#billy bitzer

Broken Blossoms (1919) was photographed by GW (Billy) Bitzer. GW was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and had an amazing 1,255 cinematography credits from 1896 to 1933, with one more in 1951. He worked with DW Griffith from 1908 to 1929.

Billy Bitzer, {1905} New York Subway

Cameraman G.W. "Billy" Bitzer with director D.W. Griffith filming THE GREATEST QUESTION, also known as "Idol Dancer", in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 1919

Behind the scenes of Way Down East - Billy Bitzer (right) is cranking the camera while Griffith is giving directions.

Karl Brown was an eyewitness to the most momentous occasions in the history of the cinema—the making of The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. As assistant cameraman to the great G. W. Bitzer, Karl Brown was on the firing line of all the D. W. Griffith pictures from 1913 until Broken Blossoms and Griffith’s departure for New York. Following his years with Griffith, Karl Brown joined Famous Players-Lasky and gained a firm place in the history books for his remarkable photography of The Covered Wagon (a second volume is in production dealing with Famous Players, James Cruze, Roscoe Arbuckle . . .). Fie turned director in 1926, and it was his first directorial assignment, Stark Love, that led indirectly to the writing of this book.

Few of the people in movies had had much formal education. Actors, directors, writers, cutters, cameramen, and lab technicians had acquired their skills on the job by a process of trial and error. For all its spectacular success, though, Hollywood was snubbed by most of the nabobs of the legitimate theater and by polite society. As late as 1931, when the City of Los Angeles celebrated its first 150 years, movie people were treated as pariahs. The industry raised thousands of dollars for the celebrations and staged a spectacular electrical parade, but the committee which organized the culminating Fiesta Ball decided to exclude all Hollywood personalities.

Even when handling big situations, such as mob scenes, with things going awry, he would break out in snatches of song, a bit of psychology that seemed to calm the excited performers, causing them to be less tense. His bag of tricks was enormous, and if one trick did not work, he would try another. If you did not possess the ability he was searching for, you weren’t fired, just demoted. He did it by easy stages, until you realized for yourself you didn’t fit and just let yourself out. Although he called his players children, he was a stern parent if crossed. He would allow the one in error to talk to a finish, during which time he would not say a word. Then, “Well, you know better, of course,” after which he would remain silent as a sphinx, leaving you guessing whether you had really won the debate or not.

Interior NY Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street, 1905