 After starting his career at British International Pictures as a camera
assistant, Harry Waxman learned his craft at a variety of studios during the
1930s, including Ealing, Welwyn and Worton Hall. He served with the RAF Film Unit during the war, photographing his first feature, Journey Together (d. John
Boulting), for the unit in 1945. His uncredited work on the film led to a
contract with Two Cities Films in 1946, and at Denham he later became closely
involved with the Boulting brothers, as associate cameraman on Fame Is the Spur
(1947) and then as cinematographer on Brighton Rock (1947). While much of the
cinematography adopts the characteristic style of the 'spiv' film, with low-key
lighting designed to accentuate the viciousness of the teenage psychopath Pinky
(Richard Attenborough), it also features some impressive location footage shot
in the streets of Brighton and at the race track.
While minor projects tended to come his way, Waxman did photograph some
arresting films, notably The Sleeping Tiger (1954), the first British film of
blacklisted director Joseph Losey. He was also responsible for the seedy
Eastmancolor depiction of contemporary London Sapphire (d. Basil Dearden, 1959),
an examination of racism centred on an investigation of a young black woman able
to pass as white. An interesting contrast is established between the 'normal'
everyday world, with its drab streets and shabby dwellings, with locations
photographed in midwinter, and the 'other', secret world inhabited by the dead
girl and uncovered during the investigation, represented most dramatically by
the dark blues and oranges of the beat club.
During the 1960s and 1970s Waxman worked on several atmospheric horror films,
including The Nanny (d. Seth Holt, 1965) and The Anniversary (d. Roy Ward Baker,
1967), both with chilling performances from Bette Davis, and Robin Hardy's cult
classic The Wicker Man (1973), in which policeman Edward Woodward gets more than
he bargained for while investigating a disappearance on a Hebridean island.
Waxman's considerable experience also landed him second unit jobs on major
productions such as Khartoum (d. Dearden, 1966) and A Bridge Too Far (d. Richard
Attenborough, 1977). Unfortunately, like many others in the industry, he was hit
badly by the slump during the 1970s and reduced to mediocre assignments such as
TV spin-offs and sex comedies.
Duncan Petrie
This entry is taken from Duncan Petrie's The British Cinematographer (BFI, 1996). Used by permission.
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FILM & TV CREDITS
