DP Richard Crudo on the Lasting Impact of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ – ‘It’s the Epitome of Old-Style Classical Hollywood Cinematography’
Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” was released in 1946 and has become a classic, often cited on “best of” lists and considered one of the greatest films ever made.
“American Pie” cinematographer Richard Crudo led a conversation as part of the Variety 120 Screening Series presented by Barco, a summer-long program that is hosted by Jazz Tangcay and celebrates Variety‘s 120th anniversary by showing iconic films. “I’ve seen it several times and it never loses its effect.” He added, “I am kind of a hard case, and it can still make me weepy. They were doing something.”
Directed by Capra and starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed as the ever-endearing George and Mary Bailey, “It’s A Wonderful Life” was released in 1946. Though the fantastical tale of an optimistic man regaining faith in humanity on Christmas Eve was initially met with lukewarm reviews and a lackluster box office performance, the film has since become an American classic, especially during the holidays.
Crudo was quick to praise cinematographer Joseph Biroc, who collaborated with Capra on over twenty films, as well as his uncredited partner Joseph Walker, for creating the subtly complex and unmistakable look of “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Shot in black-and-white, the film has a spellbinding, silvery aesthetic with lighting that “runs the gamut of high key, low key, low contrast, (and) high contrast.” He went on to add, “Everything about it serves the story on some level or another. It underpins the drama of what’s happening in the script, what’s happening with the actors. It supports everything so beautifully that you never notice it.”
Crudo noted how each shot and framing was a subtle indication of the characters’ emotional states, with specific appreciation for the scene when George Bailey comes home a broken man. In the scene, the protagonist treats his family with uncharacteristic coldness, and the camera captures it with agonizingly quiet simplicity.
Crudo also praised the depth-of-field captured in the film’s exterior scenes, as well as the use of filtration in close-ups on Donna Reed’s face. Reed, who plays the family matriarch Mary and ultimately save George from prison and failure, ends up saving her husband. Speaking about Biroc’s decision to shoot Reed in close-up using a glass filter and defusing the image to soften her appearance. Crudo explains, “In the old days, that’s the way they did things. That was the norm. The standard was that your female star might have just come out of a typhoon, but she’s gonna look fantastic.”
He also noted that he “really keyed in on the great compositions” during this latest screening. The film has numerous crowd scenes and a famous dance number that ends with a gym full of people falling into a swimming pool. “It looks effortless on screen. It’s not easy to do,” Crudo admitted.
That seemingly effortless illusion is perhaps “It’s A Wonderful Life’s” most enduring technical achievement. The film takes the conventional language of cinema and executes it with unpretentious excellence. It’s a trait that Crudo encouraged contemporary cinematographers to learn from, stating that a good cinematographer should “be an expert second to the director, deliver the goods, deliver their vision, but do it in a way that generally won’t call attention to itself. Support the story strongly, but in a subtle way.”
Watch the video above.
“American Pie” cinematographer Richard Crudo led a conversation as part of the Variety 120 Screening Series presented by Barco, a summer-long program that is hosted by Jazz Tangcay and celebrates Variety‘s 120th anniversary by showing iconic films. “I’ve seen it several times and it never loses its effect.” He added, “I am kind of a hard case, and it can still make me weepy. They were doing something.”
Directed by Capra and starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed as the ever-endearing George and Mary Bailey, “It’s A Wonderful Life” was released in 1946. Though the fantastical tale of an optimistic man regaining faith in humanity on Christmas Eve was initially met with lukewarm reviews and a lackluster box office performance, the film has since become an American classic, especially during the holidays.
Crudo was quick to praise cinematographer Joseph Biroc, who collaborated with Capra on over twenty films, as well as his uncredited partner Joseph Walker, for creating the subtly complex and unmistakable look of “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Shot in black-and-white, the film has a spellbinding, silvery aesthetic with lighting that “runs the gamut of high key, low key, low contrast, (and) high contrast.” He went on to add, “Everything about it serves the story on some level or another. It underpins the drama of what’s happening in the script, what’s happening with the actors. It supports everything so beautifully that you never notice it.”
Crudo noted how each shot and framing was a subtle indication of the characters’ emotional states, with specific appreciation for the scene when George Bailey comes home a broken man. In the scene, the protagonist treats his family with uncharacteristic coldness, and the camera captures it with agonizingly quiet simplicity.
Crudo also praised the depth-of-field captured in the film’s exterior scenes, as well as the use of filtration in close-ups on Donna Reed’s face. Reed, who plays the family matriarch Mary and ultimately save George from prison and failure, ends up saving her husband. Speaking about Biroc’s decision to shoot Reed in close-up using a glass filter and defusing the image to soften her appearance. Crudo explains, “In the old days, that’s the way they did things. That was the norm. The standard was that your female star might have just come out of a typhoon, but she’s gonna look fantastic.”
He also noted that he “really keyed in on the great compositions” during this latest screening. The film has numerous crowd scenes and a famous dance number that ends with a gym full of people falling into a swimming pool. “It looks effortless on screen. It’s not easy to do,” Crudo admitted.
That seemingly effortless illusion is perhaps “It’s A Wonderful Life’s” most enduring technical achievement. The film takes the conventional language of cinema and executes it with unpretentious excellence. It’s a trait that Crudo encouraged contemporary cinematographers to learn from, stating that a good cinematographer should “be an expert second to the director, deliver the goods, deliver their vision, but do it in a way that generally won’t call attention to itself. Support the story strongly, but in a subtle way.”
Watch the video above.