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309:. Like the Rolleiflex, the viewfinder was viewed from above. Held against the waist, rather than in front of the face, the camera was both steadier and less conspicuous than the Eyemo. "With a simple shoulder belt support," Engel said, "I was armed with a camera which became the heart of the esthetic and mobile approach to the film . This camera was about the same size as the Eyemo, but looked like a giant
521:, biographer Raymond Carney says that Cassavetes was familiar with the work of the New York-based independent filmmakers who preceded him, and was "particularly fond" of Engel's three films from the 1950s. Carney writes that "Commentators who regard as the 'first independent' are only displaying their ignorance of the history of independent American film, which goes back to the early 1950s."
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optical system." It used the
Cunningham 35mm 200 foot interchangeable magazines which met the camera at the film gate with the lens, motor, shutter, and viewfinder comprising the camera body. Twin lens geared together enabled the viewfinder lens and the camera to be focused together, as on Engel's preferred still camera, the
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After the war, Engel and an engineer he met in the service, Charles
Woodruff, reconfigured the Cunningham camera into a much smaller camera for civilian purposes. Engel explained, "Designed for me, it was a compact 35mm, hand held, shoulder cradled, double registration pins and twin lens finder and
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During the war he was a still photographer but he probably was familiar with a handheld 35 mm battery-operated camera developed during the war for combat photography, the
Cunningham Combat Camera. The large square camera was mounted on a rifle stock, held tightly to the cameraman’s chest by handles
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Engel focused on the 8-year-old Leon's reactions, anxiety and wonderment to the impending birth of his baby sister
Camellia. For the second film, two years later Engel returned to the same family, who gave him a year of access to the now 2-year-old daughter Camellia, capturing her daily life and
452:. Post-production was shelved until 1972 when it was finally completed, but for unknown reasons it was never released during his lifetime. It finally received its premiere in October 2019 at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA); it was first released on home video in March 2021.
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camera Engel and his friend had designed. This camera was compact and lightweight so it would be unobtrusive shooting in public. As such, it did not allow simultaneous sound recording; the sound was dubbed later. The film, one of the first successful
American
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mounted on each side, and aimed in the general direction of the action, sighted by a top-mounted viewfinder. With a two hundred foot magazine, it could run for two minutes. The other primary motion picture camera used by the military was the
389:. The film told the story of a seven-year-old boy, played by Richie Andrusco, who runs away from home and spends the day at Coney Island. Andrusco never appeared in another film, and the other performers were mainly nonprofessionals.
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holding 100 foot rolls that could film about one minute of film. But he was disappointed that Strand put this camera designed for hand-holding on a heavy metal baseplate attached to a heavy wooden tripod.
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routines, and her relationships with her family and others. Both films were shown in private screenings, but never had a public release due likely to the
Hartman family presumably holding the rights.
426:. This was Engel's first film to have live sound recorded at the time of filming, and is historically the first 35 mm fiction film made with a portable camera equipped for synchronized sound.
411:, which was completed in 1956. The film was about a widowed mother dating an old friend, and how her young daughter complicates their budding relationship. Like the first one,
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on the streets of New York City. Engel and Ruth Orkin remained married until Orkin's death in 1985. In the 1990s, he returned to filmmaking, this time working on
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member, teaching workshop classes and serving as co-chair of a project group focusing on postwar labor issues. He was also an active photo-journalist working for
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would never have come into being if it hadn’t been for the young
American Morris Engel, who showed us the way to independent production with fine movie.”
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Though their first film was a critical success, Engel and Orkin, who had since married, had a hard time finding funding for their next film,
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346:, he decided to make a feature. In 1953, Engel, along with his girlfriend, fellow photographer Ruth Orkin, and his former colleague at
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that he helped design throughout his features and in using nonprofessional actors in
American films, following the example of Italian
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was made the following year, a comedy about a shop merchant whose life is turned upside down by the stray dog his kid brings home.
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Engel and Orkin's work occupy a pivotal position in the independent and art film scene of the 1950s, and was influential on
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best known for making the first good-quality, internationally-recognized
American film "independent" of Hollywood studios,
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754:, Columbia University Press, New York, 2021, p. 334 See photos of the camera at "The First Real Combat Camera",
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Photos of Engel's camera can be seen on the "Morris Engel" page on
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was filmed with a hand-held compact 35 mm camera, with sound dubbed in post-production.
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in 1998, each revolving around a different child in the Hartman family. First, in
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752:"Keep'Em in the East" - Kazan, Kubrick, and the Postwar New York Film Renaissance
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with the camera in the wide part at the top and the smaller curved part below.
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247:. After the war, he returned to New York where he again was an active
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205:. His naturalistic films influenced future prominent independent and
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filmed with his new camera to distributors but found no takers.
834:. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 209–210.
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This was followed two years later by the more adult-centered
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637:"The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936–1951"
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in 1936, Engel had his first exhibition in 1939, at the
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Cassavetes, John; Carney, Raymond; Carney, Ray (2001).
