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Karl Freund




Born in Königinhof , Bohemia , his career began in 1905 when, at age 15, he got a job as an assistant projectionist for a film company in Berlin .

He worked as a cinematographer on over 100 films, including '' The Last Laugh '' ( 1924 ), '' Metropolis '' ( 1927 ), '' Dracula '' ( 1931 ), and '' Key Largo '' ( 1948 ). He won an Academy Award For Best Cinematography for '' The Good Earth '' ( 1937 ). The US version of '' The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari '' ( 1919 ) credits him as photographer.

Between 1921 and 1935, Freund also directed ten films, of which the best known are probably '' The Mummy '' ( 1932 ) starring Boris Karloff , and his last film as director, '' Mad Love '' ( 1935 ) starring Peter Lorre .

In the 1950s, at the height of his movie career, he was persuaded by Desi Arnaz to be the cinematographer for Arnaz's television series '' I Love Lucy ''; critics have credited Freund for the show's lustrous Black And White cinematography.

Freund's only known film as an actor is Carl Dreyer 's '' Michael '' (1924) where he plays a sycophantic art dealer who we see saving the tobacco ashes dropped by a famous painter.


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