Today's Google Doodle, James Wong Howe - who is he?

What a unique surprise it was to see this talented and deservedly acclaimed cinematographer of early-to-mid 20th Century Hollywood be featured on the mantlepiece of of Google's search engine display. A beautiful oil canvas it must be said, aptly so for a man whose films were never less than good to look at, and when in black and white on a whole entire other leve.

Howe, a Chinese immigrant who made a start doing odd jobs here and there for film studios and capturing Cecil B. Demille's eye as a clapper boy, he worked is way into becoming a director of photography by finding ways to enhance the mode of black-and-white filmmaking. Whether it was using lighting or shadowing to make actresses' best angles flourish, to discovering how to use dark backdrops to create contrast, to the use of wide-angle lenses and color lighting, Howe was an innovator through and through; he was one of the first to use deep focus, one of the first the employ the use of the dolly camera movement.

Being Chinese, there is of course an added pride I take in the work of Mr Howe which extends beyond just his expertise. He was a strong, somewhat stubborn, and exceedingly hardworking individual who got his way with the films he worked on. He won two Oscars, for The Rose Tattoo and Hud, and should be more frequently remarked as one of the biggest breakthroughs for Asian Americans in Hollywood. His marriage to novelist and literary editor Sanora Babb was discriminated against by the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting them from publicly acknowledging it till 1948. Yet still they persisted.

Of course, I could babble on all day about the man's aptitude, but perhaps it's best if I just show you all some of my favourite shots/scenes involving him. Enjoy.

The lighting employed in Sweet Smell of Success on Burt Lancaster's demenaour is breathtaking, turning the handsome leading man into a hulking, nasty monster. 

It's a bit of a standard drama in many ways, but Howe's work on King's Row gives it a nice added touch of noir atmosphere and an unsettling undercurrent.