Ernest Haller

Ernest Haller, also known as Ernie J. Haller, was an American cinematographer born in Los Angeles, California, on 31 May 1896. He completed his schooling at Hollywood High School and graduated after that. With his photographic training and laboratory experience,  he pursued both acting on stage and screen. He started his career by joining the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, also known as the Biograph Studio, as an actor. However, it was only after one year that he discovered his real passion and goal of his life.

His first work was The Hazards of Helen (1914), an adventure serial film released by the Kalem Company. By 1920, he had become a full director of photography and would go on to handle prestigious pictures such as the Samuel Goldwyn-produced Stella Dallas (1925). He received the Academy Award nominations for his period drama Jezebel (1938). After successfully setting his career as a cinematographer, Haller worked enthusiastically in every department of silent film, photographing approximately 50 films.

The first motion picture that credited him as a cinematographer was Mothers of Men in 1920. Some of his most notable works include Parisian Nights (1924), Weary River (1928), Millie (1931), Captain Blood (1935), That Certain Woman (1937), Gone with the Wind (1939), Honeymoon for Three (1941), Deception (1946), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Armored Command (1961), and Dead Ringer (1964). Some of his Best Cinematography that were nominated were Jezebel(1938),  All This, and Heaven Too (1940), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Flame and the Arrow (1950), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Lilies of the Field (1963). His work Gone with the Wind (1939) won the award.