Osmond Borradaile

Osmond Hudson Borradaile, OC (17 July 1898 – 23 March 1999) was a Canadian cameraman, cinematographer, and veteran of World War I and World War II.

Osmond H. Borradaile
Edythe Chapman, director Sam Wood, Alfred Gilks, and Osmond Borradaile at right; set of Beyond the Rocks (1922)
Born
Osmond Hudson Borradaile

(1898-07-17)17 July 1898
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Died23 March 1999(1999-03-23) (aged 100)
West Vancouver, British Columbia
Occupationcinematographer
AwardsOrder of Canada

Biography

Born in 1898 in Winnipeg, Osmond Borradaile grew up in Alberta, moving often during his childhood. While living in Medicine Hat, he saw one of his first movies when he was seven years old.

He started in Hollywood filming silent movies during which period he made movies starring, among others, Wallace Reid and legends such as Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, and Lillian Gish. He then went on to "talkies" working closely on numerous films with Cecil B. DeMille. He filmed the aerial sequences for Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels (Hughes was his pilot), this being a precursor to the location and outdoor shooting that would become his trademark. Borradaile's speciality was filming natural environments to serve as backdrops and stock footage. Much of this footage was taken in Africa, where he met and filmed the rituals and daily lives of several tribes. He also behind the camera for the films of Sabu, including Elephant Boy, The Drum, and The Four Feathers, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Colour Cinematography. In the late 1940s, Borradaile travelled to Antarctica to file sequences for Scott of the Antarctic, one of the most ambitious film projects for the time period.

In 1957, he was commissioned by the Government of British Columbia to make a documentary film commemorating the province's upcoming centennial.[1] The Tall Country was released in 1958,[2] and won the Canadian Film Award for Best Theatrical Short Film at the 11th Canadian Film Awards in 1959.[3]

In 1982, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour.[4]

He died at age 100 in Vancouver.[5]

Borradaile's grandson is former rugby union footballer Norm Hadley.[6]

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References
  1. "Good progress reported on B.C. centennial film". The Province, August 5, 1957.
  2. "Centennial Film, 'Tall Country' Tops". Vancouver Sun, May 7, 1958.
  3. Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 45-47.
  4. Order of Canada citation
  5. "Cinematographer led the way for those to come". National Post, March 25, 1999.
  6. "Rugby team takes time out for Canadian history lesson". Vancouver Sun, October 18, 1991.

Further reading
  • Life Through a Lens, Borradaile, Osmond with Borradaile-Hadley, Anita. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-7735-2297-2.
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