A work in constant progress (and occasional regress).
Alias:
J.C. Van Trees
James C. Van Trees
James Crawford Van Trees
Jim Van Trees
Jimmy Van Trees
Birthplace:
Oakland, California, USA
Born:
August 13, 1890
Died:
April 11, 1973
James Van Trees (August 13, 1890 - April 11, 1973), born James Crawford Van Trees, was a successful American cinematographer in Hollywood whose career spans the silent and sound eras. His mother was prolific early film director and writer Julia Crawford Ivers. Mother and son worked together on a few films more than likely becoming the first mother and son to direct and photograph productions. Van Trees was the President of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) during 1923-1924. His son James Van Trees, Jr. was a cameraman and worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with his father.
Camera Operator:
1916 The Making of Maddalena
Director of Photography:
1916 The Heart of Paula
1916 The Intrigue
1916 The Making of Maddalena
1917 The Fair Barbarian
1918 A Lady's Name
1918 The Shuttle
1920 Jenny Be Good
1920 Judy of Rogues' Harbor
1920 Nurse Marjorie
1920 The Furnace
1920 The Soul of Youth
1921 The Witching Hour
1922 The Bonded Woman
1922 The Green Temptation
1922 The Top of New York
1922 The Young Rajah
1923 The Huntress
1923 The Rustle of Silk
1923 The White Flower
1924 Lilies of the Field
1924 The Perfect Flapper
1925 If I Marry Again
1926 Don Juan's 3 Nights
1926 Fifth Avenue
1926 Midnight Lovers
1926 The Prince of Pilsen
1926 Twinkletoes
1927 The Crystal Cup
1928 Children of the Ritz
1928 The Noose
1928 The Whip
1929 So Long Letty
1929 The Argyle Case
1929 The Lone Wolf's Daughter
1929 The Sacred Flame
1930 Captain Thunder
1930 Old English
1930 She Couldn't Say No
1930 Sweet Kitty Bellairs
1930 The Green Goddess
1930 Viennese Nights
1931 Alexander Hamilton
1931 Children of Dreams
1931 Gold Dust Gertie
1931 Taxi!
1931 The Reckless Hour
1931 The Star Witness
1932 A Successful Calamity
1932 Big City Blues
1932 Life Begins
1932 Silver Dollar
1932 The Man Who Played God
1932 They Call It Sin
1933 Advice to the Lovelorn
1933 Baby Face
1933 Blood Money
1933 Heroes for Sale
1933 I Loved a Woman
1933 Lilly Turner
1933 Midnight Mary
1933 Parachute Jumper
1933 The King's Vacation
1934 Looking for Trouble
1934 Stingaree
1934 The Age of Innocence
1934 West of the Pecos
1935 A Night at the Ritz
1935 Shanghai
1935 Sweet Music
1935 The Bishop Misbehaves
1935 The Girl from 10th Avenue
1936 Her Master's Voice
1936 Palm Springs
1936 The Unguarded Hour
1937 It's Love I'm After
1937 Let Them Live
1937 Love Is on the Air
1938 Over the Wall
1939 Smashing the Money Ring
1939 Waterfront
1940 Young America Flies
1941 A Shot in the Dark
1941 Flight from Destiny
1941 Here Comes Happiness
1941 Steel Against the Sky
1941 The Nurse's Secret
1942 Busses Roar
1942 Escape from Crime
1942 Secret Enemies
1943 Find the Blackmailer
1943 The Gorilla Man
1943 The Rear Gunner
1944 Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
1944 Gun to Gun
1944 Nine Girls
1944 The Last Ride
1944 Two-Man Submarine
1945 Her Favorite Patient
1945 The Great John L.
1946 A Night in Casablanca
1946 Angel on My Shoulder
1947 The Fabulous Dorseys
Second Unit Director of Photography:
1916 The Heart of Paula
1916 The Intrigue
1916 The Making of Maddalena
1917 The Fair Barbarian
1918 A Lady's Name
1918 The Shuttle
1920 Jenny Be Good
1920 Judy of Rogues' Harbor
1920 Nurse Marjorie
1920 The Furnace
1920 The Soul of Youth
1921 The Witching Hour
1922 The Bonded Woman
