Franz Planer

Franz Planer, A.S.C. (March 29, 1894 - January 10, 1963) was a cinematographer born in Karlsbad, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic),

Biography

The Planer family were very influential, and owned large tracts of farmland, businesses, libraries, and shops in Austria-Hungary, and several properties in and around Vienna, some of which were stolen by certain low ranking officers for their own families use in the mid to late 1930s using falsely issued papers, and threats.

Planer had trained as a portrait painter, but realizing that photography was becoming very popular, and would replace the requirement for talented artists changed his career path. He changed direction into films, and thus began his career as a director of photography for films in Germany and later throughout Europe in the early 1900s till 1933,

In 1937, he left the failing Austrian film industry, to begin work in Hollywood. He shot over 130 movies, including the color films The Big Country (1958) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).

Notable films

• Maskerade (1934)
• Holiday (1938)
• The Face Behind the Mask (1941)
• Secret Command (1944)
• The Chase (1946)
• One Touch of Venus (1948)
• Criss Cross (1949)
• Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
• The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953)
• The Caine Mutiny (1954)
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
• Not as a Stranger (1955)
• The Pride and the Passion (1957)
• King of Kings (1961)
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
• The Children's Hour (1961)
• Something's Got to Give (1962) (unfinished, restarted a year later as Move Over, Darling, with a different cast and technical staff)

Academy Award Nominations

• Nominated for Cinematography (Black & White) 1949: Champion
• Nominated for Cinematography (Black & White) 1951: Death of a Salesman
• Nominated for Cinematography (Black & White) 1953: Roman Holiday
• Nominated for Cinematography (Color) 1959: The Nun's Story
• Nominated for Cinematography (Black & White) 1961: The Children's Hour

References

• Robert Müller: ¨Alpträume in Hollywood. Franz Planer: Eine Karriere zwischen Berlin, Wien und Los Angeles¨ in Christian Cargnelli, Michael Omasta (eds.): Schatten. Exil. Europäische Emigranten im Film noir (Vienna: PVS, 1997) ISBN 3-901196-26-9