John Francis Seitz, A.S.C. (June 23, 1892 – February 27, 1979) was an American cinematographer and inventor. He was nominated for seven Academy Awards.
Seitz's Hollywood career began in 1909 as a lab assistant with the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in Chicago. He went to work as a lab technician for the American Film Manufacturing Company (known as "Flying A"), also in Chicago. In 1916, during the silent era, he established himself, achieving great successes with the Rudolph Valentino film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921).
Highly regarded by director Billy Wilder, Seitz worked with him on the film noirs Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), and Sunset Blvd. (1950), receiving Academy Award nominations for each.
In 1929, he served a year as president of the American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C.) for which he had been a member since 1923. The A.S.C. named its 2002 Heritage Award after Seitz.
Besides one Golden Globe and seven Oscar nominations, he also received the Look Magazine Award for The Lost Weekend, the A.S.C. Award for Sunset Blvd., and was among the winners of the inaugural George Award from the George Eastman House for outstanding contributions to the art of cinema for the years 1915 to 1925.
He retired in 1960 and devoted himself to photographic inventions, for which he held 18 patents. An example of one Seitz invention is the matte shot: a large painting is photographed separately and later added to a scene to expand it, add effects, and/or create a sense of depth in backgrounds. He was also noted for his innovations with low-key lighting, which enhanced the film noir style.
A widower, he married screenwriter Marie Boyle in 1934 who raised his daughter Margaret Alice Marhoefer and later gave birth to a son, John Lawrence Seitz.
Known For
Double Indemnity
(1944)
Director of Photography
Sunset Boulevard
(1950)
Director of Photography
Sullivan's Travels
(1941)
Director of Photography
The Lost Weekend
(1945)
Director of Photography
The Big Clock
(1948)
Director of Photography
This Gun for Hire
(1942)
Director of Photography
Invaders from Mars
(1953)
Director of Photography
Detective Story
(1951)
Additional Photography
When Worlds Collide
(1951)
Director of Photography
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
(1943)
Director of Photography
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
(1921)
Director of Photography
Five Graves to Cairo
(1943)
Director of Photography
Marie Galante
(1934)
Director of Photography
Navy Blue and Gold
(1937)
Director of Photography
The Savage
(1952)
Director of Photography
Many Rivers to Cross
(1955)
Director of Photography
Full Filmography
Camera
The Ranger of Lonesome Gulch
(1916)
Director of Photography
The Quagmire
(1916)
Director of Photography
The Mate of the Sally Ann
(1917)
Director of Photography
The Serpent's Tooth
(1917)
Director of Photography
A Game of Wits
(1917)
Director of Photography
Whose Wife?
(1917)
Director of Photography
Souls in Pawn
(1917)
Director of Photography
The Bride's Silence
(1917)
Director of Photography
Beauty and the Rogue
(1918)
Director of Photography
Powers That Prey
(1918)
Director of Photography
Up Romance Road
(1918)
Director of Photography
The Westerners
(1919)
Director of Photography
Shore Acres
(1920)
Director of Photography
The Sagebrusher
(1920)
Director of Photography
Hearts Are Trumps
(1920)
Director of Photography
The Conquering Power
(1921)
Director of Photography
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
(1921)
Director of Photography
Uncharted Seas
(1921)
Director of Photography
The Prisoner of Zenda
(1922)
Director of Photography
Turn to the Right
(1922)
Director of Photography
Trifling Women
(1922)
Director of Photography
Scaramouche
(1923)
Director of Photography
Where the Pavement Ends
(1923)
Director of Photography
Classmates
(1924)
Director of Photography
The Arab
(1924)
Director of Photography
The Price of a Party
(1924)
Director of Photography
The Magician
(1926)
Director of Photography
Mare Nostrum
(1926)
Director of Photography
The Fair Co-Ed
(1927)
Director of Photography
The Patsy
(1928)
Director of Photography
Across to Singapore
(1928)
Director of Photography
Outcast
(1928)
Director of Photography
The Divine Lady
(1928)
Director of Photography
The Trail of '98
(1928)
Director of Photography
Adoration
(1928)
Director of Photography
Saturday's Children
(1929)
Director of Photography
The Squall
(1929)
Director of Photography
The Painted Angel
(1929)
Director of Photography
Careers
(1929)
Director of Photography
Her Private Life
(1929)
Director of Photography
A Most Immoral Lady
(1929)
Director of Photography
Hard to Get
(1929)
Director of Photography
The Right of Way
(1930)
Director of Photography
Kismet
(1930)
Director of Photography
The Bad Man
(1930)
Director of Photography
Road to Paradise
(1930)
Director of Photography
Sweethearts and Wives
(1930)
Director of Photography
Back Pay
(1930)
Director of Photography
Murder Will Out
(1930)
Director of Photography
In the Next Room
(1930)
Director of Photography
Over the Hill
(1931)
