About

Known credits:
140
Birthday:
1890-01-16
Place of birth:
Königinhof, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic]
Website:
N/A

Karl Freund

Overview

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  

Karl W. Freund, A.S.C. (January 16, 1890-May 3, 1969) was a cinematographer and film director. Born in Dvůr Králové (Königinhof), Bohemia, his career began in 1905 when, at age 15, he got a job as an assistant projectionist for a film company in Berlin where his family moved in 1901. He worked as a cinematographer on over 100 films, including the German Expressionist films The Golem (1920), The Last Laugh (1924) and Metropolis (1927). Freund emigrated to the United States in 1929 where he continued to shoot well remembered films such as Dracula (1931) and Key Largo (1948). He won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for The Good Earth (1937).

In 1937, he went to Germany to bring his only daughter, Gerda Maria Freund, back to the United States, saving her from almost certain death in the concentration camps. Karl's ex-wife, Susette Freund (née Liepmannssohn), remained in Germany where she was interned at the Ravensbrück concentration camp and eventually taken in March, 1942 to Bernburg Euthanasia Center where she was murdered.

Between 1921 and 1935, Freund also directed ten films, of which the best known are probably The Mummy (1932) starring Boris Karloff, and his last film as director, Mad Love (1935) starring Peter Lorre. Freund's only known film as an actor is Carl Dreyer's Michael (1924) in which he has a cameo as a sycophantic art dealer who saves the tobacco ashes dropped by a famous painter. At the beginning of the 1950s, he was persuaded by Desi Arnaz at Desilu to be the cinematographer in 1951 for the televisions series I Love Lucy. Critics have credited Freund for the show's lustrous black and white cinematography, but more importantly, Freund designed the "flat lighting" system for shooting sitcoms that is still in use today. This system covers the set in light, thus eliminating shadows and allowing the use of three moving cameras without having to modify the lighting in-between shots. And where Freund did not invent the three camera shooting system, he did perfect it for use with film cameras in front of a live audience. Freund and his production team also worked on other sitcoms produced at/through Desilu such as "Our Miss Brooks".

Description above from the Wikipedia article Karl Freund, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Acting
1924 Michael Actor LeBlanc - Art Dealer 59
Average

Directing
1935 Mad Love Directing Director 60
Fair
1934 Gift of Gab Directing Director 59
Average
1934 I Give My Love Directing Director 59
Average
1934 The Countess of Monte Cristo Directing Director 59
Average
1934 Madame Spy Directing Director 59
Average
1933 Moonlight and Pretzels Directing Director N/A
N/A
1932 The Mummy Directing Director 63
Fair
1931 Dracula Directing Co-Director 67
Fair

Writing
1927 Berlin: Symphony of a Great City Writing Author 61
Fair
1914 Das Feuer Writing Writer N/A
N/A

Production
1927 Berlin: Symphony of a Great City Production Producer 61
Fair
1926 Madame Wants No Children Production Producer N/A
N/A
1926 Die Abenteuer eines Zehnmarkscheines Production Production Supervisor 58
Average

