Norbert Brodine

Who was Norbert Brodine?

Nobert Brodine was a film cinematographer. The Saint Joseph, Missouri-born cameraman worked on over 100 films in his career before retiring from film making in 1955 after working on a Little Rascals television series.

Brodine's films include the sought after lost film A Blind Bargain starring Lon Chaney, This Thing Called Love, The Death Kiss, Counsellor at Law, The House on 92nd Street, Somewhere in the Night, Boomerang and Kiss of Death, Thieves' Highway, The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel and 5 Fingers.

Brodine began his cameraman career working in a camera shop and later building on that experience in the Army Signal Corps during World War I. After studying at Columbia University, he began working as a still photographer in Hollywood before moving to motion pictures in 1919. Began working exclusively for Hal Roach Studios in 1937 and then moved on to 20th Century Fox in 1943.

Brodine shot several films with Laurel and Hardy at both Roach and Fox, such as Pick a Star, Swiss Miss, The Dancing Masters, and The Bullfighters. He put his outdoor camera skills to good use on semi-documentary films shot on location for films like Kiss of Death. Brodine moved back to Hal Roach Studios to end his career in the 1950s.