Otto Heller(1896-1970)

Pioneering Czech cinematographer Ota (later anglicised to 'Otto') Heller started as a cinema usher and then worked as a projectionist at a cinema in Prague. He first came to prominence as a military reporter and cameraman on the Italian Front during World War I and was subsequently involved in filming the funeral of Emperor Franz Josef. After the war, he joined Pragafilm as full cinematographer and worked on numerous silent films in his own country. From the early 1930's, Heller was increasingly sought-after by German film producers. He settled in the U.K. in 1940 to evade the German annexation of Czechoslovakia and adopted British citizenship five years later.

Heller was much admired for his versatility and imaginative camera work on many diverse subjects (both in B&W and in colour), ranging from the 'noirish' Je suis un fugitif (1947) to the gothically-lit Pushkin adaptation La Reine des cartes (1949); from colourful adventure subjects like Le corsaire rouge (1952) and Le roi des îles (1954), to the stylised austerity of Richard III (1955); from Ealing's classic Tueurs de dames (1955) with its Hitchcockian camera tilts and angles, to the stark realism and drab exteriors of the Cold War in Ipcress - Danger immédiat (1965).