Camera
1953 I Love Lucy: The Movie Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1950 Bright Leaf Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1950 Montana Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1949 South of St. Louis Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1948 The Decision of Christopher Blake Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1948 Key Largo Camera Director of Photography 67
Fair
1948 Wallflower Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1947 That Hagen Girl Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1947 This Time for Keeps Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1946 Undercurrent Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1946 Two Smart People Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1946 A Letter for Evie Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1945 Dangerous Partners Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1945 Without Love Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1944 The Thin Man Goes Home Camera Director of Photography 60
Fair
1944 The Seventh Cross Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1943 A Guy Named Joe Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1943 Cry 'Havoc' Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1943 Du Barry was a Lady Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1942 A Yank at Eton Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1942 The War Against Mrs. Hadley Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1942 The Affairs of Martha Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1942 Tortilla Flat Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1941 The Chocolate Soldier Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1941 Blossoms in the Dust Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1940 Comrade X Camera Camera Operator 59
Average
1940 Pride and Prejudice Camera Director of Photography 61
Fair
1940 We Who Are Young Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1940 Florian Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1940 Green Hell Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1940 The Earl of Chicago Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1939 Balalaika Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1939 Barricade Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1939 Golden Boy Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1939 Rose of Washington Square Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1939 Tail Spin Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1938 Letter of Introduction Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1938 Port of Seven Seas Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1938 Three Comrades Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1938 Man-Proof Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1937 Conquest Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1937 Parnell Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1937 The Good Earth Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1936 Camille Camera Director of Photography 61
Fair
1936 The Great Ziegfeld Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1933 The Kiss Before the Mirror Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1932 Afraid to Talk Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1932 Air Mail Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1932 Back Street Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1932 Scandal for Sale Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1931 Strictly Dishonorable Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1931 Personal Maid Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1931 Up for Murder Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1931 The Bad Sister Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1931 Dracula Camera Director of Photography 67
Fair
1930 The Boudoir Diplomat Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1930 The Lottery Bride Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1930 All Quiet on the Western Front Camera Director of Photography 70
Good
1930 Sleeping Partners Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1929 Fräulein Else Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1928 A Knight in London Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1928 Lady Juan Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1927 Berlin: Symphony of a Great City Camera Director of Photography 61
Fair
1927 Metropolis Camera Director of Photography 77
Good
1927 Metropolis Camera Camera Operator 77
Good
1926 Manon Lescaut Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1926 Tartuffe Camera Director of Photography 60
Fair
1925 Variety Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1924 The Last Laugh Camera Director of Photography 66
Fair
1924 Michael Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1924 The Finances of the Grand Duke Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1923 Driven from Home Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1923 Der Tiger des Zirkus Farini Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1922 Herzog Ferrantes Ende Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1922 Lucrezia Borgia Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1922 The Burning Soil Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1922 Marizza Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1922 Das blinde Glück Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1921 Torgus Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1921 The Rats Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1921 Der verlorene Schatten Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1920 The Golem: How He Came Into the World Camera Director of Photography 62
Fair
1920 Panic in the House of Ardon Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1920 The Head of Janus Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1920 The Hunchback and the Dancer Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1920 Die Nacht auf Goldenhall Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1920 The Spiders: Part 2 - The Diamond Ship Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1920 Satanas Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1919 The Spiders: Part 1 - The Golden Sea Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1919 Die Arche. 2. Teil: Die letzten Menschen Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1919 The Arc Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1919 Intoxication Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1919 Emerald of Death Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1919 Phantome des Lebens Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1919 Augen Camera Camera Department Manager N/A
N/A
1918 Die Dame, der Teufel und die Probiermamsell Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1918 Die blaue Laterne Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1918 Die Heimkehr des Odysseus Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1918 Das Maskenfest des Lebens Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1918 Agnes Arnau und ihre drei Freier Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1918 Das Geschlecht derer von Ringwall Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1918 Auf Probe gestellt Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1918 Countess Kitchenmaid Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1917 The Giant's Fist Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1917 Die Claudi vom Geiserhof Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1917 Gefangene Seele Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1917 Christa Hartungen Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1917 Der Liebesbrief der Königin Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1917 Die Ehe der Luise Rohrbach Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1916 The White Roses Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1916 The Robber Bride Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1916 Das wandernde Licht Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1916 Little Angel's Wedding Camera Camera Operator N/A
N/A
1916 Frau Eva Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1916 The Man in the Mirror Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1916 Bummelstudenten Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A
1914 The Hound of the Baskervilles Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1914 A Venetian Night Camera Director of Photography 59
Average
1914 Zapata's Gang Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1914 Little Angel Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1913 The Film Prima Donna Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1913 The Suffragette Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1912 Poor Mother Camera Director of Photography N/A
N/A

Crew
1920 Catherine the Great Crew Cinematography N/A
N/A
1919 Augen Crew Cinematography N/A
N/A