Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth (26 May 1914 – 28 October 1978) was a British cinematographer who worked on nearly ninety feature films during a career that wound up spanning over more than forty years. He is best known for his work on critically acclaimed releases such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bob Fosse's Cabaret and Richard Donner's Superman.
The British news agency The Guardian has highlighted the nature of his work for Kubrick, in the words of fellow cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, given that Unsworth's approach reportedly "became the benchmark" for a given cinematic style. Suschitzky added specifically that he had initially turned down working for filmmaker George Lucas (on the original Star Wars movie) and had "said straight away" to Lucas: "You don’t really want me, you want Geoffrey Unsworth."
Career Unsworth began his career working at Gaumont British from 1932 to 1937. "BFI Screenonline: Unsworth, Geoffrey (1914-1978) Biography". Retrieved 26 May 2017. Having joined Technicolor in 1938, he acted as assistant director of photography on many notable productions, such as Powell and Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and Scott of the Antarctic (1948). After working on some of the Gainsborough melodramas, he worked at the Rank Organisation throughout the 1950s, notably on films such as A Town Like Alice and A Night to Remember. "BFI Screenonline: Unsworth, Geoffrey (1914-1978) Biography". Retrieved 26 May 2017.
In the 1960s, Unsworth's work extended abroad, such as with the 1962 CinemaScope epic The 300 Spartans; the decade also saw him receive his first Academy Award nomination for his work on 1964's Becket. In 1965, he was responsible for photographing the Royal National Theatre's production of William Shakespeare's Othello.
His film work brought him an impressive array of awards, including five British Society of Cinematographers awards, three BAFTAS and two Academy Awards. Unsworth was especially in demand as cinematographer in two very different genres, period pieces and science fiction. Among the highlights of his career, he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the visually innovative 2001: A Space Odyssey (on which he was assisted by John Alcott, who would become a regular collaborator of Kubrick's) and Bob Fosse's dark musical exploration of the end of Weimar Germany, Cabaret. In Sidney Lumet's 1974 film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, his lighting and use of diffusion capture the danger and romance of the train while graceful integration of camera movement and optical effects contributes to the realism of the set while controlling the claustrophobia of the setting.
Unsworth's work reached its widest audience with Richard Donner's Superman in 1978. He was responsible for integrating the work of a who's-who of cinematographers and visual effects designers (including Zoran Perisic, an animation stand crew member from 2001, who extended Kubrick's front projection technique for Superman), with the plausibility and sense of grandeur befitting a (mostly) reverent take on a superhero. The style he developed alongside director Donner was essentially that of a science-fiction period film; the glamorous, often highly diffused cinematography observed a panoply of images of Americana, suggesting an epic timeframe for the film's scenes, a mythical America somewhere between the 1930s of the original comics and the 1970s. The style of the sequences that did not involve extensive science-fiction elements had to match scenes displaying Superman's powers.
Unsworth's other work in the 1970s included the Oliver Cromwell biopic Cromwell in 1970, the 1972 John Barry musical Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, John Boorman's 1974 fantasy film Zardoz, The Return of the Pink Panther (the fourth film in Blake Edwards' Pink Panther series), Richard Attenborough's 1977 war epic A Bridge Too Far. In 1981, he won a posthumous Oscar for Best Cinematography for his collaborative work with Ghislain Cloquet on Roman Polanski's Tess.
For Superman, Unsworth was not named in the Special Achievement in Visual Effects Academy Award the film received, but instead as director of photography, and without a separate credit for special effects work, he would not have been eligible. Donner expressed great disgust that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not recognise Unsworth with a nomination for Best Achievement in Cinematography in 1979.
Personal life and death Unsworth became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1976.
He died of a heart attack in France at the age of 64 while filming Roman Polanski's Tess in 1978. Both Superman and The First Great Train Robbery, released in the United Kingdom in December 1978, were dedicated to Unsworth's memory.
Unsworth was admired for his charming manner. Margot Kidder was flattered when Unsworth arranged lighting for her shots, and insisted on concentration by saying "Quiet, I'm lighting the Lady."Superman – The Movie (Four-Disc Special Edition): Disc 3, "Making Superman: Filming the Legend"
Unsworth's wife Maggie worked in the British film industry, often as a script/continuity supervisor.
