---
name: "Jack Cardiff"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jack-cardiff"
fi1m_id: "jack-cardiff"
imdb_id: "nm0002153"
tmdb_id: 6603
wikidata_id: "Q436704"
roles: ["Cinematographer","Director"]
born: "18 September 1914"
died: "22 April 2009"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 83
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-10-04T18:48:27.054406+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jack Cardiff

## Identity

Jack Cardiff

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jack-cardiff
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jack-cardiff
- **IMDb ID:** nm0002153
- **TMDB ID:** 6603
- **Wikidata ID:** Q436704
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cardiff, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q436704, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002153/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6603

Cinematographer and director. Born 18 September 1914 in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, UK. Died 22 April 2009.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer, Director
- **Born:** 18 September 1914, Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, UK
- **Died:** 22 April 2009
- **Active:** 1946–1985
- **Also known as:** John George James Gran, John Cardiff, Jack Cardiff OBE
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 8: 1 directing, 7 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Emeric Pressburger](https://film.one/person/emeric-pressburger.md), [Marius Goring](https://film.one/person/marius-goring.md), [Michael Powell](https://film.one/person/michael-powell.md), [Ava Gardner](https://film.one/person/ava-gardner.md), [Humphrey Bogart](https://film.one/person/humphrey-bogart.md), [John Woolf](https://film.one/person/john-woolf.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscars (2 won · 3 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 91 (3), 1950s 79 (3), 1960s 67 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 85 to 80 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 7, Romance 5, Fantasy 2, Adventure 1, Comedy 1
- **Screen time:** 14 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $31m across 5 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cardiff, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q436704, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002153/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6603

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Pandora and the Flying Dutchman*](https://film.one/film/pandora-and-the-flying-dutchman.md) (79), [*The Barefoot Contessa*](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md) (74), [*Fanny*](https://film.one/film/fanny.md) (70)
- **HBO Max:** [*The Red Shoes*](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md) (92), [*Black Narcissus*](https://film.one/film/black-narcissus.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jack Cardiff

> Jack Cardiff lit the three Powell and Pressburger films that made British Technicolor worth talking about, and the colour in them does the work other films leave to dialogue. Nothing he shot afterwards, and nothing he directed, comes close.

Heaven, in *A Matter of Life and Death* (1946), is in black and white. Earth is in Technicolor. That is the whole idea, stated once and never explained twice, and Jack Cardiff makes it carry the film's case for staying alive better than any of its speeches do. We found that monochrome heaven unexpectedly sad, and the sadness is entirely in the photography: after the warmth of the earthly scenes, all that grey grandeur looks like poor compensation. A year later, in *Black Narcissus* (1947), red keeps pulling the eye across the convent so that desire stays present whether the nuns want it or not. In *The Red Shoes* (1948), the colour of the ballet is strong enough to hold attention on its own.

He came to it sideways. Born to music-hall parents, he was a child actor before he went behind the camera in the 1930s as assistant and operator, and he was on *Wings of the Morning* (1937), the first British Technicolor feature, learning the stock from Ray Rennahan. Second-unit work on Powell and Pressburger's *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943) got him the three films that made his name. Through the 1950s he shot international productions, among them John Huston's *The African Queen* (1952), and from the late 1950s he directed, most respectably *Sons and Lovers* (1960). In the 1970s and 1980s he went back to cinematography on commercial films, including *Rambo: First Blood Part II* (1985).

What he did that others did not was treat colour as something you light for, the way a painter chooses a palette before a subject. The Himalayas of *Black Narcissus* are a studio set and painted backdrops by Alfred Junge, and Cardiff lights them so that we recognise the artifice and still feel the height and the isolation. Hein Heckroth's settings in *The Red Shoes* leave the stage behind, and the ballet sequence, with its changes of camera speed and painted glass, is where his ingenuity with filters and stock is most on show. On the river with Huston he did the opposite and held back: the jungle is rich to look at and never competes with Bogart and Hepburn's faces. "Simplicity is the secret of good lighting and good cinematography," he said late in life, and his best ideas are simple. One colour. One rule.

The directing is another matter. *Sons and Lovers* is handsome, seriously acted and shot with care by Freddie Francis, and it is tidy where Lawrence is raw; its Paul is a passenger in his own story, and the film looks better than it feels. The rest of his work as a director is generally held to be uneven and rather literal, and his later camera assignments are not the ones anyone remembers. See the three Powell and Pressburger films first, on the biggest screen you have, since that colour was made for one. Everything after them is for the interested. He lit the Himalayas on a studio set and finished on *Rambo: First Blood Part II*. Start at the other end.

## Biography

Jack Cardiff OBE (1914–2009) was a British cinematographer, director and photographer. He began his career as a child actor in silent films and moved behind the camera in the 1930s, becoming one of the first operators of the three-strip Technicolor process on *Wings of the Morning* (1937).

