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Harold Leon "Hal" Mohr,Mohr, Harold L. (January 25, 1916). "Censorship of Movies". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 16. Retrieved October 20, 2025. "DOCUMENTS RECORDED WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1927, TO 5 P. M. – Probate". Edward's Abstract from Records. March 31, 1927. p. 3. Retrieved October 20, 2025. "Mar 30, 27—Est Rosalia Mohr ... Normand W & Ruth A Mohr, Leona Frumpet Clark & Harold Leon Mohr" A.S.C. (August 2, 1894 – May 10, 1974) was a famed movie cinematographer, noted for shooting The Jazz Singer, Hollywood's landmark semi-talkie. Mohr won an Academy Awards for his work on the 1935 film, A Midsummer Night's Dream, another for the 1943 version of The Phantom of the Opera, and received an Oscar nomination for lensing the 1952 film of Jan de Hartog's The Fourposter.
From a young age, Hal Mohr wanted to pursue a career in cinematography because he was curious to learn about how to make pictures move onscreen. He worked as a photo finisher in a photo lab to gain experience with the camera. When he was 19 years old, he filmed his first movie, Pam's Daughter, which was never seen by the public because of problems with the motion picture distribution company.
In 1913, in an early example of an exploitation film peddled directly to theater owners, producer Sol Lesser hired Mohr to make The Last Night of the Barbary Coast. This film purported to show the last night of the depraved Barbary Coast red-light district of San Francisco before it was shut down by the police.O'Driscoll, Margie (1994) "SF Art World; Celluloid in the City by the Bay". San Francisco Art Institute Graduate Catalog, 1994-1996. p. 21. Retrieved October 21, 2025. "In 1913, in anticipation of the Panama Pacific Exposition, the San Francisco Examiner conducted a campaign to rid the city of prostitution. ... Anxious to record the final night of debauchery, promoter Sol Lesser hired Hal Mohr to document 'The Last Night of the Barbary Coast.' While the 1400-foot long film did little to eradicate prostitution, Moving Picture World noted, 'Seldom has a two-reel feature aroused more interest among the critics.'" (The area was not closed down until 1917.Symanski, Richard (1981). The Immoral Landscape : Female Prostitution in Western Societies. Toronto : Butterworth. p. 12. . "The commercialized prostitution which enjoyed quasi-legal status in San Francisco’s Barbary Coast for more than 60 years was a financial pillar to the city and one of its main attractions. ... When the red-light district was finally closed in 1917, scores of brothels, saloons and other dives were shut down and 1,000 prostitutes went into retirement or found other places to work.") This is now considered a lost film.Tarbox, Charles H. (1983). Lost Films 1895-1917. Los Angeles, CA: Film Classic Exchange. p. 140. . "Other films of this sort of which few details are available include The Lure of New York (gangsters); From Dusk to Dawn, featuring Clarence Darrow in a courtroom scene; films of the Harry Thaw murder case; Ten Nights in a Barroom; and The Last Night of the Barbary Coast, filmed in San Francisco."
Inspired by the moving shots in the Italian movie, Cabiria, Mohr developed a camera with special tracking abilities for his 1914 film, Pan's Mountain.Deutelbaum, Marshall, ed. (1979). "Image" on the Art and Evolution of the Film : Photographs and Articles from the Magazine of the International Museum of Photography. New York : Dover Publications. pp.216–217. . The following year, he moved to Hollywood and began working at Universal City to gain further experience in the industry.
In 1927, Mohr filmed The Jazz Singer for Warner Brothers.Maltin, op. cit., pp. 134, 135. "THE FILMS OF HAL MOHR ... 19. THE JAZZ SINGER—Warner Brothers 1927—Alan Crosland"
Although Mohr mainly worked as a cinema portraitist on movies such as The Wedding March, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Technicolor The Phantom of the Opera, he was passionate about exploring the limits of the camera. Mohr shot in deep focus years before Gregg Toland – Bullets or Ballots and The Green Pastures were both shot in deep focus.Beach, Christopher (2015). A Hidden History of Film Style: Cinematographers, Directors, and the Collaborative Process. Oakland, CA: University of California Press. p. 63. . "Evidence that some cinematographers other than Toland were interested in achieving deeper focus can be seen in Hal Mohr's invention of a novel 'swinging lens-mount,' which he used in two of his 1936 films, Bullets and Ballots and Green Pastures. This lens mount allowed the lens to be rotated in such a way that the camera could maintain in clear focus 'everything from the immediate foreground to infinity.' Although Mohr's invention would seem to have been an important development in Hollywood cinematography, other DPs did not adopt it, and it quickly disappeared from the scene."
