Raiders Of The Lost Ark cinematographer Douglas Slocombe dies, aged 103

Douglas Slocombe on the set of Raiders Of The Lost Ark

by James White |
Published on

A man who could turn his talented vision to any type of film, and credited his adaptability to his bad memory for previous work, Douglas Slocombe is responsible for images that have burned themselves into the minds of many a film fan. He has died at the age of 103.

Born in London in 1913, Slocombe was raised in France and returned home in 1933. An avid photographer, he bore witness to the early days of World War II. Travelling to Danzig in 1939, he chronicled the growing anti-Jewish sentiment and was subsequently commissioned to film events for the documentary Lights Out. Filming in Warsaw when Germany invaded in September of the same year, he escaped with his footage and made it back to London.

His work got him noticed by Ealing Studios, which had employed him to shoot documentaries, he scored his first studio credit working alongside Wilkie Cooper on 1942's The Big Blockade. That led to 17 successful years with the company, working on such films as For Those In Peril, Kind Hearts And Coronets, Whisky Galore, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Titfield Thunderbolt and The Man In The White Suit. His adaptability eventually saw him become the preeminent house cinematographer at the studio. “Ealing was rather like Hollywood in the old days,” Slocombe once said. “It had a number of cameramen and directors and writers under contract, so there was a continuity of production. We all knew each other so well, we’d spent the eves together in the local pub. It was very much a community.”

Slocombe would go on to enjoy a hugely successful career as director of photography on a wide variety of films including The Italian Job, The Blue Max, The Fearless Vampire Killers and Rollerball.

Though he wondered if he'd mesh well with Steven Spielberg's penchant for shooting quickly, they formed a fruitful partnership that produced Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and all of the first three Indiana Jones films, with The Last Crusade serving as his final feature before retiring. He was Oscar nominated three times (for Travels With My Aunt, Julia and Raiders Of The Lost Ark) and won several BAFTAS, including for his work on The Servant, The Lion In Winter, Jesus Christ Superstar and the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby.

“I always took everything in my stride... I’d always find a solution for any problem,” Slocombe told Variety in 2002. “In all the films I did, the ones I enjoyed most were always those that were literary subjects – not necessarily coming from a book, but with a script that one could listen to, acting that one could watch.”

He's survived by his wife and daughter.

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