American cinematographer Stanley Cortez's given name was Krantz; he had it changed professionally following the lead of his older brother, film star Ricardo Cortez. While attending New York University, Cortez became an assistant cameraman for the various movie studios operating in Manhattan. He briefly pursued the occupation of portrait photographer before returning full-time to movie work at the end of the silent era. He remained an assistant and associate photographer during the early 1930s, with time out to direct the 1932 short subject Scherzo. By 1937, Cortez was a director of photography at Universal Pictures, confined to the studio's "B" product. Beyond such mood pieces as the 1941 comedy/horror film The Black Cat, there was little opportunity for Cortez to develop a style of his own, though word got around that he could attain evocative results with a minimum of fuss. Orson Welles signed Cortez to shoot his Citizen Kane follow-up The Magnificent Ambersons in late 1941. Throwing out all the economy and efficiency he'd learned on his Universal "B"s, Cortez proceeded to eat up valuable production time in achieving his admittedly marvelous photographic effects. RKO held Cortez partially responsible for the cost overrun (and ultimate failure) of Ambersons, and as a result his next two important assignments—Universal's …  » Read more