William Bradford’s career as a movie cinematographer essentially spanned 1942-1954, followed by a healthy plunge into TV. He shot B-Westerns for Republic for six years before hitching his wagon to Gene Autry when the Republic star went independent in the late 1940s. He became the primary DP for Gene Autry Productions, shooting the company’s entire film output over the next five years before leading the camera work on the various Autry TV productions.
The Aztec, center, and Notch Hill, at right,
as shot by William Bradford
in Carson City Raiders
(1948).
(1948).He distinguished himself at Republic with some standout work with cowboy stars Roy Rogers, Allan “Rocky” Lane and Wild Bill Elliott. Prime examples of his Iverson cinematography from this period include the Rocky Lane features Carson City Raiders (1948) and Stagecoach to Monterey (1944), the Roy Rogers classic Heldorado (1946), the Wild Bill Elliott Western Old Los Angeles (1948) and a pair of 1947 Red Ryder movies starring Rocky Lane, Rustlers of Devil’s Canyon and Marshal of Cripple Creek.
A highlight of his film work with Gene Autry Productions is The Hills of Utah (1951). He would continue to work at Iverson on TV shows such as Range Rider, Death Valley Days, Buffalo Bill Jr., The Gene Autry Show, The Adventures of Champion, Annie Oakley and eventually Sky King.
He kept working his whole life, but died young — a fate that seemed to befall a lot of the DPs of the era — at the age of 53.
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