He is best known for his colour cinematography on three films directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger: *A Matter of Life and Death* (1946), *Black Narcissus* (1947), for which he won an Academy Award, and *The Red Shoes* (1948). Other notable credits include *Under Capricorn* (1949) for Alfred Hitchcock and *The African Queen* (1951) for John Huston. Cardiff later directed *Sons and Lovers* (1960), receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. He was appointed OBE in 2000 and received an Academy Honorary Award in 2001.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, britishcinematographer.co.uk.*

## On Fi1m (8)

### Directed (1)

- *Sons and Lovers* (1960), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/sons-and-lovers.md)

### Crew (7) — the average rests on these

- *Fanny* (1961), Fi1m 70, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/fanny.md)
- *The Barefoot Contessa* (1954), Fi1m 74, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md)
- *The African Queen* (1952), Fi1m 84, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-african-queen.md)
- *Pandora and the Flying Dutchman* (1951), Fi1m 79, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/pandora-and-the-flying-dutchman.md)
- *The Red Shoes* (1948), Fi1m 92, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md)
- *Black Narcissus* (1947), Fi1m 88, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/black-narcissus.md)
- *A Matter of Life and Death* (1946), Fi1m 92, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/a-matter-of-life-and-death.md)

## Complete filmography (89)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *British Film Forever* (2007), series, Actor
- *The Suicidal Dog* (2000), Cinematography
- *Secret Lives* (1995), series, Actor
- *The Magic Balloon* (1990), Director of Photography
- *Call from Space* (1989), Director of Photography
- *Million Dollar Mystery* (1987), Director of Photography
- *Tai-Pan* (1986), Director of Photography
- *Rambo: First Blood Part II* (1985), Director of Photography
- *Cat's Eye* (1985), Director of Photography
- *Conan the Destroyer* (1984), Director of Photography
- *The Far Pavilions* (1984), series, Director of Photography, Cinematography
- *Scandalous* (1984), Director of Photography
- *The Wicked Lady* (1983), Director of Photography
- *Ghost Story* (1981), Director of Photography
- *The Dogs of War* (1980), Director of Photography
- *The Awakening* (1980), Director of Photography
- *A Man, a Woman and a Bank* (1979), Director of Photography
- *Avalanche Express* (1979), Director of Photography
- *The Fifth Musketeer* (1979), Director of Photography
- *Death on the Nile* (1978), Director of Photography
- *A Bridge Too Far* (1977), Aerial Camera
- *The Prince and the Pauper* (1977), Director of Photography
- *Ride a Wild Pony* (1975), Director of Photography
- *The Mutations* (1974), Director
- *Penny Gold* (1973), Director
- *Scalawag* (1973), Director of Photography
- *The Girl on a Motorcycle* (1968), Director, Adaptation, Director of Photography, Camera Operator
- *Dark of the Sun* (1968), Director
- *The Liquidator* (1965), Director
- *Young Cassidy* (1965), Director
- *The Long Ships* (1964), Director
- *The Lion* (1962), Director
- *My Geisha* (1962), Director
- *Fanny* (1961), Director of Photography — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/fanny.md)
- *Very Important Person* (1961), Director of Photography
- *Sons and Lovers* (1960), Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/sons-and-lovers.md)
- *Scent of Mystery* (1960), Director
- *Web of Evidence* (1959), Director
- *Intent to Kill* (1958), Director
- *The Vikings* (1958), Director of Photography
- *The Big Money* (1958), Director of Photography
- *Legend of the Lost* (1957), Director of Photography
- *The Prince and the Showgirl* (1957), Director of Photography
- *India: Introduction to Its History* (1957), Director of Photography
- *The Brave One* (1956), Director of Photography
- *War and Peace* (1956), Director of Photography
- *The Barefoot Contessa* (1954), Director of Photography — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md)
- *Crossed Swords* (1954), Cinematography
- *The Master of Ballantrae* (1953), Director of Photography, Cinematography
- *The Story of William Tell* (1953), Cinematography, Director
- *It Started in Paradise* (1952), Director of Photography
- *The African Queen* (1952), Director of Photography — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-african-queen.md)
- *The Magic Box* (1952), Director of Photography
- *Pandora and the Flying Dutchman* (1951), Director of Photography — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/pandora-and-the-flying-dutchman.md)
- *The Black Rose* (1950), Director of Photography
- *Under Capricorn* (1949), Director of Photography
- *Scott of the Antarctic* (1948), Director of Photography
- *The Red Shoes* (1948), Director of Photography — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md)
- *“The Red Shoes” Sketches* (1948), Cinematography
- *Black Narcissus* (1947), Director of Photography — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/black-narcissus.md)
- *A Matter of Life and Death* (1946), Director of Photography — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/a-matter-of-life-and-death.md)
- *Caesar and Cleopatra* (1945), Director of Photography
- *Steel* (1945), Director of Photography
- *Western Approaches* (1944), Director of Photography
- *Scottish Mazurka* (1943), Cinematography
- *The Great Mr Handel* (1942), Cinematography
- *Border Weave* (1942), Cinematography
- *This Is Colour* (1942), Director of Photography
- *The Western Isles* (1941), Cinematography
- *The Green Girdle* (1941), Director of Photography
- *Colour in Clay* (1941), Cinematography
- *Indian Durbar* (1939), Director of Photography
- *The Eternal Fire* (1938), Director of Photography
- *Paris on Parade* (1938), Director of Photography
- *Delhi* (1938), Director of Photography
- *Temples of India* (1938), Director of Photography
- *A Road in India* (1938), Director of Photography
- *La caccia alla volpe nella campagna Romana* (1938), Director of Photography
- *A Village in India* (1938), Cinematography
- *Petra* (1938), Director of Photography
- *Wings of the Morning* (1937), Camera Operator
- *As You Like It* (1936), Camera Operator
- *The Ghost Goes West* (1935), Camera Operator
- *The Ghost Train* (1931), Assistant Camera
- *Loose Ends* (1930), as Focus Puller
- *Harmony Heaven* (1930), Camera Operator
- *The Informer* (1929), as Production Runner
- *Tiptoes* (1927), Actor
- *The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots* (1924), Actor

