Douglas Slocombe, 103; 'Indiana Jones' cinematographer . Douglas
Slocombe, the chameleonic British cinematographer who filmed the Nazi
invasion of Poland, the adventures of "Indiana Jones," and the madcap
farce of Ealing comedies, died Monday. He was 103. His daughter,
Georgina, said Mr. Slocombe died in a London hospital. A recent fall
led to setbacks that ended with his death, she said. "He said the other
day that he loved every day of his work, every day on the set," said
Georgina Slocombe, a photographer. "He really enjoyed his work and his
life. Mr. Slocombe was one of British cinema's most acclaimed
cinematographers. He shot some 80 films, working with directors as
varied as George Cukor, John Huston, Norman Jewison, and Roman
Polanski. His career began with the famed Ealing black comedies of the
late 1940s and early '50s, and ended with three "Indiana Jones" films
for Steven Spielberg. The London-born, France-raised Mr. Slocombe was
nominated for three Academy Awards and won three from the British
Academy of Film and Television Arts for 1974's "The Great Gatsby,"
1963's "The Servant," and 1977's "Julia. The British Society of
Cinematographers gave him a lifetime achievement award in 1995.
Paramount Pictures Steven Spielberg enlisted Mr. Slocombe for "Raiders
of the Lost Ark" (above) as well as two "Indiana Jones" sequels. While
in his 20s, Mr. Slocombe documented Germany's 1939 Polish invasion as a
newsreel cameraman. His footage was used in Herbert Kline's
documentary, "Lights Out in Europe. "I had no understanding of the
concept of blitzkrieg. I had been expecting trouble but I thought it
would be in trenches, like WWI," he told the BBC in 2014. "The Germans
were coming over the border at a great pace. After the war, he became
the house cinematographer for Ealing Studios, lensing many of its
classic comedies, such as "Kind Hearts and Coronets," "The Man in the
White Suit," and "The Lavender Hill Mob. Following Ealing's demise, Mr.
Slocombe signed on to a number of CinemaScope releases, such as "A High
Wind in Jamaica," and "Guns at Batasi. Other credits through the '60s
and '70s included "The Lion in Winter," "The Italian Job," and
"Rollerball. "A lot of cameramen try to evolve a technique and then
apply that to everything," Mr. Slocombe once said. "But I suffer from a
bad memory and could never remember how I'd done something before, so I
could always approach something afresh. I found I was able to change
techniques on picture after picture. Later, Spielberg, for whom
Slocombe shot scenes of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," enlisted
him for "Raiders of the Lost Ark," as well as two "Indiana Jones"
sequels. His last film was 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
