Merritt B. Gerstad [SEP] occupation
Merritt B. Gerstad
Merritt B. Gerstad (5 July 1900, Chicago, Illinois – 1 March 1974, Laguna Beach, California) was an American cinematographer of silent and early sound films.
Career.
After beginning as a cinematographer on films for Universal, he worked for MGM, working with director Tod Browning on (the lost) "London After Midnight" (1927) and "Freaks" (1932), and Sam Wood on the Marx Brothers "A Night at the Opera" (1935). Later
. The cost exceeded US$2 million (US$ in dollars) by the end of the production in early 1936, exorbitant for the period, and it was MGM's most expensive film to date after "" (1925). The principal cinematography was shot by Oliver T. Marsh, and George J. Folsey and Karl Freund were brought in to shoot the Ziegfeld Roof numbers. Ray June shot the "Melody" number and Merritt B. Gerstad is credited for the Hoctor Ballet.
In the advertising for the film, MGM boasted