Original at
Glasgow University
Erwin Hillier
Erwin Hillier was the most important cinematographer after Jack Cardiff,
to be part of the Archers. The company's most famous work, and the productions
for which they won Oscars were the colour films released the war, however
Hillier's camerawork on A Canterbury Tale remains their most visually
acclaimed black and white film.
Like so many of the Archers' collaborators Hillier was continental in origin,
born in Germany of English and German parents. A brief spell at art school
in Berlin was followed by work as a camera assistant at Ufa.
Originally he slated to work with F W Murnau, who had offered him a job
after seeing some of his paintings, Hillier's father had forbidden him to
join Murnau's team after finding out the director was a promiscuous homosexual.
Murnau generously introduced Hillier to Fritz Lang and he made his debut
on Lang's first sound film M. Hillier soon moved to Britain where he worked
as a camera assistant at Gaumont for a number of years, being employed by
notable directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Victor Saville.
Too ambitious to remain an assistant Hillier took a chance and left Gaumont
to work as a camera operator for Joe Rock Studios at Elstree. It was while
working on quota quickies there that he met Michael Powell on the 'horrifically
bad' The Man Behind the Mask. Years were to pass before they would
work again. After the outbreak of the second world war Hillier had photographed
some documentaries for the Ministry of information. This led to his first
feature film as cinematographer, The Lady of Lisbon. He had worked
on the Archers' The Spy in Black but it was after The Lady of
Lisbon that Hillier made as cinematographer The Silver Fleet,
the only Archers film not directed by Powell and Pressburger, who produced
instead. On the strength of this Powell asked Hillier to shoot their next
film A Canterbury Tale, which was followed by I Know Where I'm
Going. Expecting to get his first attempt at filming in Technicolor
on the Archers' following film A Matter of Life and Death, Hillier
was disappointed to find he was being asked to share the credit and role
of cinematography with the experienced Technicolor cameraman Jack Cardiff.
Unwilling to, in effect, take a demotion Hillier then parted company with
the Archers.
Of the three films he made with the Archers A Canterbury Tale is
the most visually remarkable. I Know Where I'm Going has some celebrated
process work, mixing blue screen studio shots of a boat with close-up shots
of a dangerous whirlpool (taken at great risk by Hillier), and seemlessly
splicing together the male lead Roger Livesey's interiors and close-ups
with a double in the exterior and long shots, to achieve which effect convincingly
Hillier suggested these sequences be shot in deep focus, so the background
focus would not shift between the genuine exteriors and the studio blue
screen work.
A Canterbury Tale is an atmospheric tale of latter-day pilgrims who
find themselves on the old pilgrim's way to Canterbury on Kent. Hillier
'was delighted to be photographing a production in which landcsape played
such an important role'. Hillier's creative role as lighting cameraman on
the film was very significant. Powell had noticed his 'insane enthusiasm'
as an operator at Joe Rock Studios. With A Canterbury Tale Powell
says "He sprang into the front rank of lighting cameramen. He had a keen
eye for effect and texture and I gave him ample opportunity to use it. Whether
in the studio or on location, we decided to go for complete realism, and
he never let me down." Despite Powell's assertion that they strove for 'complete
realism' the film is notable for its expressionist features and luminous
exteriors. Kevin Macdonald suggests it is tempting to see the echoes of
the style of Hillier's first film, Fritz Lang's M, in A Canterbury Tale
: "in particular the willingness to use almost total darkness throughout
the first five minutes of the film.'
Duncan Petrie also singles out these expressionist elements: "The arrival
of the three latter-day pilgrims in the village of Chillingbourne, occurs
during the blackout, and it is under the cover of darkness that the mysterious
gluemen strikes, pouring glue on the hair of unsuspecting girls. These sequences
are extremely low key with the characters often just visible by virtue of
minimal backlighting, their silhouettes giving them an aura of mystery.
Several sequences hinge on an idea of banishing darkness and letting in
the light, of conveying the experience of revelation. light alternately
floods in and is cut out as the blackout curtains are opened and closed
during the lecture given by Thomas Colpeper (Eric Portman's squire who
turns out to be the glueman).
"Colpeper himself is introduced as a silhouette against the light from
the slide projector, while in the dim room smoke from dozens of cigarettes
and pipes rises, evoking the sequence of smoking policemen in M. As he begins
to evoke the magical powers of the pilgrims road his face emerges from the
darkness with a striking intensity." Erwin Hillier says of the moment "I
dimmed up the light just as we moved in on his face. I had a little bit
of light for his eyes and the light was dimmed up very slowly so you weren't
aware of it, and when he came in you got the expression in his eyes. If
you don't capture the eyes you don't capture the mood, the soul of a person."
The daylight exteriors have a peculiar quality of their own. Michael Powell,
in his autobiography A Life in Movies noted his commitment: "The
only thing he was a bit loony about was clouds in the sky. He detested a
clear sky, and it sometimes seemed to me that he forgot about the story
and the actors in order to gratify this passion. 'Meekee, Meekee, please
wait another few minutes,' he would plead. 'There is a little cloud over
there and it is coming our way, I'm sure it is.' 'Oh, for God's sake, Erwin!
It won't make the slightest bit of difference to the actor's performance.'
'Meekee, Meekee, please just five more minutes please!' This would go on
all day. I admired his dedication." The effect of such dedication can be
seen in the scene where Alison and Colpeper lie in the tall, swaying grass
on a hillside, the sky open above them, whisps of cloud passing overhead.
The sequence in the film where two gangs of local boys fight a pretend war
on the small local river illustrates Hillier's other major contribution
to the film, where the screen is filled with a warm, radiant glow.
"There are so many things in nature which are fascinating. When we used
to go out and select locations I would spend hours by myself, not only with
a compass watching the sun, I would pick out certain things early in the
morning and then again in the evening. I used to find out the time when
everything looked most fascinating, when it had character and style, rather
than shoot in a flat light."
In a film which was savaged by the critics and ignored by the public from
when it was released in 1944 until it was re-released in 1977, Erwin Hillier's
photography was the only element that did then and still does receive universal
praise.