Mohr's other cinematographer credits include Little Annie Rooney (1925), The Big Gamble (1931), Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941), Another Part of the Forest (1948) and The Wild One (1953).Darby, William (1991). Masters of Lens and Light : A Checklist of Major Cinematographers and Their Feature Films. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press. pp. 384, 386, 387. .
Yet despite understandable reservations about the film's hackneyed scenario, Mohr's treatment of that material, as witnessed at the film's March 12 preview screening at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre (documented by the trade publication, American Cinematographer), elicited "bouquets by both of the local film dailies". Variety, for its part, predicted "general audience approval as a program topper, with credit for its high average entertainment quality going to Hal Mohr for his first directorial job and to a dozen players for good performances," adding that "playing and direction give impressiveness to a rather old and timeworn tale" and that Mohr's first directing effort—as well as his "rating as associate producer" the—is "notably fine in getting fullest value from the material, scoring especially in the ingratiating comedy and deft blending of the musical and dramatic elements." "A.S.C. Members On Parade". American Cinematographer. April 1937. p. 140. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
The Hollywood Reporter is even less restrained in its assessment (subtitled "Hal Mohr Scores With Swell Cast"), which begins by dubbing the picture "sweet entertainment from start to hilarious finish and one of those little pictures that makes big noises at the box office," while reserving its biggest bouquets for the film's director.
But the big news concerning this picture is that it marks a really auspicious directorial debut. Hal Mohr, long known as one of the industry’s ace cameramen, here tries his hand at direction and turns out a superb job. There are no tricks that he misses in development of characterization, and touch after touch show master light craftsmanship. Make way for an important new director.
The Reporter would revisit the subject one month later, offering a generous sampling of the New York critical response. While the nine papers represented were somewhat mixed regarding the work as a whole, the three that made mention of the film's direction were uniformly positive, starting with the Times crediting Mohr for keeping the conventionally plotted film both "fresh and crisply paced," the Daily News, which praises the entire cast while crediting its excellent ensemble work to Mohr's "alert direction", and the New York American, whose reviewer credits the "twinkling directorial touch of Hal Mohr for this stenciled story seem not as stereotyped as it sounds”. Movie Reviews: The Great O’Malley; ; Class Prophecy. ‘’Rob Wagner's Beverly Hills Script’’.
Favorable press and rosy predictions notwithstanding, the film's story, as noted, was not remarkable in and of itself; moreover, that same attention to detail, lauded by critics on both coasts, had led Mohr, over the course of a 39-day shoot and post-production, to exceed by $54,000 the film's projected cost of two hundred thousandRollyson, Carl (2015). A Real American Character: The Life of Walter Brennan. : The University Press of Mississippi. . "Hal Mohr, better known as a cinematographer, was directing his first full-length film for Universal and proceeded at a very slow, deliberate pace, completing thirty-nine days of shooting on February 5, 1937, and bringing in the project at $254,000—$54,000 more than the original budget."—all of which may help explain why this extravagantly praised first-time Hollywood helmsman never did get the opportunity to build on his promising rookie effort.
Mohr was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematographer for his work on The Four Poster (1952), a film based on a play of the same name, written by Jan de Hartog.Mathews, Charles E. (1995). Oscar A to Z : A Complete Guide to More Than 2,400 Movies Nominated for Academy Awards. New York: Doubleday. p. 298. . "Stanley Kramer Productions; Columbia. 1953. Nomination Black-and-White Cinematography: Hal Mohr. ... Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn starred in the Jan de Hartog play on Broadway. The film was actually made in 1951 but held for release until the Broadway run was over." He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Cinematography in a Black and White Film, for his work on the same movie.
