TCM - January 3, 2010 - If I Had A Million (1932)

[gerry]

As part of a W. C. Fields slate of movies, TCM is showing the rarely
broadcast anthlology movie If I Had A Million.
10:30pm [Comedy] If I Had A Million (1932)
A dying tycoon selects his heirs at random, and each reacts
differently to the good fortune.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, George Raft, Jack Oakie

I would double check the start time, I saw one listing showing the
start time as 10:15 PM.
---
IMDb
Directors: James Cruze (segment "Death Cell")
H. Bruce Humberstone (segment "The Forger")
Ernst Lubitsch (segment "The Clerk")
Norman Z. McLeod (segments "China Shop" and "Road Hogs")
Stephen Roberts (segments "Violet" and "Grandma")
William A. Seiter (segment "The Three Marines")
Norman Taurog (segments "Prologue" and "Epilogue")
Lothar Mendes (uncredited)
---
The Road Hogs episode director of photography was Alvin Wyckoff, who
was DeMille's DP on several silents. Wyckoff was known for "Rembrandt
Lighting," whatever that is. From what I read, Wyckoff joined a film
photographers union and DeMille axed him. This movie seems to be the
last time Wyckoff worked for Paramount, from hereon it was for cheap
production outfits like Mascot. Paramount Publix was not long for the
world either, it was under reorganization and soon to become Paramount
Pictures. Maybe in part because of the financial problems of
Paramount, it released If I Had A Million about two months after close
of production on the movie, according to TCM. That is lightning speed
for a movie as complicated to edit as this one, even during the
Depression. Paramount needed money and wanted this picture in its
theaters before the end of the year.

[Old Movie Fan]

I've heard lots of good things about this film.

[Neil Midkiff]

gerry wrote:
> As part of a W. C. Fields slate of movies, TCM is showing the rarely
> broadcast anthlology movie If I Had A Million.
>

> The Road Hogs episode director of photography was Alvin Wyckoff, who
> was DeMille's DP on several silents. Wyckoff was known for "Rembrandt
> Lighting," whatever that is.

Many of Rembrandt's portraits are dramatically illuminated with strong
side light:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_003.jpg

leaving one side of the face much more shadowed than most artists would
have done at the time, and often minimizing the detail shown in the
dimly-lit background.

Early cinematographers usually thought it necessary to provide enough
light to show detail in the full image frame, not letting any part of
the setting be underexposed.

The following quotation appears unattributed in the Wikipedia entry for
"Rembrandt lighting" but I know I've read it (or something similar) in a
book, and it tells the story very succinctly:

>>>DeMille explained in his autobiography that while shooting THE
WARRENS OF VIRGINIA (1915), he borrowed some portable spotlights from
the Mason Opera House in downtown Los Angeles and “began to make shadows
where shadows would appear in nature.” When business partner Sam Goldwyn
saw the film with only half an actor’s face illuminated, he feared the
exhibitors would pay only half the price for the picture. After DeMille
told him it was Rembrandt lighting, “Sam’s reply was jubilant with
relief: for Rembrandt lighting the exhibitors would pay double!” <<<

Alvin Wyckoff was indeed the cinematographer on THE WARRENS OF VIRGINIA,
according to IMDB. Whether he or DeMille came up with the term is not
clearly specified, but it seems in character for DeMille to claim credit
even if Wyckoff thought of it first.

-Neil Midkiff

[gerry]

More on Wyckoff’s termination. De Mille did not mind less light on
the set, but the “shadow of unionization” (see excerpt below) was
another matter entirely.

The Hollywood Posse (1974) Diana Serra Cary, pp. 205 - 206

“As far back as 1923, when DeMille was mounting The Ten Commandments,
he had fired the outstanding cameraman Alvin Wyckoff, who had been
with him for 10 years and almost as many pictures, solely because
Wyckoff was involved in organizing a cameraman’s union. ‘Get
Frankenstein’s monster off the wall!’ was a familiar comment to
increase the light when electricians were lighting a set. But the
producers knew in their hearts that the shadow of unionization on
their studio wall was a threat that only less light, not more, could
erase.”