Lathrop was born in Merced, California, on October 22, 1912. As a child, the Universal Studios lot was his playground, where his mother was employed in the film lab. Lathrop became a member there in the camera department at 18-years old. There, he watched Gilbert Warrenton, ASC, photograph the first version of Show Boat in 1928–29. On the 1936 version of the film, Lathrop loaded cameras from John Mescall, ASC.[2]
Personal life
Lathrop had two marriages, to Molly Lathrop and Betty Jo Lathrop, and three sons, Larry, Bill and Clark.[3]
He was inducted into the ASCHall of Fame in 1974. During the 1980s, Lathrop worked on eight television movies-of-the-week as well as several mini-series,[3] winning him several Emmys.
In the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, Lathrop made director Mark Robson’s vision of the movie come true. Robson wanted a natural look for the film, without its being documentary-like. Instead of shooting in natural locations, Earthquake was filmed almost entirely on the Universal Studios' sound stages and back-lot due to the extraordinary degree of control deemed necessary to execute the required special effects. To bring the earthquake scenes to life, a shaker mount for the camera was created. Lathrop said it “created an amazing illusion. You’d swear that the ground was going up and down and moving sideways, when, of course, it wasn’t moving at all.” Sets were also built on shaker platforms, which is incredibly costly so “in the sets that were not on shaker platforms, [it] was [difficult] to get the actors to move as if they were responding to an earthquake, when there wasn’t one,” he added.[4]
A five-story section of what is supposed to be a 25-story building was made in Stage 12, the highest in the studio, where every floor was used to shoot the action. Lathrop stated that “it was necessary to dig down 20 feet into the floor of the stage in order to accommodate [the building model].” He continued, “[the] photography of this sequence was difficult because of the way [they] had to light the set” to avoid shadows from the hanging lights when the simulated earthquakes took place. So “in order to light it, [Lathrop] went clear up above the grids with four arcs pointed down to simulate the angle of the sun. [He] matched each of the arcs on the way down and didn’t overlap them, nor did [he] use any fill light at all.” [4]
To execute a film like Earthquake, natural sets would have been very limiting. Shooting on set allows for control in the lighting and to “do things with the camera that would have been impossible in a natural set,” said Lathrop. Without a single day off of work after Earthquake, Lathrop immediately began working on Airport 1975, also for Universal Studios.[4]
• 1984 – Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special – Celebrity, nominated
• 1985 – Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special – Malice in Wonderland, won
• 1986 – Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Miniseries or a Special – Picking Up the Pieces, nominated
• 1987 – Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Miniseries or a Special – Christmas Snow, won
• 1988 – Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Miniseries or a Special – Little Girl Lost, nominated
American Society of Cinematographers
• 1988 – Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Miniseries or Specials – Christmas Snow, won
• 1989 – Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Movies of the Week/Pilots – Little Girl Lost, won
• 1992 – Lifetime Achievement Award, won
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Routledge, Chris. "Lathrop, Philip H." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, edited by Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, 4th ed., vol. 4: Writers and Production Artists, St. James Press, 2000, p. 508-509. Gale Virtual Reference Library. 17 Nov. 2016.
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Turner, George E. "American Cinematographer (1995) - In Memoriam: Philip H. Lathrop, ASC." American Cinematographer 76.6 (1995): 132. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.
^ abcLathrop, Philip H. "THE PHOTOGRAPHY." American Cinematographer 55.11 (1974): 1300. USC Libraries. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.
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