Mohr served three times as president of the American Society of Cinematographers: from 1930 to 1931; "Akron Firm Wins Boothe Contest". American Cinematographer. March 1931. p. 17. Retrieved October 20, 2025. "The judges of this contest, which was started last October, were Mr. Hal Mohr, President of the American Society of Cinematographers; Mr. John Arnold, Treasurer of the American Society of Cinematographers, ... and Mr. William Johnson, head of the Electrical Department of the R-K-O Studios." then two consecutive terms, from 1963 to 1965;Keating, Patrick (2018). A Companion To Luis Bunuel. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. p. 81. . "One exchange in 1965 between Richard Moore, a cameraman and founder of Panavision, and Hal Mohr, ASC president from 1963 to 1965, illustrates the mix of opinions among cinematographers regarding the zoom’s stylistic effects and practicality." and, finally, from 1968 to 1969. "Cinematographers Mark Golden Anniversary". Hollywood Citizen-News. January 17, 1969. p. C-1. Retrieved October 21, 2025. "Presiding over the festivities at the Hilton will be Hal Mohr, himself a two-time Oscar winner ('A Midsummer Night's Dream' in 1935 and 'The Phantom of the Opera' in 1943), who is completing his third popular term as president of the club, located in its majestic museum headquarters at 1728 No. Orange Dr." He was one of the first members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as a senior member of its Board of Directors and the head of its Cinematography Branch for over 20 years. He was also a part of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. TV Academy Board Named". Hollywood Citizen-News. May 6, 1955. p. 11. Retrieved October 21, 2025. "Members of the 1955-56 Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences were announced today by Price-Waterhouse, certified public accountants, who counted the ballots. The new board consists of Dr. Frank C. Baxter, Don DeFore, Ralph Berger, William Smith, Hal Mohr, Norbert Brodine, Sheldon Leonard, Ozzie Nelson ..." Before his death, Mohr would travel the country promoting cameramen and the industry of cinematography.
: Fri Mar 08 18:18:12 UTC 2024), Entry for Michael Gocher Mohr and Harold L Mohr, 16 February 1921. and two daughters, Aileen and Joan."California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994"
: Tue Feb 18 23:29:32 UTC 2025), Entry for Aileen Louise Rosalie Mohr and Harold L Mohr, 18 February 1923. "Entertains at Family Party". Redwood City Tribune. July 18, 1928. p. 15. Retrieved October 20, 2025 "Mrs. John D. Worthington entertained a group of relatives from San Francisco yesterday ... The visitors included her mother, Mrs. C. K. Gosher; two sisters, Mrs. Thomas Gosher and Mrs. Aileen Mohr; ... two nephews, Crawford Gosher and Michael Mohr, and her niece, Joan Mohr." "Evelyn Venable Sets Date; Cameraman To Wed Star On Birthday, Is Movie Tip". The Cincinnati Enquirer. July 11, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved October 20, 2025. "Mohr, whose name has been linked with that of Miss Venable before, was divorced in 1925 from Mrs. Aileen Mohr, according to records." The second Mrs. Mohr was actress Claire Del Mar, married in 1926 and divorced three years later. "VIENNA SETTING FOR WEDDING; Cathedral to be Reproduced at Studio: Claire Del Mar and Hal Mohr". The Los Angeles Times. August 4, 1926. p. 19. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
On December 7, 1934, Mohr married actress Evelyn Venable, whom he had met on the set of the Will Rogers film David Harum. "Men Behind the Stars: Hal Mohr, Cameraman of A Midsummer Night's Dream". Motion Picture. January 1937. p. 16. Retrieved October 20, 2025. "In private life he is solely devoted to two charming young women. One is Evelyn Venable, whom he married shortly after they met on the set of David Harum, which he photographed and in which Evelyn appeared." Strict vegetarians, they had two daughters, Dolores and Rosalia.Oliver, Myrna (November 26, 1993). "Evelyn Venable; Shakespearean Actress, UCLA Teacher". p. A44. Retrieved October 20, 2025. "Miss Venable, the widow of Academy Award- -winning cinematographer Hal Mohr, died of cancer Nov. 16 ... Abandoning her acting career in the early 1940s to raise her daughters, Dolores and Rosalia, Miss Venable returned to college when her children enrolled"
Following a brief illness, Mohr died on May 10, 1974 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, survived by his wife and all five children.
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