Filmography Short film Year Title Director Notes 1946 Make Fruitful the Land Ken Annakin1950 Mr. Know-All Segments of Trio Verger, The 1955 Cyril Stapleton and the Show Band Michael Carreras With Walter J. Harvey The Eric Winstone Bandshow 1956 Eric Winstone's Stagecoach
Documentary short Year Title Director 1942 Teeth of Steel Ronald H. Riley Gardens of England Michael Hankinson World Garden Robin Carruthers1943 Power on the Land: The Story of theMechanisation of British Farming Ralph Keene The People's Land
Feature film Year Title Director Notes 1946 Meet the Navy Alfred Travers Technicolor photography The Laughing Lady Paul L. Stein1947 The Man Within Bernard Knowles Jassy 1948 Blanche Fury Marc Allégret Exterior photography Scott of the Antarctic Charles Frend With Osmond Borradaile and Jack Cardiff1949 The Blue Lagoon Frank Launder Fools Rush In John Paddy Carstairs The Spider and the Fly Robert Hamer1950 Double Confession Ken Annakin The Clouded Yellow Ralph Thomas 1951 Where No Vultures Fly Harry Watt 1952 Penny Princess Val Guest The Planter's Wife Ken Annakin Made in Heaven John Paddy Carstairs1953 Turn the Key Softly Jack Lee The Sword and the Rose Ken Annakin1954 The Million Pound Note Ronald Neame The Seekers Ken Annakin The Purple Plain Robert Parrish 1955 Simba Brian Desmond Hurst Passage Home Roy Ward Baker Value for Money Ken Annakin1956 A Town Like Alice Jack Lee Jacqueline Roy Ward Baker Tiger in the Smoke 1957 Hell Drivers Cy Endfield Dangerous Exile Brian Desmond Hurst 1958 A Night to Remember Roy Ward Baker Bachelor of Hearts Wolf Rilla 1959 Whirlpool Lewis Allen North West Frontier J. Lee Thompson 1960 The World of Suzie Wong Richard Quine 1961 Don't Bother to Knock Cyril Frankel 1962 The Playboy of the Western World Brian Desmond Hurst The 300 Spartans Rudolph Maté The Main Attraction Daniel Petrie 1963 Tamahine Philip Leacock 1964 Becket Peter Glenville1965 Genghis Khan Henry Levin You Must be Joking Michael Winner Othello Stuart Burge 1966 El rey en Londres Aníbal Uset With Agustín González Paz and Aníbal González Paz 1967 Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung Youin the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad Richard Quine Half a Sixpence George Sidney 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom Joseph McGrath 1969 The Assassination Bureau Basil Dearden Dance of Death David Giles The Magic Christian Joseph McGrath1970 The Reckoning Jack Gold Cromwell Ken Hughes Goodbye Gemini Alan Gibson Three Sisters Laurence OlivierJohn Sichel1971 Say Hello to Yesterday Alvin Rakoff Unman, Wittering and Zigo John Mackenzie1972 Cabaret Bob Fosse Alice's Adventures in Wonderland William Sterling1973 Baxter! Lionel Jeffries Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing Alan J. Pakula Voices Kevin Billington Don Quixote Rudolf NureyevRobert Helpmann1974 Zardoz John Boorman The Internecine Project Ken Hughes The Abdication Anthony Harvey Murder on the Orient Express Sidney Lumet1975 The Return of the Pink Panther Blake Edwards Royal Flash Richard Lester Lucky Lady Stanley Donen 1976 A Matter of Time Vincente Minnelli 1977 A Bridge Too Far Richard Attenborough 1978 Superman Richard Donner The First Great Train Robbery Michael Crichton Also actor (uncredited) 1979 Tess Roman Polanski With Ghislain Cloquet (Posthumous release) 1980 Superman II Richard Lester With Robert Paynter (Posthumous release) 2006 Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut Richard Donner
Documentary film Year Title Director Notes 1963 An Evening with the Royal Ballet Anthony Havelock-AllanAnthony Asquith Segments "La Valse", "Les Corsaire" and "Aurora's Wedding" 1965 Pop Gear Frederic Goode
Television Year Title Director Episode 1956 The Magical World of Disney Ken Annakin "When Knighthood Was in Flower" (Part 1 & 2) 1972 Columbo Richard Quine "Dagger of the Mind"
Awards and honours Academy Awards + YearCategoryTitleResult 1964Best CinematographyBecket1972Cabaret1974Murder on the Orient Express1979Tess (shared with Ghislain Cloquet)
BAFTA Awards + YearCategoryTitleResult1964Best British CinematographyTamahine1965Becket 1969Best Cinematography2001: A Space Odyssey1973Cabaret, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland1975Murder on the Orient Express, Zardoz1978A Bridge Too Far1979Superman1982Tess (shared with Ghislain Cloquet)
National Society of Film Critics + YearCategoryTitleResult 1969Best Cinematography2001: A Space Odyssey1972Cabaret1981Tess (shared with Ghislain Cloquet)
References
External links BFI: British Film Institute website
Geoffrey Unsworth at the TIME/IMAGE project