Edwin F. Weigle
{{Short description|American war photographer and film cameraman}}
{{Infobox Person | name =Edwin Frederick Weigle | image =File:Edwin F Weigle - Jan 1921 EH.jpg | caption =Weigle in 1921 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|3|13}} | birth_place =Chicago, Illinois | death_date = {{Death date and age|1973|8|1|1889|3|13}} | death_place =Deerfield, Illinois | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | occupation = photographer/cinematographer | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | signature = File:Signature Edwin Weigle 1915.jpg
}}
Edwin Frederick Weigle (March 13, 1889 – August 1, 1973) was a cameraman for the Chicago Tribune, cinematographer and documentary film maker.
Biography
Weigle was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 13, 1889. His parents Adolph and Sophie came from Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1879.
Weigle worked for the Chicago Tribune from 1909 and achieved prominence as a film correspondent during the First World War. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, Weigle covered the resistance of the Belgian army against the German invaders. Weigle obtained permission from the Belgian government to photograph actual battle scenes for the first time.{{Cite book|last=Weigle|first=Edwin F.|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101062170509|title=My experiences on the Belgian battlefields in the great European War /|date=1914|publisher=Chicago|hdl=2027/njp.32101062170509}} The result was On Belgian Battlefields,{{Cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=1&Movie=13938|title=Home}}{{Cite web|last=Dopperen|first=Ron Van|date=3 August 2017|title=First World War on Film: "Lost & Found: 'On Belgian Battelfields' (USA, 1914)" |url=https://shootingthegreatwar.blogspot.com/2017/08/lost-and-found-on-belgian-battlefields.html |access-date=2021-10-07|website=First World War on Film}} one of the first war documentaries shown in the United States. In 1915 and 1916, the Chicago Tribune again sent Weigle to Europe where he shot film on the Western and Eastern Front for The German Side of the War.{{Cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=1&Movie=13748|title=Home}} {{Cite web|last=Dopperen|first=Ron Van|date=17 August 2015|title=First World War on Film: "War in the Clouds Filmed by Edwin Weigle" |url=https://shootingthegreatwar.blogspot.com/2015/08/war-in-clouds-filmed-by-edwin-weigle.html |access-date=2021-10-07|website=First World War on Film}}
After the American entry in the war, Weigle joined the U.S. Signal Corps, and filmed with the 35th Division in France during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
Edwin Weigle retired as a film correspondent shortly after the war and died in Deerfield, Illinois, on August 1, 1973.{{cite journal |last1=Graham |first1=Cooper C. |last2=van Dopperen |first2=Ron |title=Edwin F. Weigle: Cameraman for the Chicago Tribune |journal=Film History |date=2010 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=389–407 |doi=10.2979/filmhistory.2010.22.4.389 |s2cid=194061504 |id={{Project MUSE|411651}} }}
Film work
Segments from Weigle's war footage have been identified and located by authors Cooper C. Graham and Ron van Dopperen while researching their book American Cinematographers in the Great War, 1914-1918.{{cite book |last1=Castellan |first1=James W. |last2=van Dopperen |first2=Ron |last3=Graham |first3=Cooper C. |title=American Cinematographers in the Great War, 1914-1918 |date=2016 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-86196-717-9 |jstor=j.ctt1bmzn8c }}{{pn|date=September 2023}} A short scene showing the [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Full_Edit_Weigle_Film_Aalst_1914.ogg burning city of Alost] from Weigle's film On Belgian Battlefields (USA, 1914) was located by the authors in the collection of the Belgian film archives. At the Library of Congress numerous segments were found from Weigle's film The German Side of the War (USA, 1915/1916). Scenes taken by Weigle in June 1918 at an [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:School_of_Artillery_Fire_filmed_by_Edwin_Weigle_(June_1918).ogg artillery school in Fort Sill, Oklahoma], were retrieved by the authors in the collection of the National Archives. The authors also found this [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:35th_Division_A.E.F._filmed_by_Edwin_Weigle_(October_1918).ogg World War I Western Front footage] at the Imperial War Museum, shot by Weigle with the 35th Division in France shortly after the battle of Meuse-Argonne in October 1918.
