Georges Specht (1883-1971)
Birthplace:
Bourges, France
Born:
July 4, 1883
Died:
December 9, 1971
Georges Specht, born Georges Auguste Bonjour on July 4, 1883 in Bourges (Cher) and died on December 9, 1971 in Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis), was a French director of photography. Natural son of Annette Bonjour, he was recognized a few years later by his father, Jean Georges Specht, who then passed on his surname to him. Passionate about photography and who came to Paris in 1905, Georges Specht started there as a professional photographer, before joining the Gaumont company the following year (1906). There he became Léonce Perret's official cinematographer, thus contributing to a large number of films - mainly short films - directed (and often acted) by the latter, released between 1910 and 1917, including Molière (1910) and Le Roi de la mountain (1916). Other directors with whom he collaborated include Jacques Feyder (L'Atlantide in 1921), Marcel L'Herbier (three films, including L'Inhumane in 1924) and Abel Gance (the short film Help! in 1924) who plays Young Molière in the aforementioned eponymous film from 1910. His last fiction film was La Brière (1925). The director is Léon Poirier, whom he follows on the automotive expeditions of the black cruise (1924-1925) then the yellow cruise (1931-1932). This resulted in two documentaries also produced by Poirier, of which he was director of photography, La Croisière noire (1926) and La Croisière jaune (production started by André Sauvage, 1934), his last contribution as chief operator. Twenty years later, Georges Specht returned to documentaries for a third time as a cameraman for the short film Les Deux Visages du Sahara by Jean Lehérissey, released in 1954.