Charles A. Marshall, 86; Early Aerial Cameraman

Charles A. Marshall, one of the first aerial photographers to adapt his skills to motion pictures, has died in Apple Valley at age 86.

Marshall was a flight instructor with the Army during World War I, turning to cinematography after that war. In 1929, when Hollywood was beginning a series of productions based on the then-current aviation craze, Marshall filmed the aerial footage of “The Flying Fleet,” a silent picture that starred Ramon Novarro as one of a group of budding Navy pilots.

In a review of the film, the New York Times said of Marshall’s work: “Nothing quite as stirring or as beautiful as some of these scenes has so far been pictured in animated photography.”

Marshall, who died Jan. 8, followed that picture with aerial sequences and photography for “Hell Divers,” “Night Flight,” “Hell Below,” “West Point of the Air,” “Thirteen Hours by Air,” “Test Pilot,” “Men With Wings” and others.

The World War I flier and photographer was one of the first cinematographers to master the old Akeley camera, invented by the naturalist Carl Akeley, on a gyroscope principle. George Turner, a spokesman for the American Society of Cinematographers, said that Akeley invented it to film wildlife but its versatility and quick mobility lent it to the battle scenes, stampedes and other action sequences then popular in early films.

With the Akeley, Marshall filmed the chariot race in the 1926 “Ben Hur,” featuring Novarro, and the battle scenes for “The Big Parade” and other classic pictures of that era.

In 1943 Marshall, James Wong Howe and Elmer Dyer were nominated for an Academy Award for their photographic efforts on “Air Force,” a John Garfield film dealing with a Flying Fortress and its crew during World War II.

After the war Marshall was hired by the Air Force to film the nuclear test explosions over Eniwetok. He retired shortly after and is survived by his wife, Naomi.