File:Full Edit Weigle Film Aalst 1914.ogg
In 2017, Weigle's original combat camera - a Bell & Howell 2709 - that he cranked while filming with the 35th Division, A.E.F, at the Western Front was discovered by the authors in the historical collection of a movie prop house. {{Cite web|last=Dopperen|first=Ron Van|date=4 October 2017|title=First World War on Film: "World War I Combat Camera Edwin F. Weigle Found!" |url=https://shootingthegreatwar.blogspot.com/2017/10/world-war-i-combat-camera-edwin-f.html |access-date=2021-10-03|website=First World War on Film}}
Weigle's film work during World War I featured in the documentary [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mobilizing_Movies_-_The_U.S._Signal_Corps_Goes_To_War,_1917-1919.ogg Mobilizing Movies! The U.S. Signal Corps Goes to War, 1917-1919.]
Sources
- {{cite journal |last1=Graham |first1=Cooper C. |last2=van Dopperen |first2=Ron |title=Edwin F. Weigle: Cameraman for the Chicago Tribune |journal=Film History |date=2010 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=389–407 |doi=10.2979/filmhistory.2010.22.4.389 |s2cid=194061504 |id={{Project MUSE|411651}} }}
- {{cite book |last1=Castellan |first1=James W. |last2=van Dopperen |first2=Ron |last3=Graham |first3=Cooper C. |title=American Cinematographers in the Great War, 1914-1918 |date=2016 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-86196-717-9 |jstor=j.ctt1bmzn8c }}
- [https://archive.org/details/the-growth-of-official-military-cinema-in-the-united-states-1917-1919 Ron van Dopperen and Cooper C. Graham, The Growth of Official Military Cinema in the United States, 1917-1919 (2017)]
- [https://archive.org/details/weblog-shooting-the-great-war-updated-1-4-2024-pdf/page/n9/mode/2up Weblog on the American Films and Cinematographers of World War I, 2013-2018]
- [https://ww1ha.org/world-war-one-illustrated/ Ron van Dopperen, "Shooting the Siege of Antwerp", World War One Illustrated, (Spring 2024), 23-29]
- {{IMDb name|id=0917874|name=Edwin F. Weigle}}
- [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edwin_Weigle_My_Experiences_on_the_Belgian_Battelfields_1914_Edition_Scan.pdf Edwin F. Weigle, My Experiences on the Belgian Battlefields (First Edition, Chicago 1914) PDF]
- [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edwin_Weigle,_%22On_Four_Battlefronts_with_the_German_Army%22_(Chicago,_1915).pdf Edwin F. Weigle, On Four Battle-Fronts with the German Army (Chicago 1915) PDF]
- [https://archive.org/details/weigle-theater-program-page-1 Theater Program "German Side of the War" - Story of the Films and their Taking (USA, 1915)]
- [https://archive.org/details/the-german-side-of-the-war-with-the-russians-at-the-front-usa-1915 "The German Side of the War" (USA, 1915) - film scenes taken by Edwin Weigle, from the Library of Congress]
- [https://archive.org/details/25-11-2017-final-cut-mobilizing-movies_202310 "Mobilizing Movies! The U.S. Signal Corps Goes To War, 1917-1919" (documentary, 2017)]
- [https://archive.org/details/weigle-35-division-film-full-edit The 35th Division, A.E.F, after the Battle of Meuse-Argonne, filmed by Edwin F. Weigle on October 18, 1918 (Reconstructed 2017)]
- [https://archive.org/details/17-6-2018-new-edit-photographic-activities-signal-corps-ww-1-with-music_202310 "Photographic Activities U.S. Signal Corps During World War I" (Reconstructed 2018)]
- [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trailer_%22American_Cinematographers_in_the_Great_War%22.ogg Movie Trailer "American Cinematographers in the Great War, 1914-1918"]
References
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Category:American documentary filmmakers
Category:American male journalists
Category:Chicago Tribune people
Category:20th-century American photographers
Category: American war photographers
Category:American photojournalists