1922 The Green Temptation
1922 The Top of New York
1922 The Young Rajah
1923 The Huntress
1923 The Rustle of Silk
1923 The White Flower
1924 Lilies of the Field
1924 The Perfect Flapper
1925 If I Marry Again
1926 Don Juan's 3 Nights
1926 Fifth Avenue
1926 Midnight Lovers
1926 The Prince of Pilsen
1926 Twinkletoes
1927 The Crystal Cup
1928 Children of the Ritz
1928 The Noose
1928 The Whip
1929 So Long Letty
1929 The Argyle Case
1929 The Lone Wolf's Daughter
1929 The Sacred Flame
1930 Captain Thunder
1930 Old English
1930 She Couldn't Say No
1930 Sweet Kitty Bellairs
1930 The Green Goddess
1930 Viennese Nights
1931 Alexander Hamilton
1931 Children of Dreams
1931 Gold Dust Gertie
1931 Taxi!
1931 The Reckless Hour
1931 The Star Witness
1932 A Successful Calamity
1932 Big City Blues
1932 Life Begins
1932 Silver Dollar
1932 The Man Who Played God
1932 They Call It Sin
1933 Advice to the Lovelorn
1933 Baby Face
1933 Blood Money
1933 Heroes for Sale
1933 I Loved a Woman
1933 Lilly Turner
1933 Midnight Mary
1933 Parachute Jumper
1933 The King's Vacation
1934 Looking for Trouble
1934 Stingaree
1934 The Age of Innocence
1934 West of the Pecos
1935 A Night at the Ritz
1935 Shanghai
1935 Sweet Music
1935 The Bishop Misbehaves
1935 The Girl from 10th Avenue
1936 Her Master's Voice
1936 Palm Springs
1936 The Unguarded Hour
1937 It's Love I'm After
1937 Let Them Live
1937 Love Is on the Air
1938 Over the Wall
1939 Smashing the Money Ring
1939 Waterfront
1940 Young America Flies
1941 A Shot in the Dark
1941 Flight from Destiny
1941 Here Comes Happiness
1941 Steel Against the Sky
1941 The Nurse's Secret
1942 Busses Roar
1942 Escape from Crime
1942 Secret Enemies
1943 Find the Blackmailer
1943 The Gorilla Man
1943 The Rear Gunner
1944 Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
1944 Gun to Gun
1944 Nine Girls
1944 The Last Ride
1944 Two-Man Submarine
1945 Her Favorite Patient
1945 The Great John L.
1946 A Night in Casablanca
1946 Angel on My Shoulder
1947 The Fabulous Dorseys
1949 Red Light
Director of Photography:
1950 The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Most data and links to images for the Movies section come from TheMovieDB (TMDB).
Additional data for Film Titles come from The Open Movie Database (OMDb).
At least one plug-in comes from IMDb.
Data are -- hey, it's a plural -- subject to the limitations of their sources. (For example, TMDB search results currently max out at 20.) I am limiting myself to free data sources for now. (No, a "free trial" is not free.)
While much of the above data are retrieved directly from outside APIs and other such sources, data from American Film Institute (AFI) and British Film Institute (BFI) were manually entered the old fashioned way into a MySQL database. Re BFI I took the following liberties:
Regarding profile removals and data corrections:
Filtering is applied here to film projects flagged as "adult" by TheMovieDB. Pending "popular demand" I am contemplating a login and profile system with preferences (such as whether to allow adult images to appear) and permissions (such as data entry).
Whereas the overall purpose of this website is to serve as a personal demo/portfolio/workshop of web and data skills, this Movies section is not meant to compete with or substitute for far more definitive movie websites.
Whether or not he still clings to an award which he won in 1986 as a film critic for his college's newspaper, Jeffrey Hartmann is not responsible for the texts of overviews and biographies supplied by external data sources.