Charles Bryant Lang, Jr, ASC
Charles Bryant Lang, Jr., ASC, an outstanding director of photography for more than four decades, died on April 3. Those who worked with him recall that the tall and modest Lang was invariably the calmest, best-looking, and best-dressed man on the set.
In 1933, Lang received an Academy Award for his camerawork on Paramount's A Farewell to Arms, starring Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper and Adolph Menjou. Some of the unusual techniques he utilized for this picture have been imitated often, particularly a long take of a patient on a gurney being wheeled from an ambulance and through long corridors to an operating room as seen from the POV of the prone patient. It is still one of the most dazzling examples of camera personification in any movie. This was Lang's only Oscar win, but 18 nominations received between 1931 and 1973 make him the all-time champ for Academy recognition.
On February 24, 1991, long after his retirement, Lang received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Cinematographers.
Lang was born on July 4, 1901, in Bluff City, Utah. At the age of 17, he went to work in the film lab at Realart Studio in Hollywood, where his father was a lab technician. The company soon became a part of Paramount-Famous Players-Lasky. One of Paramount's leading cinematographers, L. Guy Wilky (a founding member of the ASC), took note of Lang's cool professionalism and hired him as an assistant cameraman. His first screen credits were as co-cinematographer with Jack Stevens, ASC on Night Patrol (1926) and with Allen Siegler, ASC on The Loves of Ricardo (1927).
At this time, Lang also worked as an Akeley cameraman, then a specialized category for cameramen who photographed outdoor action sequences with Akeley's special gyroscope-mounted "pancake" cameras. Returning to Paramount, he made his debut picture as solo first cameraman on Ritzy (1928).
He was then assigned to an early "part-talkie," Shopworn Angel (1928), directed by Dorothy Arzner. Early in production, Arzner told Lang that if his photography didn't improve quickly, he was off the picture. He analyzed the situation and decided that his error was in trying to imitate the lighting and composition of other cinematographers whose work he admired. He immediately began to contribute fresh ideas of his own, and Arzner liked what he did. He also got high marks for the circus drama Halfway to Heaven (1929) and Innocents of Paris (1920).
In 1931, Lang received an Academy Award nomination for the drama The Right to Love. Two years later, he was selected to shoot for A Farewell to Arms. Co-star Helen Hayes, "the first lady of the stage," was a lovely woman but not a "movie star" type, and the Paramount executives trusted Lang to make her look beautiful. He used subdued light on her face, backlit her hair softly, employed a bit of diffusion and captured her natural beauty on film. Although critics of the time seldom commented on photography, one was perceptive enough to call the film "an example of flawless cinematographic artistry for which Charles Lang will always be remembered."
Paramount, which was widely admired for the artistry of its settings and photography, signed Lang to a contract which lasted for 20 years. The major studios all had a distinctive "look," and the much-emulated Lang style of lighting became heavily identified with Paramount throughout the Thirties and Forties. In 1951, he began his 21 years as a freelance cameraman, adapting easily to working with various new color emulsions, three-camera Cinerama, anamorphic formats, and VistaVision.
Lang's other Academy-nominated films at Paramount and on loan-out were Arise My Love (1940), Sundown (1941, United Artists), So Proudly We Hail (1943), The Uninvited (1944),The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (20th Century Fox), and A Foreign Affair (1948). His freelance nominations came for Sudden Fear (1952), Sabrina (1954), Queen Bee (1955), Separate Tables (1958), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Facts of Life (1960), One-Eyed Jacks (1961), How the West Was Won (1963), Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice (1969), and Butterflies are Free (1972).
Lang recalled that he was director of photography on 89 feature films, but we have found at least 25 additional credits for him, plus two TV features for the General Electric Theater. His body of work consisting almost entirely of "A" pictures includes The Cat and the Canary, The Ghost Breakers, Ace in the Hole, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Magnificent Seven, and Charade.
Charles Lang wasn't given to speechmaking, but he once told an interviewer that "You've got to always strive to be better. I was never really satisfied with my work. A lot of people have natural talent that's not enough. I always believed I could do better."
Lang is survived by his daughter, Judith Lang, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. A private memorial service was held on April 23.
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