## Gallery

- ![7 High Street, Saffron Walden, October 2023. The blue plaque marks the house as the residence of the cinematographer Jack Cardiff from 1993 to 2000. This is a p](https://film.one/media/person/59069/gallery-2660ac4bc6d7.jpg) 7 High Street, Saffron Walden, October 2023. The blue plaque marks the house as the residence of the cinematographer Jack Cardiff from 1993 to 2000. This is a p — No Swan So Fine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/7_High_Street%2C_Saffron_Walden%2C_October_2023_01.jpg/1280px-7_High_Street%2C_Saffron_Walden%2C_October_2023_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![7 High Street, Saffron Walden, October 2023. The blue plaque marks the house as the residence of the cinematographer Jack Cardiff from 1993 to 2000. This is a p](https://film.one/media/person/59069/gallery-149101fc7eb8.jpg) 7 High Street, Saffron Walden, October 2023. The blue plaque marks the house as the residence of the cinematographer Jack Cardiff from 1993 to 2000. This is a p — No Swan So Fine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/7_High_Street%2C_Saffron_Walden%2C_October_2023_02.jpg/1280px-7_High_Street%2C_Saffron_Walden%2C_October_2023_02.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Roger Wielgus dans le désert de Mojave en compagnie de Richard Fleischer et Jack Cardiff sur le tournage de Call From Space (2022)](https://film.one/media/person/59069/gallery-93277d34364e.jpg) Roger Wielgus dans le désert de Mojave en compagnie de Richard Fleischer et Jack Cardiff sur le tournage de Call From Space (2022) — Rbwiel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Call_from_space_Dick_RogerJack.jpg/1280px-Call_from_space_Dick_RogerJack.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Picture of cinematographer Jack Cardiff behind a camera smoking a pipe.](https://film.one/media/person/59069/gallery-65000178660e.jpg) Picture of cinematographer Jack Cardiff behind a camera smoking a pipe. — Not known. Cardiff family have given permission for it be used on Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Jack-cardiff-pipe-1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Title: Jack Cardiff Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1910)](https://film.one/media/person/59069/gallery-a3983a28d857.jpg) Title: Jack Cardiff Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1910) — Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Jack_Cardiff_LCCN2014691721.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Theatre advertisement for the film, The Girl on a Motorcycle, 26 November, 1968.](https://film.one/media/person/59069/gallery-d931f5278a70.jpg) Theatre advertisement for the film, The Girl on a Motorcycle, 26 November, 1968. — Claridge Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/The_Girl_on_a_Motorcycle_ad_-_26_November_1968.jpg/1280px-The_Girl_on_a_Motorcycle_ad_-_26_November_1968.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 2 won, 3 nominated

- 1962: Best Cinematography, Color (nominated), for *Fanny*
- 1961: Best Director (nominated), for *Sons and Lovers*
- 1957: Best Cinematography, Color (nominated), for *War and Peace*
- 1948: Best Cinematography, Color (won), for *Black Narcissus*
- 1948: Academy Awards (won)

### Golden Globes — 2 won

- 1961: Best Director (won), for *Sons and Lovers*
- 1948: Golden Globe Awards (won), for *Black Narcissus*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Academy Honorary Award 2001: Academy Honorary Award (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jack-cardiff