Erwin Hillier Video | Interviews

Erwin Hillier (2 September 1911 – 10 January 2005) was a German-born cinematographer known for his work in British cinema from the 1940s to 1960s. Born in Germany to English-German parents, he studied art in Berlin in the late 1920s. Impressed by Hillier's paintings, the director F. W. Murnau offered him a job as camera assistant on Tabu (1931), but Hillier's father intervened because of Murnau's homosexuality. Fortunately, Murnau recommended him to director Fritz Lang at UFA studios, who employed him on his classic M. Soon after he moved to Britain to pursue a career in film. In Britain... MORE

Erwin Hillier (2 September 1911 – 10 January 2005) was a German-born cinematographer known for his work in British cinema from the 1940s to 1960s. Born in Germany to English-German parents, he studied art in Berlin in the late 1920s. Impressed by Hillier's paintings, the director F. W. Murnau offered him a job as camera assistant on Tabu (1931), but Hillier's father intervened because of Murnau's homosexuality. Fortunately, Murnau recommended him to director Fritz Lang at UFA studios, who employed him on his classic M. Soon after he moved to Britain to pursue a career in film. In Britain he worked as a camera assistant for Gaumont Pictures, where he worked with Hitchcock. He later moved to Elstree Studios, working on The Man Behind the Mask (1936) with Michael Powell, who noted his "insane enthusiasm". His debut as cinematographer came with The Lady of Lisbon (1942). Impressed by his work on The Silver Fleet (1943) for their Archers Film Productions, Powell & Pressburger ('The Archers') hired Hillier as cinematographer on A Canterbury Tale (1944), a film about which Powell later said Hillier "did a marvelous job". Despite Powell's recent move to colour film, war shortages meant a LESS