Person
Elwood Bredell
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Elwood Bailey Bredell (24 December 1902 – 26 February 1969) was an American cinematographer and child silent screen actor. He is sometimes credited as Woody Bredell or Elwood Dell…
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Elwood Bailey Bredell (24 December 1902 – 26 February 1969) was an American cinematographer and child silent screen actor. He is sometimes credited as Woody Bredell or Elwood Dell. Although he worked in many genres, mostly at Universal, Bredell is best known for his film noir cinematography on such movies as Phantom Lady (1944), Lady on a Train (1945) The Killers (1946), and The Unsuspected (1947). Famed Warner Bros. editor George Amy said Bredell could “light a football stadium with a single match.” Bredell was the son of stage actress Mary Palmer Nields. He was named Jesse B. Bredell, Jr., after his father. Nields later married Vaughn "Val" Paul, a silent film actor turned production manager. (Paul's son with Nields, Vaughn Jr., was Deanna Durbin's first husband.) After working as an adolescent actor in silent films, Bredell took a job as a studio lab technician while he cultivated a talent for photography. From about 1929–34, Bredell worked as a still photographer at RKO and Paramount, coinciding with his stepfather's tenures at those studios. At Paramount, Bredell apprenticed under veteran cinematographers Charles Lang and Arthur C. Miller. In 1936, Val Paul brought Bredell to Universal, where he continued his training under the studio's best cinematographer, Joseph Valentine. Bredell was promoted to cinematographer the next year, when Val produced Reckless Living (1938). Bredell's work on horror films such as Black Friday (1940), The Mummy's Hand (1940), and Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), anticipated his work in film noir. He also photographed Deann Durbin musicals and comedies such as Hold That Ghost (1941), Hellzapoppin' (1941) and The Inspector General (1949). His final credit was on the 1955 B-movie Female Jungle. From the Wikipedia article 'Elwood Bredell'
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1956
Female Jungle
Movie Director of Photography
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1951
Journey Into Light
Movie Director of Photography
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1949
The Inspector General
Movie Director of Photography
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1948
Adventures of Don Juan
Movie Director of Photography
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1948
Romance on the High Seas
Movie Director of Photography
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1947
The Unsuspected
Movie Director of Photography
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1946
The Killers
Movie Director of Photography
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1946
Tangier
Movie Director of Photography
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1946
Smooth as Silk
Movie Director of Photography
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1945
Lady on a Train
Movie Director of Photography
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1944
Can't Help Singing
Movie Director of Photography
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1944
Christmas Holiday
Movie Director of Photography
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1944
Phantom Lady
Movie Director of Photography
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1943
His Butler's Sister
Movie Director of Photography
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1943
So's Your Uncle
Movie Director of Photography
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1943
Hers to Hold
Movie Director of Photography
More credits
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1943
Cowboy in Manhattan
Movie Director of Photography
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1943
Follow the Band
Movie Director of Photography
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1943
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Movie Director of Photography
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1943
How's About It
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
Private Buckaroo
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
Tough as They Come
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
Escape from Hong Kong
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
The Mystery of Marie Roget
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
Butch Minds the Baby
Movie Director of Photography
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1942
The Ghost of Frankenstein
Movie Director of Photography
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1941
Hellzapoppin'
Movie Director of Photography
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1941
South of Tahiti
Movie Director of Photography
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1941
Mob Town
Movie Director of Photography
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1941
Hold That Ghost
Movie Director of Photography
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1941
Man-Made Monster
Movie Director of Photography
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1941
Horror Island
Movie Director of Photography
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1940
The Invisible Woman
Movie Director of Photography
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1940
The Mummy's Hand
Movie Director of Photography
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1940
La Conga Nights
Movie Director of Photography
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1940
Gangs of Chicago
Movie Director of Photography
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1940
Double Alibi
Movie Director of Photography
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1940
Black Friday
Movie Director of Photography
