---
name: "Joseph Carl Breil"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joseph-carl-breil"
fi1m_id: "joseph-carl-breil"
imdb_id: "nm0106922"
tmdb_id: 8817
wikidata_id: "Q1706727"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
born: "29 June 1870"
died: "24 January 1926"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-24T23:26:33.073793+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."
---

# Joseph Carl Breil

## Identity

Joseph Carl Breil

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joseph-carl-breil
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** joseph-carl-breil
- **IMDb ID:** nm0106922
- **TMDB ID:** 8817
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1706727
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Carl_Breil, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1706727, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0106922/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8817

Cinematographer. Born 29 June 1870 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 24 January 1926.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Born:** 29 June 1870, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Died:** 24 January 1926
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Carl_Breil, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1706727, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0106922/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8817

## Biography

Joseph Carl Breil (29 June 1870 – 23 January 1926) was an American composer, lyric tenor, stage director and conductor. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he studied voice in Milan and Leipzig and performed with opera companies before turning to composition.

He was among the earliest American composers to write original scores for motion pictures. His first film score was for *Les amours de la reine Élisabeth* (1912). He later composed the music for D. W. Griffith’s *The Birth of a Nation* (1915) and *Intolerance* (1916), as well as the preview score for *The Phantom of the Opera* (1925). His opera *The Legend* premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1919.

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

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Birth of a Nation* (1915), Fi1m 32, Music, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-birth-of-a-nation.md)

## Complete filmography (9)

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

- *America* (1924), Original Music Composer
- *The White Sister* (1923), Original Music Composer
- *The White Rose* (1923), Original Music Composer
- *Double Trouble* (1915), Original Music Composer
- *Old Heidelberg* (1915), Original Music Composer
- *The Birth of a Nation* (1915), Director of Photography, Music — Fi1m 32, [page](https://film.one/film/the-birth-of-a-nation.md)
- *The Avenging Conscience* (1914), Original Music Composer
- *Home, Sweet Home* (1914), Original Music Composer
- *Queen Elizabeth* (1912), Original Music Composer

## Gallery

- ![Joseph Carl Breil in 1918](https://film.one/media/person/3847899/gallery-2086ace5711d.jpg) Joseph Carl Breil in 1918 — Bain, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Joseph_Carl_Breil_in_1918.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Joseph Carl Breil](https://film.one/media/person/3847899/gallery-99b372379eb8.jpg) Joseph Carl Breil — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Breil.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© 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/joseph-carl-breil