Freddie Francis 1917-2007

The great British filmmaker and cinematographer Freddie Francis passed away on March 17th due to complications following a stroke, but information about his death has only just been made public.

Freddie Francis started his impressive career in cinema as a camera operator working with directors like Michael Powell, John Huston, Bernard Bernhardt and René Clement. In the late fifties he became a cinematographer and was responsible for ushering in the look of the British New Wave with great films like Room at the Top (1959, Jack Clayton) and Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960, Karel Reisz).

After working on the atmospheric horror film The Innocents (1961, Jack Clayton), Francis began directing his own films for British studios such as Hammer, Amicus and Trigon. During the sixties and seventies he made many memorable horror movies and thrillers including Paranoiac (1963), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), The Skull (1965), Tales From the Crypt (1972), Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1969), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), Torture Garden (1967), The Ghoul (1975) and The Creeping Flesh (1973).

In the eighties and nineties Freddie Francis continued to work as a cinematographer on critically acclaimed films such as The Elephant Man (1980, David Lynch), The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981, Karel Reisz), Glory (1989, Edward Zwick), Cape Fear (1991, Martin Scorsese) and The Straight Story (1999, David Lynch).

The Guardian has published an informative and thoughtful piece about Freddie Francis that you can find here: Freddie Francis Obituary

- Kimberly Lindbergs

Comments

[Sam]

I did not know Freddie, but I had a deep appreciation for his work. May he rest in peace.

[Amine]

Great respect for Freddie Peace to him.

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Amine