Director of Photography
The Age for Love
(1931)
Director of Photography
East Lynne
(1931)
Director of Photography
Hush Money
(1931)
Director of Photography
Misbehaving Ladies
(1931)
Director of Photography
Merely Mary Ann
(1931)
Director of Photography
Young Sinners
(1931)
Director of Photography
Men of the Sky
(1931)
Director of Photography
She Wanted a Millionaire
(1932)
Director of Photography
The Woman in Room 13
(1932)
Director of Photography
6 Hours to Live
(1932)
Director of Photography
A Passport to Hell
(1932)
Director of Photography
Careless Lady
(1932)
Director of Photography
Ladies They Talk About
(1933)
Director of Photography
Mr. Skitch
(1933)
Director of Photography
Adorable
(1933)
Director of Photography
Dangerously Yours
(1933)
Director of Photography
Paddy the Next Best Thing
(1933)
Director of Photography
Springtime for Henry
(1934)
Director of Photography
Marie Galante
(1934)
Director of Photography
All Men Are Enemies
(1934)
Director of Photography
Coming Out Party
(1934)
Director of Photography
The Littlest Rebel
(1935)
Director of Photography
One More Spring
(1935)
Director of Photography
Curly Top
(1935)
Director of Photography
Our Little Girl
(1935)
Director of Photography
Redheads on Parade
(1935)
Director of Photography
Navy Wife
(1935)
Director of Photography
Helldorado
(1935)
Director of Photography
Poor Little Rich Girl
(1936)
Director of Photography
15 Maiden Lane
(1936)
Director of Photography
The Country Doctor
(1936)
Director of Photography
Captain January
(1936)
Director of Photography
Carnival in Paris
(1937)
Director of Photography
Between Two Women
(1937)
Director of Photography
Navy Blue and Gold
(1937)
Director of Photography
Madame X
(1937)
Director of Photography
The Crowd Roars
(1938)
Director of Photography
Stablemates
(1938)
Director of Photography
Love Is a Headache
(1938)
Director of Photography
Young Dr. Kildare
(1938)
Director of Photography
Lord Jeff
(1938)
Director of Photography
Bad Little Angel
(1939)
Director of Photography
6,000 Enemies
(1939)
Director of Photography
Let's Talk Turkey
(1939)
Director of Photography
Sergeant Madden
(1939)
Director of Photography
Prophet Without Honor
(1939)
Director of Photography
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1939)
Director of Photography
Thunder Afloat
(1939)
Director of Photography
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
(1940)
Director of Photography
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
(1940)
Director of Photography
A Little Bit of Heaven
(1940)
Director of Photography
Sullivan's Travels
(1941)
Director of Photography
Fly-By-Night
(1942)
Director of Photography
This Gun for Hire
(1942)
Director of Photography
The Moon and Sixpence
(1942)
Director of Photography
Lucky Jordan
(1942)
Director of Photography
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
(1943)
Director of Photography
Five Graves to Cairo
(1943)
Director of Photography
Double Indemnity
(1944)
Director of Photography
Hail the Conquering Hero
(1944)
Director of Photography
Casanova Brown
(1944)
Director of Photography
The Hour Before the Dawn
(1944)
Director of Photography
The Lost Weekend
(1945)
Director of Photography
The Unseen
(1945)
Director of Photography
Calcutta
(1946)
Director of Photography
The Imperfect Lady
(1946)
Director of Photography
The Well Groomed Bride
(1946)
Director of Photography
Home Sweet Homicide
(1946)
Director of Photography
Saigon
(1947)
Director of Photography
Wild Harvest
(1947)
Director of Photography
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
(1948)
Director of Photography
On Our Merry Way
(1948)
Director of Photography
The Big Clock
(1948)
Director of Photography
Beyond Glory
(1948)
Director of Photography
Chicago Deadline
(1949)
Director of Photography
The Great Gatsby
(1949)
Director of Photography
Sunset Boulevard
(1950)
Director of Photography
Appointment with Danger
(1950)
Director of Photography
Captain Carey, U.S.A.
(1950)
Director of Photography
The Goldbergs
(1950)
Director of Photography
When Worlds Collide
(1951)
Director of Photography
Dear Brat
(1951)
Director of Photography
Detective Story
(1951)
Additional Photography
The Savage
(1952)
Director of Photography
Botany Bay
(1952)
Director of Photography
The Iron Mistress
(1952)
Director of Photography
The San Francisco Story
(1952)
Director of Photography
Invaders from Mars
(1953)
Director of Photography
Desert Legion
(1953)
Director of Photography
Fort Algiers
(1953)
Director of Photography
Rogue Cop
(1954)
Director of Photography
The Rocket Man
(1954)
Director of Photography
Saskatchewan
(1954)
Director of Photography
Hell on Frisco Bay
(1955)
Director of Photography
Many Rivers to Cross
(1955)
Director of Photography
The McConnell Story
(1955)
Director of Photography
A Cry in the Night
(1956)
Director of Photography
Santiago
(1956)
Director of Photography
The Big Land
(1957)
Director of Photography
The Badlanders
(1958)
Director of Photography
The Deep Six
(1958)
Director of Photography
The Man in the Net
(1959)
Director of Photography
Island of Lost Women
(1959)
Director of Photography
Guns of the Timberland
(1960)
Director of Photography
Crew