Lucien Ballard

Lucien Ballard (May 6, 1904 – October 1, 1988) was an American cinematographer. He worked on more than 130 films during his 50-year career, collaborating multiple times with directors including Josef von Sternberg, John Brahm, Henry Hathaway, Budd Boetticher, Raoul Walsh, Sam Peckinpah and Tom Gries. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for The Caretakers.

Biography Ballard was born in Miami, Oklahoma in 1904. His mother Ada was Cherokee and Lucien is listed on the Dawes Rolls as 1/16th Cherokee by Blood. He attended the University of Oklahoma and the University of Pennsylvania

Ballard began working on films at Paramount Studios in 1929 after dating a script woman there.

Lucien Ballard was taken on as an assistant to Lee Garmes on Josef von Sternberg's Morocco (1930).

Director Von Sternberg left Columbia after only two pictures, but Lucien Ballard stayed with the company and became a valuable member of the staff. After filming Dorothy Arzner's Craig's Wife he took assignments for the studio's "B" features such as The Devil's Playground (1937), Penitentiary (1938), and The Lone Wolf in Paris (1938). She was involved in a near-fatal car crash in London, and sustained facial scarring. Ballard invented a special light for Oberon's benefit: the invention, mounted by the side of the camera, provided direct light onto a subject's face while reducing the appearance of blemishes and wrinkles. Named the "catch light" (informally the "Obie", short for "Oberon"), the device became widely used in the film industry.

In 1941's Howard Hughes film The Outlaw, Hughes cast Jane Russell in the lead and had numerous shots of her cleavage, which got the attention of the Hollywood censors. The film was shot in 1940 and 1941 but took five years to be released to selected theaters. Ballard was the camera man for the screen tests, did some of the second unit work for director Howard Hawks, and assisted cinematographer Gregg Toland on the first unit crew.

He also formed a partnership with Tom Gries making five films, including Will Penny (1968) and Breakheart Pass (1976). who was killed in an automobile accident in 1982. He had two sons, Christopher and Anthony. Ballard also had two daughters, Zoe and Pamela, from his first marriage to McLellan.

Partial filmography

Crime and Punishment 1935 The King Steps Out, 1936 The Final Hour Craig's Wife, 1936 The Devil's Playground, 1937 Racketeers in Exile, 1937 Penitentiary, 1938 Rio Grande 1938 The Lone Wolf in Paris, 1938 Squadron of Honor 1938 The Thundering West, 1939 Texas Stampede 1939 Let Us Live!, 1939 Wild Geese Calling, 1941 The Lodger, 1944 This Love of Ours, 1945 Temptation, 1946 Berlin Express, 1948 Night Song, 1948 Fixed Bayonets!, 1951 The House on Telegraph Hill, 1951 Don't Bother to Knock, 1952 Diplomatic Courier, 1952 Return of the Texan, 1952 Night Without Sleep, 1953 Inferno, 1953 The Desert Rats, 1953 Prince Valiant, 1954 The Magnificent Matador, 1955 The King and Four Queens, 1956 The Killing, 1956 A Kiss Before Dying, 1956 The Killer Is Loose, 1956 Band of Angels, 1957 Buchanan Rides Alone, 1958 Murder by Contract, 1958 The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, 1960 Marines, Let's Go, 1961 Susan Slade, 1961 The Parent Trap, 1961 Ride the High Country, 1962 The Caretakers, 1963 The Sons of Katie Elder, 1965 Nevada Smith, 1966 Hour of the Gun, 1967 Will Penny, 1968 The Party, 1968 The Wild Bunch, 1969 A Time for Dying, 1969 True Grit, 1969 The Ballad of Cable Hogue, 1970 The Hawaiians, 1970 Elvis: That's the Way It Is, 1970 Arruza, 1971 The Getaway, 1972 Junior Bonner, 1972 Lady Ice, 1973 Breakout, 1975 Breakheart Pass, 1976 Rabbit Test, 1978 My Kingdom For..., 1985