625:(various dates, short documentary) (released in 2021)
186:(1953), in collaboration with his wife, photographer
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740:, Routledge, London and New York, 2019, pp. 153-153
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Morris Engel's Weddings and Babies: Newly Preserved
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463:. He completed two feature-length documentaries:
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217:A lifelong New Yorker, Morris Engel was born in
168:(April 8, 1918 – March 5, 2005) was an American
710:Film Buff Online: In Remembrance – Morris Engel
276:to shoot some motion picture film for his film
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760:http://we.acs/the-first-real-combat-camera.com
243:as a combat photographer from 1941 to 1946 in
229:. He worked briefly as a photographer for the
531:spontaneous production style when he created
1035:United States Navy personnel of World War II
758:, November, 1942 reprinted in March 2020 at
350:, Raymond Abrashkin, made the feature film
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828:Ellis, Jack C.; Betsy A. McLane (2005).
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635:November 4, 2011 – March 25, 2012
90:Filmmaking, Cinematography, Photography
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601:(1968 feature film) (released in 2019)
19:For the philosopher and linguist, see
721:Morris Engel bio on The Jewish Museum
537:(1959), saying long afterwards: “Our
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868:Morris Engel Bio from Engelphoto.com
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272:In 1939 he was asked by his friend
16:American photographer and filmmaker
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444:, which followed a group of young
379:Best Writing, Motion Picture Story
197:Engel was a pioneer in the use of
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1015:Film directors from New York City
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831:A New History of Documentary Film
646:August 20 – August 29, 2005
455:In the 1980s, Engel began taking
1020:Photographers from New York City
680:. I.B.Tauris. pp. 108–109.
619:(1998 feature documentary video)
613:(1994 feature documentary video)
356:for $ 80,000, shooting the film
342:Since he couldn’t sell proposed
999:Collected films of Morris Engel
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888:at Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
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316:In 1950, Engel tried to sell a
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593:Little Girls Have Pretty Curls
479:Engel died of cancer in 2005.
429:In 1961, Engel directed three
227:New School for Social Research
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994:Morris Engel official website
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607:(1968 short documentary film)
595:(1962 short documentary film)
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813:Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin
677:American independent cinema
599:I Need a Ride to California
442:I Need a Ride to California
221:in 1918. After joining the
190:, and their friend, writer
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1045:World War II photographers
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930:. London: Faber. pp.
817:Bright Lights Film Journal
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873:February 8, 2005, at the
581:One Chase Manhattan Plaza
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926:Cassavetes on Cassavetes
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519:Cassavetes on Cassavetes
282:using the compact 35mm
1001:on Blu-ray (Kino, 2021)
963:. Turner Classic Movies
898:New York Times Obituary
630:Exhibitions (selection)
73:New York City, New York
56:New York City, New York
957:"Lovers and Lollipops"
545:Filmography (complete)
431:television commercials
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908:Kracauer, Siegfried.
611:A Little Bit Pregnant
473:A Little Bit Pregnant
465:A Little Bit Pregnant
457:panoramic photographs
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886:Morris Engel Profile
674:King, Geoff (2005).
652:Museum of Modern Art
566:Lovers and Lollipops
413:Lovers and Lollipops
408:Lovers and Lollipops
399:Lovers and Lollipops
387:Venice Film Festival
157:Morris Engel Archive
113:Lovers and Lollipops
780:Schlemowitz, p. 154
771:Schlemowitz, p. 154
750:Richard Koszarski,
726:April 15, 2013, at
577:(1958 feature film)
574:Weddings and Babies
569:(1956 feature film)
561:(1953 feature film)
420:Weddings and Babies
364:with the hand-held
333:Richie Andrusco in
239:before joining the
121:Weddings and Babies
762:accessed 1/31/2023
512:Siegfried Kracauer
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373:", earned them an
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241:United States Navy
955:Sterritt, David.
941:978-0-571-20157-0
841:978-0-8264-1750-3
798:Koszarski, p. 335
687:978-1-85043-938-7
641:The Jewish Museum
589:(1962 short film)
551:The Farm They Won
505:François Truffaut
501:Quentin Tarantino
450:Greenwich Village
371:independent films
324:How America Lives
322:imitation called
269:, among others.
199:hand-held cameras
192:Raymond Abrashkin
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96:Notable work
68:(2005-03-05)
42:Morris Engel
32:Morris Engel
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1030:2005 deaths
1025:1918 births
517:Writing in
383:Silver Lion
358:on location
279:Native Land
274:Paul Strand
203:Neo-realism
79:Nationality
1009:Categories
659:References
654:, New York
643:, New York
307:Rolleiflex
233:newspaper
188:Ruth Orkin
146:Ruth Orkin
48:1918-04-08
967:April 18,
260:Collier's
178:filmmaker
871:Archived
724:Archived
617:Camellia
605:Peace Is
539:New Wave
469:Camellia
219:Brooklyn
132:Movement
82:American
961:TCM.com
446:hippies
385:at the
311:Ocarina
266:McCalls
254:Fortune
231:Leftist
152:Website
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529:'s
503:, and
483:Legacy
381:and a
213:Career
142:Spouse
124:(1958)
116:(1956)
108:(1953)
932:59–60
461:video
299:Eyemo
287:Eyemo
989:IMDb
969:2009
936:ISBN
836:ISBN
682:ISBN
263:and
176:and
63:Died
38:Born
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