Sunday, December 7, 2008

Marcus Bartley



Marks Baretley was an anglo Indian.He was a great photography director in black and white period.'Swarga Seema' was the maiden cinematographic venture of the wizard of cinematography, Marcus Bartley. He had wielded the camera for two Tamil movies after 'Tiruvalluvar,' before he attracted the attention of the Vauhini group in 1944. His first Telugu movie 'Swarga Seema' proved how talented a cinematographer he was. Two sequences in the movie stand out as great examples of his technique and artistry as a director of photography. In one of them the showing of the shadows of trees and leaves on the close up of the face of heroine Jayamma in conversation with Nagaiah is cited as a master piece of cinematography and as a technique unknown till then. In the last scene, Nagaiah's shadow as he walks along the road in the light thrown on the road by the lantern inside the house was in those days a superb feat of photography.

'Swarga Seema' thus displayed the genius of Marcus Bartley. A spate of offers came Marcus Bartley's way following it, but he turned down most of them. The movie cemented the bonds of friendship between him and the three, BN Reddy, KV Reddy, and Nagi Reddy. This led to his wielding the camera for all the forty odd Vauhini movies including such great hits as Yogi Vemana, Guna Sundari Katha, Vijaya's productions Shavukaru, Patala Bhairavi, Pellichesi Chudu, Chandraharam, Missamma, Maya Bazaar, Appuchesi Pappukudu, Gundamma Katha, Raja Rajeswari Coffee Club, etc.
.Baretley was a great asset for south cine industry.

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