cinematographers by David A.Ellis, published by Scarecrow Press.