Gregg Toland

Gregg Toland

Gregg Toland was an influential Hollywood cinematographer during the 1930s and '40s. He was nominated for five Oscars, with a win in 1940 for his work on William Wyler's Wuthering Heights.

Fast Facts

Born: May 29, 1904
Died: September 28, 1948, of a coronary thrombosis
Height: 5'1"
Parents: Jennie and Frank Toland
Was an office boy at William Fox Studios at the age of 15
The youngest cameraman in Hollywood during the 1930s
Earned as much as $200,000 over a three year period

Creative Freedom on Citizen Kane

Toland preferred to take jobs that allowed him to experiment with different styles of photography. Orson Welles encouraged him to be creative during production of Citizen Kane, and the two are widely credited with popularizing the use of deep focus photography, which uses lighting techniques to keep several elements of the frame in focus at the same time.

Toland designed the cameras and lenses used on the film himself, closed the aperture and used very bright light and fast film stock to achieve the effect.

At the time of his death in the late 1940s, Toland was in development of an "ultimate focus" lens, which would make sharp focus and depth of field more manageable on set.

Toland said that working on Citizen Kane was "the most exciting professional adventure of [his] career."

Categories

Entertainment | Cinematographers

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The Mahalo Top 7

Wikipedia: Gregg Toland
IMDb: Gregg Toland Filmography
Rotten Tomatoes: Gregg Toland Profile
Amazon.com: Gregg Toland Merchandise
Wellesnet: Gregg Toland On Working With Orson Welles Shooting Citizen Kane
Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers: Gregg Toland
Video: Citizen Kane Theatrical Trailer (Time: 3:52)

Gregg Toland News and Articles

The New Yorker: "Annals of Hollywood: The Cameraman" (2006)
JG-TC.com: "Gregg Toland Day: Charleston Honors Native-Son Cinematographer" (2004)
Twyman-Whitney.com: Film Appreciation - Gregg Toland (1999)

Gregg Toland Photos

Google Image Search: Gregg Toland
Yahoo! Image Search: Gregg Toland
Live Search Images: Gregg Toland

Gregg Toland Videos

TV Guide: Gregg Toland Videos
YouTube: The Bishops Wife Opening Sequence (Time: 9:56)
YouTube: Song of the South - Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (Time: 8:29)
YouTube: The Little Foxes (Time: 2:21)
YouTube: Citizen Kane (Time: 2:27)
YouTube: The Grapes Of Wrath (Time: 4:51)

Gregg Toland Gossip and Blogs

Hayley's Film Weblog: Setting The Scene
Cinema Blog: Blog 2 - Citizen Kane
Wellesnet: Gregg Toland On Working With Orson Welles Shooting Citizen Kane

Gregg Toland Biographies and Profiles

Gregg Toland Timeline

Note: Many of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.
May 29, 1904: Born
1926 The Bat: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1929 Bulldog Drummond: IMDb | Rotten Tomaotes
1931 Indiscreet: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1932 The Kid from Spain: IMDb | Rotten Tomaotes
1935 Splendor: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1938 The Goldwyn Follies: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1939 Wuthering Heights: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1939 They Shall Have Music: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1940 The Grapes of Wrath: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1940 The Long Voyage Home: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1941 Citizen Kane: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes | Mahalo
1946 Song of the South: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1947 The Bishop's Wife: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes
1948 A Song Is Born: IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes

Gregg Toland DVDs and Merchandise

eBay: Gregg Toland Merchandise
Barnes & Noble: Gregg Toland Merchandise
Amazon.com: Gregg Toland Merchandise
CD Universe: Gregg Toland DVD's

Related Pages on Mahalo

Wuthering Heights | Les Misérables | The Grapes of Wrath | John Steinbeck | John Wayne | Citizen Kane | Academy Awards | Orson Welles | California | Chicago | Bette Davis | Victor Hugo | Emily Bronte