---
name: "Joseph MacDonald"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joseph-macdonald"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
born: "15 December 1906"
died: "26 May 1968"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T04:42:12.368620+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 MacDonald

Cinematographer. Born 15 December 1906 in Mexico City. Died 26 May 1968.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Born:** 15 December 1906, Mexico City
- **Died:** 26 May 1968
- **Also known as:** Joe MacDonald
- **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscar nominations
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_MacDonald_(cinematographer), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q345800, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0531796/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/30288

## Biography

Joseph Patrick MacDonald, usually credited as Joe MacDonald, was a Mexico-born American cinematographer. He began as an assistant cameraman in the early 1920s after studying mining engineering at the University of Southern California, becoming a director of photography in the 1940s and working primarily at 20th Century Fox until 1959.

His credits include *My Darling Clementine* (1946), *Viva Zapata!* (1952), *Niagara* (1953), *How to Marry a Millionaire* (1953), *Pickup on South Street* (1953), *Bigger Than Life* (1956), *Warlock* (1959) and *The Sand Pebbles* (1966). He received Academy Award nominations for *The Young Lions* (1958), *Pepe* (1960) and *The Sand Pebbles*. *Mackenna's Gold* (1969) was released after his death in 1968.

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

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Sand Pebbles* (1966), Fi1m 66, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-sand-pebbles.md)

## Complete filmography (69)

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

- *Mackenna's Gold* (1969), Director of Photography
- *A Guide for the Married Man* (1967), Director of Photography
- *The Sand Pebbles* (1966), Director of Photography — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/the-sand-pebbles.md)
- *Alvarez Kelly* (1966), Director of Photography
- *Blindfold* (1966), Director of Photography
- *Mirage* (1965), Director of Photography
- *The Reward* (1965), Director of Photography
- *Where Love Has Gone* (1964), Director of Photography
- *Rio Conchos* (1964), Director of Photography
- *Invitation to a Gunfighter* (1964), Director of Photography
- *The Carpetbaggers* (1964), Director of Photography
- *Flight from Ashiya* (1964), Director of Photography
- *Kings of the Sun* (1963), Director of Photography
- *The List of Adrian Messenger* (1963), Director of Photography
- *Taras Bulba* (1962), Director of Photography
- *Walk on the Wild Side* (1962), Director of Photography
- *The Last Time I Saw Archie* (1961), Director of Photography
- *Pepe* (1960), Director of Photography
- *The Gallant Hours* (1960), Director of Photography
- *Warlock* (1959), Director of Photography
- *The Fiend Who Walked the West* (1958), Director of Photography
- *Ten North Frederick* (1958), Director of Photography
- *The Young Lions* (1958), Director of Photography
- *Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?* (1957), Director of Photography
- *A Hatful of Rain* (1957), Director of Photography
- *The True Story of Jesse James* (1957), Cinematography
- *Bigger Than Life* (1956), Director of Photography
- *Hilda Crane* (1956), Director of Photography
- *On the Threshold of Space* (1956), Director of Photography
- *House of Bamboo* (1955), Director of Photography
- *The Racers* (1955), Director of Photography
- *Woman's World* (1954), Cinematography
- *Broken Lance* (1954), Director of Photography
- *Hell and High Water* (1954), Director of Photography
- *How to Marry a Millionaire* (1953), Director of Photography
- *White Witch Doctor* (1953), Additional Director of Photography
- *Pickup on South Street* (1953), Director of Photography
- *Titanic* (1953), Director of Photography
- *Niagara* (1953), Director of Photography
- *O. Henry's Full House* (1952), Director of Photography
- *What Price Glory* (1952), Cinematography
- *Viva Zapata!* (1952), Director of Photography
- *As Young as You Feel* (1951), Director of Photography
- *Fourteen Hours* (1951), Director of Photography
- *You're in the Navy Now* (1951), Director of Photography
- *Panic in the Streets* (1950), Director of Photography
- *Stella* (1950), Director of Photography
- *Pinky* (1949), Director of Photography
- *It Happens Every Spring* (1949), Director of Photography
- *Down to the Sea in Ships* (1949), Director of Photography
- *Yellow Sky* (1948), Director of Photography
- *The Street with No Name* (1948), Director of Photography
- *Call Northside 777* (1948), Director of Photography
- *Moss Rose* (1947), Director of Photography
- *My Darling Clementine* (1946), Director of Photography
- *The Dark Corner* (1946), Director of Photography
- *Behind Green Lights* (1946), Director of Photography
- *Shock* (1946), Director of Photography
- *Captain Eddie* (1945), Director of Photography
- *The Big Noise* (1944), Director of Photography
- *In the Meantime, Darling* (1944), Director of Photography
- *Wintertime* (1943), Director of Photography
- *Quiet Please, Murder* (1943), Director of Photography
- *That Other Woman* (1942), Director of Photography
- *The Man Who Wouldn't Die* (1942), Director of Photography
- *Romance of the Rio Grande* (1941), as Carlos Hernandez
- *Arizona* (1940), as Hap
- *Vagabond Lady* (1935), Assistant Set Decoration
- *The Eating of Sin*, Director of Photography

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 3 nominated

- 1967: Best Cinematography, Color (nominated), for *The Sand Pebbles*
- 1961: Best Cinematography, Color (nominated), for *Pepe*
- 1959: Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (nominated), for *The Young Lions*

*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/joseph-macdonald