FILM DIRECTOR

James Wong Howe

1899 - 1976

Photo of James Wong Howe

Icon of person James Wong Howe

Wong Tung Jim, A.S.C. (Chinese: 黃宗霑; August 28, 1899 – July 12, 1976), known professionally as James Wong Howe (Houghto), was a Chinese-born American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was one of the most sought after cinematographers in Hollywood due to his innovative filming techniques. Howe was known as a master of the use of shadow and one of the first to use deep-focus cinematography, in which both foreground and distant planes remain in focus.Born in Canton (Taishan), China, Howe immigrated to the United States at age five and grew up in Washington. He was a professional boxer during his teenage years, and later began his career in the film industry as an assistant to Cecil B. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of James Wong Howe has received more than 1,726,454 page views. His biography is available in 25 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 23 in 2019). James Wong Howe is the 997th most popular film director (up from 1,294th in 2019), the 889th most popular biography from China (down from 886th in 2019) and the 12th most popular Chinese Film Director.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.7M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 48.44

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 25

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.00

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.75

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of James Wong Howes by language

Over the past year James Wong Howe has had the most page views in the with 78,642 views, followed by Chinese (4,395), and German (2,243). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Korean (303.74%), Malagasy (240.00%), and Egyptian Arabic (181.29%)

Among FILM DIRECTORS

Among film directors, James Wong Howe ranks 997 out of 2,041. Before him are Mary Harron, Sergey Obraztsov, Sergei Solovyov, John M. Stahl, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and Mikhail Kozakov. After him are Joseph Sargent, Štefan Uher, Michaël Dudok de Wit, Roy Ward Baker, Jean-Marie Poiré, and Mike Figgis.

Most Popular Film Directors in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1899, James Wong Howe ranks 216. Before him are Wen Yiduo, Hoagy Carmichael, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler, Otto E. Neugebauer, Eva Le Gallienne, and Piero Dusio. After him are May McAvoy, Axel Bakunts, Roger Vitrac, Szolem Mandelbrojt, Hugo Benioff, and Finn Ronne. Among people deceased in 1976, James Wong Howe ranks 181. Before him are Armas Taipale, Jimmy Reed, Alfred Landé, Taos Amrouche, Nikoloz Muskhelishvili, and Stanley Baker. After him are Henri Bosco, Mukesh, Hermann Jónasson, Carl Benjamin Boyer, Milena Rudnytska, and Leopold Hofmann.

Others Born in 1899

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1976

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In China

Among people born in China, James Wong Howe ranks 889 out of 1,610. Before him are Wang Guowei (1877), Liu He (1952), Tsai Chin (1933), Wei Fenghe (1954), Lin Shu (1852), and Jiang Wen (1963). After him are John Baptist Wu (1925), Dilraba Dilmurat (1992), Xie Fuzhi (1909), Zhang Jie (1937), Yao Lee (1922), and Zhu Ziqing (1898).

Others born in China

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among FILM DIRECTORS In China

Among film directors born in China, James Wong Howe ranks 12. Before him are Chen Kaige (1952), Edward Yang (1947), Lo Wei (1918), King Hu (1932), Ann Hui (1947), and Xie Jin (1923). After him are Tian Zhuangzhuang (1952), Cai Chusheng (1906), Jia Zhangke (1970), Li Han-hsiang (1926), Feng Xiaogang (1958), and Chloé Zhao (1982).

Chinese born Film Directors

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Filmography

Fantasia
Director
Walt Disney's timeless masterpiece is an extravaganza of sight and sound! See the music come to life, hear the pictures burst into song and experience the excitement that is Fantasia over and over again.
Nov 13o 19407.4 / 10
Sweet Smell of Success
Director
New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.
Jul 4o 19577.638 / 10
The Thin Man
Director
A husband and wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
May 25o 19347.504 / 10