George S. Barnes, A.S.C. (October 16, 1892 – May 30, 1953) was an American cinematographer from the era of silent films to the early 1950s. Over the course of his career, he was nominated for an Academy Award eight times, including his work on The Devil Dancer (1927) with Gilda Gray and Clive Brook. However, he only won once, for his work on the Alfred Hitchcock film Rebecca (1940). "Barnes’ photographic interpretation of Rebecca is the sort of thing to which his fellow cinematographers may point, as indeed they did in bestowing upon it the industry's premiere Award, as a complete example of what truly great camerawork can mean to a production".
He died at the age of 60 in Los Angeles, California, after having worked on at least 142 films. He is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
He was married to Joan Blondell from 1933 to 1936, and was the biological father of television executive Norman Powell who was later adopted by Blondell's second husband. He also has two daughters from his marriage to Melba Marshal Kruger: Barbara Ann Barnes (born April 16, 1940) and Georgene S. Barnes (born May 7, 1942). He was also married to Elizabeth Wood and had a son named George Carlton Barnes.
George Barnes has photographed five of her (Joan Blondell) Warner pictures. In fact, they met on "The Greeks had a Word for it" set in which she has the leading role. "Their relationship is often said to be intense. In an interview, Joan Blondell explains that George Barnes cured her from lying.
1918 Vive la France ! de Roy William Neill1919 Partners Three de Fred Niblo1919 The Law of Men de Fred Niblo1919 The Haunted Bedroom de Fred Niblo1919 The Virtuous Thief de Fred Niblo1919 Stepping Out de Fred Niblo1919 What Every Woman learns de Fred Niblo1919 Dangerous Hours de Fred Niblo1920 The Woman in the Suitcase de Fred Niblo1920 The False Road de Fred Niblo1920 Hairpins de Fred Niblo1920 Her Husband's Friend de Fred Niblo1920 Silk Hosiery de Fred Niblo1921 The Heart Line de Frederick A. Thomson1921 The Bronze Bell de James W. Horne1921 The Beautiful Gambler de William Worthington1921 Opened Shutters de William Worthington1922 Woman, Wake Up! de Marcus Harrison1922 The Real Adventure de King Vidor1922 Dusk to Dawn de King Vidor1922 La Conquête d'une femme (Conquering the Woman) de King Vidor1922 Peg de mon cœur (Peg o' My Heart), de King Vidor1923 Alice Adams de Rowland V. Lee1923 The Love Piker de E. Mason Hopper1923 Desire de Rowland V. Lee1924 Yolanda de Robert G. Vignola1924 Janice Meredith de E. Mason Hopper1925 Zander the Great - George W. Hill1925 The Teaser - William A. Seiter1925 The Dark Angel - George Fitzmaurice1925 The Eagle Clarence Brown1926 Mademoiselle Modiste- Robert Z. Leonard1926 The Son of the Sheik- George Fitzmaurice1926 The Winning of Barbara Worth- d'Henry King1927 The Night of Love - George Fitzmaurice1927 Venus of Venice - Marshall Neilan1927 The Magic Flame - Henry King1927 The Devil Dancer - Fred Niblo1928 Sadie Thompson - Raoul Walsh1928 Two Lovers - Fred Niblo1928 Our dancing daughters - Harry Beaumont1928 The Awakening - Victor Fleming1929 The Rescue - Herbert Brenon1929 Bulldog Drummond - F. Richard Jones1929 This is Heaven - Alfred Santell1929 Condemned - Wesley Ruggles1929 The Trespasser - Edmund Goulding1930 Raffles - George Fitzmaurice1930 What a Widow- d'Allan Dwan1930 A Lady's Morals - Sidney Franklin1930 The Devil to Pay! - George Fitzmaurice1931 One Heavenly Night - George Fitzmaurice1931 Five and Ten - Robert Z. Leonard1931 Street Scène - King Vidor1931 The Unholy Garden - George Fitzmaurice1932 The Greeks Had a Word for Them - Lowell Sherman1932 Polly of the Circus - Alfred Santell1932 The Wet Parade - Victor Fleming1932 Society