Oscar-nominated British cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, whose work includes some classic Ealing comedies in the 1940s and 1950s and the first three Indiana Jones pics in the 1980s, died Monday. He was 103.
Slocombe received Oscar nominations for Travels With My Aunt in 1972, Julia in 1977, and Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981.
He shot Ealing comedies, including “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” “The Lavender Hill Mob” and “The Man in the White Suit.”
During the 1960s he was d.p. on films including “The Servant,” “The Blue Max,” “The Fearless Vampire Killers,” “The Lion in Winter” and “The Italian Job.”
In addition to the pictures for which he was Oscar nominated, he shot “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Maids” and “Rollerball” in the 1970s.
“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) was his last film.
Born in London, Slocombe was raised in France but returned to the U.K. in 1933. During WWII he shot war footage that went into documentaries by Alberto Cavalcanti and Ealing. Slocombe drew his first feature-film lensing credit on “The Big Blockade” (1942), on which he was co-credited with Wilkie Cooper.
Slocombe was not identifiable by a signature style like the other great lensers — “The features he shot are united only in their adaptive commitment to finding each project’s ideal visual language.”
Slocombe won the BAFTA awrds for cinematography for “The Servant,” “The Great Gatsby” and “Julia.”
He appeared in several documentaries over the years about the making of various films, including “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the Ealing comedies.
Slocombe won the British Society of Cinematographers’ lifetime achievement award in 1995.
