Silver Voices: James Wong Howe Interview (1958)[Part 1]

Interview conducted by George Pratt. Photo courtesy Stills, Posters, and Paper Collections/George Eastman Museum. 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:00:40 Early Life — Early movie-going; seeing THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903) 00:06:00 Early Career — Hired by Famous Players-Lasky, first on-set job as a camera assistant for Cecil B DeMille on FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE (1919) 00:11:00 Early Career — Shooting MALE AND FEMALE (1919) on location on Santa Cruz Island, on-set duties 00:21:00 Early Career — Working late at the studio and secretly sleeping on set 00:24:05 Early Career — Beginning of work as a second assistant camera, working with Japanese cinematographer Henry Kotani on PUPPY LOVE (1919), and TOLD IN THE HILLS (1919) 00:38:00 Early Career — Portrait photography, meeting Mary Miles Minter, promotion at Minter’s request and beginning of career as a lead cinematographer 00:50:50 Early Career — Making PETER PAN (1924), Tinker Bell special effects 1:09:20 Career — Working with Lon Chaney on LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH (1928) 1:11:29 Career — Being on set with Joan Crawford 1:13:38 Career — Visit to China in the late 1920s and U.S. Citizenship 1:17:30 Career — Beginning of the sound film era and working on TRANSATLANTIC (1931) 1:21:06 Career — Production difficulties on HELLO, SISTER! (1933) and working with director Erich Von Stroheim The Silver Voices Project, which allowed for digitization and sharing of this archival audio, was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, grant number MA-30-19-0681-19. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this audio do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.