Victor Milner

Victor Milner, A.S.C.
Victor Milner and Madeleine Carroll in The General Died at Dawn
Born	(1893-12-15)December 15, 1893 New York, New York
Died	October 29, 1972(1972-10-29) (aged 78) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Cinematographer
Board member of	A.S.C. (President 1937 to 1939)

Victor Milner, A.S.C. (December 15, 1893 – October 29, 1972) (sometimes Victor Miller) was an American cinematographer. He was nominated for ten cinematography Academy Awards, winning once for 1934 Cleopatra. Milner worked on more than 130 films, including dramas (Broken Lullaby), comedies (Unfaithfully Yours), film noir (Dark City), and Westerns (The Furies).

Early life

Victor Milner was born on December 15, 1893 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When he was 12, his family moved to New York. As a teenager, he was sometimes put in charge of operating the projector at movies. Milner was hired by Eberhard Schneider, a film equipment manufacturer. He first shot a camera while filming a storm at Rockaway Beach

Career

Victor Milner, A.S.C., at Port Said in 1913 with his pioneer camera and African assistant

Milner began his career in the film industry as a lab assistant at the age of 15. He then worked as a projectionist and a newsreel cameraman until 1914 when he became a full-time cinematographer. Milner shot Hiawatha: The Indian Passion Play in 1913 as his first film. He was later hired as a cameraman for Pathé News. In 1916, he was hired by the Balboa Amusement Producing Company in Long Beach, California as a cameraman. Throughout his career, he worked as a second cameraman for 17 films for William S. Hart. He worked at large production companies like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Universal, and went to Paramount in 1925.

Later he became known for the epic look he lent to Cecil B. DeMille film productions. Milner also worked with other icons in the film industry including Victor Fleming, Raoul Walsh, Preston Sturges, and Ernst Lubitsch.

Milner was a founding member of the American Society of Cinematographers. He became its president from 1937 to 1939. Milner retired in 1953 after he completed the film Jeopardy. He died in 1972, having worked on over 130 films throughout his career.

Awards

Milner won nine Academy Awards during his career. His film Cleopatra received an Oscar in 1934.

Selected filmography

• Cave Girl (1921)
• Her Night of Romance (1924)
• The Red Lily (1924)
• Thy Name Is Woman (1924)
• Learning to Love (1925)
• East of Suez (1925)
• The Cat's Pajamas (1926)
• The Wanderer (1926)
• Children of Divorce (1927)
• The Way of All Flesh (1927)
• Loves of an Actress (1928)
• The Woman from Moscow (1928)
• The Love Parade (1929)
• Let's Go Native (1930)
• Monte Carlo (1930)
• Paramount on Parade (1930)
• The Texan (1930)
• I Take This Woman (1931)
• Trouble in Paradise (1932)
• The Man I Killed (1932)
• Broken Lullaby (1932)
• One Hour with You (1932)
• The Song of Songs (1933)
• Design for Living (1933)
• Luxury Liner (1933)
• Cleopatra (1934)
• The Crusades (1935)
• East of Suez (1935)
• The Gilded Lily (1935)
• So Red the Rose (1935)
• The General Died at Dawn (1936)
• The Plainsman (1936)
• Desire (1936)
• Artists and Models (1937)
• The Buccaneer (1938)
• College Swing (1938)
• Union Pacific (1939)
• The Great Victor Herbert (1939)
• Northwest Mounted Police (1940)
• Christmas in July (1940)
• The Lady Eve (1941)
• The Monster and the Girl (1941)
• Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
• The Palm Beach Story (1942)
• The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
• The Great Moment (1944)
• The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
• The Other Love (1947)
• Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
• The Furies (1950)
• Dark City (1950)
• Carrie (1952)
• Jeopardy (1952)

External links

• Victor Milner at IMDb
• Victor Milner at Find a Grave
• Victor Milner papers, MSS 1965 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University