---
name: "John J. Mescall"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-j-mescall"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
born: "8 January 1899"
died: "10 February 1962"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T11:35:25.203547+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."
---

# John J. Mescall

Cinematographer. Born 8 January 1899 in Litchfield, Illinois, USA. Died 10 February 1962.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Born:** 8 January 1899, Litchfield, Illinois, USA
- **Died:** 10 February 1962
- **Also known as:** John Mescal, J. Joseph Mescall, John Mescall

## Biography

John J. Mescall was an American cinematographer. He worked on silent films including Ernst Lubitsch's *The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg* (1927) and was active at Universal Pictures in the 1930s, where he frequently collaborated with director James Whale.

His credits include *The Invisible Man* (1933, uncredited), *The Black Cat* (1934), *Bride of Frankenstein* (1935), *Show Boat* (1936) and *The Road Back* (1937). Later films include *When Tomorrow Comes* (1939), *Dark Waters* (1944) and *Take a Letter, Darling* (1942), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography (Black-and-White).

Mescall was born on 10 January 1899 in Litchfield, Illinois, and died on 10 February 1962 in Los Angeles County, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Bride of Frankenstein* (1935), Fi1m 89, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/bride-of-frankenstein.md)

## Also known for

- *The Invisible Man* (1933), Director of Photography
- *The Black Cat* (1934), Director of Photography
- *Not of This Earth* (1957), Director of Photography
- *Show Boat* (1936), Director of Photography

---
© 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/john-j-mescall