Biography

Georges Périnal was born in 1897 in Paris, France. He was a cinematographer, known for The Thief of Bagdad (1940), The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943). He died on April 23, 1965 in London, England, UK.

Active in French films from 1913. In the 20's and early 30's, enjoyed a successful collaboration with directors 'Jean Gremillon' and René Clair. After 1933, spent most of his time in England with Alexander Korda's London Films at Denham Studios. First major international success with The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), followed by Rembrandt (1936). His colour photography on The Thief of Bagdad (1940)won him an Academy Award.

Some sources have credited him with second-unit work on Vincente Minnelli's remake of "The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse", but he is not credited on the film itself.

Although he worked on many British films, and died in London, he always insisted that he could speak no English. Many of his British colleagues rather doubted this, and felt that he had deliberately erected a language barrier to emphasize his sternness and his aloofness from his crew, who usually found him a difficult taskmaster.