Girl - Sidney Lanfield1932 Blondie of the Follies -Edmund Goulding1932 Sherlock Holmes - William K. Howard1933 Broadway Bad- Sidney Lanfield1933 Peg o' My Heart - Robert Z. Leonard1933 Goodbye Again - Michael Curtiz1933 Footlight Parade- Lloyd Bacon1933 Havana Widows - Ray Enright1934 Massacre d'Alan Crosland1934 Gambling Lady- Archie Mayo1934 He Was her Man - Lloyd Bacon1934 Smarty - Robert Florey1934 Dames - Ray Enright1934 Kansas City Princess - William Keighley1934 Flirtation Walk- Frank Borzage1935 Gold Diggers of 1935 - Busby Berkeley1935 Traveling Saleslady - Ray Enright1935 In Caliente - Lloyd Bacon1935 Broadway Gondolier - Lloyd Bacon1935 The Irish in Us - Lloyd Bacon1935 I Live for Love - Busby Berkeley1935 Stars Over Broadway - William Keighley1936 The Singing Kid - William Keighley1936 Love Begins at Twenty - Frank McDonald1936 Cain and Mabel- Lloyd Bacon1937 Black Legion- Archie Mayo1937 Marked Woman- Lloyd Bacon1937 The Prince and the Pauper - William Keighley1937 Ever Since Eve - Lloyd Bacon1937 Varsity Show - William Keighley1937 The Barrier - Lesley Selander1937 Hollywood Hôtel - Busby Berkeley1938 Love, Honor and Behave - Stanley Logan1938 The Beloved Brat - Arthur Lubin1938 Gold Diggers in Paris - Ray Enright1939 Devil's Island - William Clemens1939 Jesse James- Henry King1939 Stanley and Livingstone- Henry King1939 Here I Am a Stranger - Roy Del Ruth1939 Our Neighbors - The Carters - Ralph Murphy1940 Rebecca - Alfred Hitchcock1940 Free, Blonde and 21- Ricardo Cortez1940 Maryland - Henry King1940 Girl from Avenue A - Otto Brower1940 The Return of Frank James- Fritz Lang1941 Hudson's Bay - Irving Pichel1941 That Uncertain Feeling- Ernst Lubitsch1941 Meet John Doe- Frank Capra1941 Ladies in Retirement - Charles Vidor1941 Unholy Partners - Mervyn LeRoy1941 Remember the Day - Henry King1942 Sex Hygiene - John Ford1942 Rings on her Fingers- Rouben Mamoulian1942 Broadway - William A. Seiter1942 Nightmare - Tim Whelan1942 Once Upon a Honeymoon- Leo McCarey1943 Mr Lucky- H. C. Potter1944 Jane Eyre - Robert Stevenson1944 Since You Went Away - John Cromwell1944 Frenchman's Creek- Mitchell Leisen1944 None But the Lonely Heart - Clifford Odets1945 The Spanish Main - Frank Borzage1945 Spellbound -Alfred Hitchcock1945 The Bells of St-Mary's- Leo McCarey1946 From This Day Forward - John Berry1946 Sister Kenny - Dudley Nichols1947 Sinbad the Sailor - Richard Wallace1947 Mourning becomes Electra- Dudley Nichols1948 The Emperor Waltz- Billy Wilder1948 Good Sam - Leo McCarey1948 No Minor Vices - Lewis Milestone1948 The Boy with green hair - Joseph Losey1948 Force of Evil - Abraham Polonsky1949 Samson and Delilah - Cecil B. DeMille1950 The File of Thelma Jordon - Robert Siodmak1950 Riding High - Frank Capra1950 Let's Dance - Norman Z. McLeod1950 Mr Music - Richard Haydn1951 Here Comes the Groom- Frank Capra1952 The Greatest Show on Earth- Cecil B. DeMille1952 Something to Live For- George Stevens1952 Somebody loves me - Irving Brecher1952 Just for You - Elliott Nugent1952 Road to Bali - Hal Walker1953 The War of the Worlds - Byron Haskin1953 Little Boy Lost - George SeatonAwards and nominations
At the Thirteenth annual Awards Banquet of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Barnes was proclaimed the winner of the 1940 Academy Award for the year's best black-and-white cinematography in recognition of his skill in filming "Rebecca". Back then, Barnes had already been, for more than two decades, one of the industry's outstanding camera-artists. In "Rebecca", he had the advantage of being associated with a picture which was more than ordinary and distinguished in every department-it received Award nominations in no less than nine other categories.
